Broadway Musicals Fall 2019: Show Boat, music by Jerome Kern, lyrics & libretto by Oscar Hammerstein, II
Response Journal #7
Search Show Boat 1936 film http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028249/www.dailymotion.com
PREPARATION:
Read Hammerstein’s libretto twice while following along with the 1936 film adaptation of the Broadway show starring Irene Dunne, Charles Winninger, Helen Morgan and Paul Robeson (note link above). Since Hammerstein was involved in the making of the film and since members of the Broadway cast appear in it – it gives us a taste of what the original Broadway production may have felt like. Please note that the film you will be viewing will not line up with the libretto we are reading – just follow along as best as you can. Pay close attention to Hammerstein’s stage directions as they contain important information that will help you engage with the story.
CONTENT WARNING: Show Boat is a flawed masterpiece that is both progressive and regressive in its treatment of racial issues. Librettist/lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein II, a life-long political activist, (Todd Purdham, 2018) used the story to call out racism through the integration of an unsympathetic white character who uses the “N” word as a weapon against sympathetic African American characters in the story. The “N” word, and, in the film, the racist term “darkies” are used deliberately by African American characters to establish a knowing connection among them. In a close viewing of the 1936 film – you will also see multiple examples of the legacy of the Minstrel Show. I will expect you to approach this musical with a critical eye noting both its failings as well as the ways in which the writers attempted to endow its African American characters and the racism they confronted seriously and sympathetically.
ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:
1. Briefly analyze the action of the first few scenes of Show Boat by describing the primary conflict between and among the central characters:
a. Parthy and Andy
b. Steve, Julie, Pete, and Queenie (20 points)
2. Provide dictionary definitions for at least two words you are not familiar with in the libretto. (10 points)
3. Oscar Hammerstein II made a sincere attempt (however imperfect) to challenge his audiences by telling a serious story which depicts African Americans in a way that was very different from the ways African Americans were depicted in minstrelsy, vaudeville, and the revue.
a. Quoting directly from the libretto, (include page numbers) discuss at least one example in Act I that illustrates the way that an African American character in Show Boat is depicted differently than they would have been depicted in minstrelsy, vaudeville, or the revue.
b. Despite these advances, his libretto reveals inevitable blind spots. Again, quoting directly from the libretto, cite at least one example of the way an African American was portrayed in the musical that perpetuates the racist stereotypes developed and codified in minstrelsy, vaudeville, and the revue.
c. One of the most surprising features of the libretto are the scenes in which Hammerstein calls out racist behavior in the development of the story in a way that generates empathy for the African American characters and brands the racist (using the “N” word) as a hateful character. Quoting, again, from the libretto, cite at least one example of this. (30 points)
4. Magnolia Hawks was considered the most progressive female character ever created for the Broadway stage. Study her maturity from the beginning to the end of the musical and answer the following questions:
a. What were the features of Noli’s character (especially in Act II) that challenged the sexist stereotypes of the day and made her seem like a modern woman? (10 points)
5. What features of the show were most interesting to you? (10 points)
6. What questions do you have after studying this complicated show? (10 points)
7. As a way of helping me compute the hours you spent working outside of class on this assignment, please let me know how much time it took you to complete this response journal. (10 points)
Please note: there will be a 5 point deduction if you do not cite your source material accurately.
Purdam,Todd, Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution, New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2018.
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