Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...

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The primary love story centers on Magnolia and Gaylord, but a sub-plot involves Julie’s mixed-blood heritage. A pivotal scene in the first act reveals this to the audience as well as to the characters. Pete, the boat engineer, was earlier rejected by Julie and had vowed revenge. He alerts the sheriff that there is a case of miscegenation aboard the show boat. When the sheriff arrives to arrest Julie, her husband Steve dramatically pro- claims himself also of “Negro blood” after cutting her hand and mixing her blood with his. The sheriff is mollified, but the couple decides to leave the boat anyway to relieve the troupe of further embarrassment. 40 The captain’s daughter, Magnolia (Nola), takes over as the lead ingénue of the troupe and the romantic lead is played by a young gambler who needs to get out of town quickly, Gaylord Ravenal. The courtship of Nola and Gay is very public for it unfolds upon the Cotton Blossom’s stage. This technique goes beyond a show-within-a-show scenario and assists in developing their melodramatic relationship. It also strengthens Magnolia’s self- confidence as an actress, for she develops a large following among the levee townsfolk. Hammerstein introduces a bold first-act finale with their wedding scene. Cap’n Andy invites the entire town to their nuptials (knowing that Parthy Ann is away for the day) and the first act concludes as the young couple departs for their honeymoon. In an unusual departure from musical theatre tradition, the ingénue becomes a woman before the end of the first act rather than the final curtain. 40 Oscar Hammerstein II, Show Boat, Act I:4 (New York: The Rodgers and Hammerstein Library, 1927). It should be noted that Kern did not include any songs for this scene. There is only some light underscoring of “Misery’s Comin’ Aroun’,” sung earlier by Queenie and the African-American workers on the levee. 31
Act II begins four years later as Gaylord has taken Magnolia away from her river life to Chicago. The first scene is the 1893 Chicago World Exhibition’s midway, including the famous Dahomey village. 41 The Ravenals, with their daughter Kim, are part of the throngs enjoying the modern sights of the fair. 42 Their life together is shown initially as glamorous and modern in their marriage relationship, but Gaylord eventually abandons his family because of his gambling debts. In the novel, he never returns. As a result, Magnolia is forced to find a job to support herself and Kim, who is enrolled at a private Catholic school. She embarks upon a career as a cabaret singer and musical comedy star that garners international acclaim and financial security for her family. Kim grows up and trains in the family business. She eventually becomes a star in her own right who represents the new tradition of the ingénue on Broadway in the 1920s. The second act is the weakest aspect of the original production and has been staged differently in every reincarnation. Kern introduces only one new song (“Why Do I Love You?”) and then interpolates period songs and dances, or reprises from the first act. In Ferber’s novel, Magnolia returns to the Cotton Blossom as a retired widow to mourn her mother’s death and to take over as mistress of the show boat. The musical version is a drama but not a tragedy. In musical comedy tradition, Hammerstein created a complex series of unbelievable coincidences to reunite all of the lead characters (except Julie) on the Cotton Blossom at the same Natchez levee in 1927. Magnolia graciously 41 This African village scene was a nod to racial stereotypes and minstrelsy traditions as well as historical accuracy for the Chicago World Exhibition. 42 Kim, a modern name, is an acronym for Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri, the states where she was supposedly born. The Cotton Blossom had tethered in a river junction of the three states during a fierce storm when Magnolia delivered her. 32
Page 1 and 2: LEWIS, ANNE, D.M.A. An Examination
Page 3 and 4: APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS iv Page ACKNOWLED
Page 7 and 8: for research, this paper will explo
Page 9 and 10: MacDonald, labeled musical theatre
Page 11 and 12: The musicals that have entered the
Page 13 and 14: and individually as handwriting.”
Page 15 and 16: Methodology The base of research fo
Page 17 and 18: Feminine Character in Selected Libr
Page 19 and 20: from the 1920s, they are timeless i
Page 21 and 22: e helpful to recognize the specific
Page 23 and 24: as a Cinderella-type heiress who ma
Page 25 and 26: Vereen described the “blackface c
Page 27 and 28: Casino Theatre in Manhattan. The re
Page 29 and 30: functional sets, and an eleven-piec
Page 31 and 32: The History of the Musical, Show Bo
Page 33 and 34: amount of instrumental music, the d
Page 35: Ferber’s novel begins with the na
Page 39 and 40: CHAPTER III SOCIETAL STEREOTYPES OF
Page 41 and 42: communion.” 5 This bias continued
Page 43 and 44: children, however, did allow mother
Page 45 and 46: unhealthy, sub-human environments.
Page 47 and 48: dominated by masculine traits in ap
Page 49 and 50: magazines, including Ladies Home Jo
Page 51 and 52: Nineteenth Century Stereotypes of W
Page 53 and 54: usiness. She was responsible for th
Page 55 and 56: gender) inequality forced them inst
Page 57 and 58: The 1920s was the Jazz Age, a time
Page 59 and 60: CHAPTER IV THEATRICAL STEREOTYPES O
Page 61 and 62: peoples . . . to save us from our o
Page 63 and 64: separate seating arrangements). The
Page 65 and 66: Feminine Aesthetic in Theatre Any a
Page 67 and 68: gossip columns. 17 Exploitation on
Page 69 and 70: means to economic or career advance
Page 71 and 72: Florenz Ziegfeld, reportedly, was q
Page 73 and 74: in a subservient role as a domestic
Page 75 and 76: looked, Magnolia decided, as if the
Page 77 and 78: When he holds me close, Close as we
Page 79 and 80: In the novel, Parthy Ann is a three
Page 81 and 82: opens her handbag and takes out a p
Page 83 and 84: “hero”) and the piano player (t
Page 85 and 86: the nineteenth century’s gender r
Page 87 and 88:
of that time. Performance practice
Page 89 and 90:
possibilities for manipulation and
Page 91 and 92:
order while the musical number repr
Page 93 and 94:
“Finding in that sound all the ki
Page 95 and 96:
often distorts vibrant voices, rend
Page 97 and 98:
elationships with other characters
Page 99 and 100:
Finally, the process includes a mus
Page 101 and 102:
any other theater music heard up to
Page 103 and 104:
een presented in previous chapters,
Page 105 and 106:
“Though the cold and brutal fact
Page 107 and 108:
[Bridge]: When he goes away dat’s
Page 109 and 110:
angelically while caught in the act
Page 111 and 112:
The song appears twice more as a pl
Page 113 and 114:
CHAPTER VI CURTAIN CALL The musical
Page 115 and 116:
theatre performance practice. They
Page 117 and 118:
BIBLIOGRAPHY General Sources Burkho
Page 119 and 120:
Long, Mary Anne. “‘All Our Girl
Page 121 and 122:
Kerber, Linda K., and Jane Sherron
Page 123 and 124:
Levine, Lawrence W. The Opening of
Page 125 and 126:
Song Title: Show Title: Lyricist: C
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