Musical Guide - Review Of Showboat
In this article we're going to cover one of the oldest and
longest running musicals in history, the one and only Showboat.
Showboat first came to the stage in 1927, almost 80 years ago as
of this writing. It was actually quite ahead of its time in many
respects. For one thing, it featured African American performers
in predominant roles. It also included as part of the story a
mixed marriage, which in those days was unheard of. Yes,
Showboat was certainly ground breaking.
There were actually several stories going on at the same time in
the musical, very similar to one of today's soap operas. There
was, of course, the actual operation of the Showboat itself and
the struggles it faced along the way. There was the story of the
mixed race couple and the odds that they had to fight against.
There was the daughter of the showboat owner who wanted a career
but also wanted to find true love. Instead she meets a man who
betrays her and runs off leaving her with a baby to take care of
all by herself. The sub stories go on and on.
As tragic as the stories in showboat were, that's how beautiful
the music was. Some of the greatest songs of all time could be
heard in this production. The list of great songs is pretty long
but there are a few highlights.
For starters the is the great duet between the daughter and her
soon to be snake of a husband. The song of course is "Make
Believe." This song pretty much sets the tone for the rest of
the play, which has had so many renditions that it's hard to
pick out which pair was best. More on the various versions of
this play later.
Then of course there is "Can't Help Lovin Dat Man" which was
sung by the highly visible African American couple. This is the
kind of song that just makes one smile from ear to ear. In spite
of the fact that her husband is a lazy so and so and pretty much
drives her crazy, she just can't help but love him.
But of course the highlight of the play, and probably one of the
greatest songs of all time, is "Ol' Man River" which is sung by
the black man of the couple. This song so perfectly depicts the
struggles of the black man in society and the hard life that he
leads.
There are many debates as to who was the best singer of this
song, whether it was Paul Robeson or William Warfield, which
brings us to the number of renditions of this play.
While it first came into existence in 1927, written by Jerome
Kern, it was later made into not one but three screen
adaptations in 1929, 1936 and finally in 1951. Many critics feel
that the 1951 adaptation with Howard Keel, Ava Garner, Kathryn
Grayson and William Warfield was the greatest one of all.
Regardless of which one you may personally prefer, Showboat was
without a doubt one of the most heartbreaking and musically
beautiful creations of all time. Whatever version you decide to
see, at least see one of them. You won't ever forget this one.