Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
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specific to this particular show and was not intended for popular consumption as sheet<br />
music (with the exceptions <strong>of</strong> period interpolations such as “Bill” and “After the Ball”),<br />
and it demonstrated musical theatre’s ability to tell a reasonably serious story, even with<br />
comedic elements. In other words, Show Boat established the musical drama for the<br />
American stage. 36<br />
<strong>The</strong> Plot and <strong>Character</strong>s <strong>of</strong> Show Boat<br />
<strong>The</strong> basic story <strong>of</strong> Show Boat (aside from all <strong>of</strong> the pageantry <strong>of</strong> a show-within-a-<br />
show setting) follows the relationships <strong>of</strong> five couples who live and work on the Cotton<br />
Blossom show boat: Parthy Ann (Parthenia Ann) and Cap’n Andy; Ellie and Frank;<br />
Queenie and Joe; Julie and Steve; and Magnolia and Gaylord. 37 <strong>The</strong> musical presents the<br />
lives <strong>of</strong> these “show folk” in both their public and private spheres. Following Ferber’s<br />
lead, its subplots incorporate issues <strong>of</strong> class, racial conditions and prejudices, and the<br />
outdated “Jim Crow” law <strong>of</strong> miscegenation. 38 While the novel spans fifty years in<br />
Magnolia’s life, from a small child to a widowed mother, Hammerstein compressed the<br />
story into about thirty years for his libretto (c. 1888-1927).<br />
36 Mates, 185.<br />
37 John Clum makes an interesting point regarding Hammerstein’s “variations on the operetta<br />
format” by always complementing the lead romantic couple with a comic couple. He later crafted this<br />
technique into an art form in his collaborations with Richard Rodgers. Clum’s observation is that the<br />
comic female lead usually became the career-making (and Tony winning) role rather than the ingénue<br />
heroine. Something for the Boys, 115. This is true for Show Boat as well. <strong>The</strong>re have been many indiscriminate<br />
Magnolias, but the role <strong>of</strong> Julie is indelibly connected with the original, Helen Morgan, and the<br />
screen star, Ava Gardner. In Rodgers and Hammerstein’s later formats, the secondary lead always introduced<br />
the show’s “anthem”; in this case, “Can’t Help Lovin’ ‘dat Man.”<br />
38 “Jim Crow” refers to the post-Civil War Reconstruction laws <strong>of</strong> segregation for whites and<br />
blacks. <strong>The</strong> definition <strong>of</strong> miscegenation is a white man married to a black woman, which was unlawful in<br />
many southern states in the 1890s.<br />
29