John McGlinn's SHOWBOAT: A Treasure

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 2/22/09 at 7:47am

I spent yesterday afternoon listening to John McGlinn's recording of the complete SHOWBOAT which I had just received in the mail. I ordered it "Used--Like New" from Amazon.com for only $9.00. The recording and accompanying booklet were in pristine shape. I read the libretto along with the recording and felt transported to the Ziegfeld Theatre where SHOWBOAT had its premiere in 1927. This CD set is just plain magnificent. All of the singers are wonderful and their acting is fine as well. Of course my motivation for listening to the album was especially prompted by John McGlinn's untimely death recently. I cannot recommend this set too highly for any student of Broadway, which in a way we all are. If you are somehow, unaware of Jerome Kern's genius, this CD set of 3 discs will set things right. There is a notation at Amazon that this set, unlike the single disc of highlights, is being discontinued by the manufacturer. I would encourage anyone who does not yet have this McGlinn set to get it right away. The prices are going up for the remaining ones. And you will be giving your tribute to a rescuer of a remarkable score by Jerome Kern and Oscar HammersteinII. The original orchestrations are by the giant Robert Russell Bennett who continued to work into the 1960's.

Updated On: 2/22/09 at 07:47 AM

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 2/22/09 at 8:31am

I thoroughly agree.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 2/22/09 at 8:37am

I've had and loved the SB recording for years. And speaking of Jerome Kern, McGlinn did a perfectly glorious recap of Kern's songs in "Jerome Kern Treasury" with George Dvorsky, Hugh Panaro, Thomas Hampson, Rebecca Luker and the London Sinfonietta Orchestra and Chorus. Having recently been enthralled by Encores! Music in the Air, it's gratifying that it contains two numbers from that show (Egern on the Tegern See and The Song is You). Listen to Hampson's rendition of Song is You -- fantastic. And all done with the original orchestrations and arrangements. What a shame that McGlinn wasn't able to record Music in the Air and, as he notes, The Cat and the Fiddle, in their entirety.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 2/22/09 at 9:46am

And it has a haunting Teresa Stratas as Julie!

[elmore3003]

Posted: 2/22/09 at 10:38am

I was fortunate to work on the SHOW BOAT recording and, for many months, all of SHOW BOAT sat in cartons in the middle of my apartment because John wanted me to have access to them while he was in London recording. At one point, he did call with a question, and I had to sort through several boxes before I found what he needed. I was also the appointed one to go to the office of Harriet Pilpel, the Kern Estate's attorney, to pick up the permissions to retrieve from Warner Brothers Music the manuscripts of the Apache Danse, "It's Getting Hotter in the North" and the Box Office Scene and have the scores copied and shipped to London for the recording.

My memories of how bowled over I was at hearing the completed rough mix and my pride in being a part of this achievement are quite strong today; I still remember sitting with John at a sidewalk table across from Lncoln Center, looking at the proposed SHOW BOAT packaging and talking about the casting for other EMI recordings. We talked about a CAMELOT with Sarah Brightman and (I think) Jeremy Irons, a KNICKERBOCKER HOLIDAY with Laurence Olivier, and a ROBERTA with French opera star Regine Crespin as Aunt Minnie, who moved to Paris and became Madame Roberta.

I'm sorry to hear that EMI may discontinue the product. They never knew quite how to handle McGlinn's suggestions and, because they didn't know American musical theatre, they wanted recognizable titles; it was kind of like asking a chef whose specialty was caviar to work for Burger King.

[danceallnight]

Posted: 3/4/09 at 6:05pm

Hey Gypsy, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I just got it through ebay for a Buy It Now price of 7.99 (all 3 discs). The seller obviously didn't know they could get alot more for it. It arrived quickly and I can't stop listening to it. It just sparkles. Love it!

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/4/09 at 8:31pm

The original edition in the white box has been discontinued because EMI re-released it in their Great recordings of thr Century series, at the lower price of $34.98

I was surprised at the reissue and then realized this recording is now over 20 years old. I had the privilage of hosting the broadcast premiere of the complete recording in October 1988. Doesn't seem like it was 20 years ago...but it was!


SHOW BOAT

[Hest882]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 12:41am

Oh, yes, this is a marvelous, marvelous treasure. I bought it only a few months ago and had no idea how I'd done without it!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 1:16am

I saved up for MONTHS and special ordered this when I was 11 years old--I think it came to something like 70or 80 dollars--ridiculous (days before online purchasing)

I used to have a few quibbles with it--McGlinn's series of recordings at the time liked to cast opera stars and sometimes it was inappropriate but in this case it was less so--they all do a fine jobe and Show Boat in 1927 was probably sung in a very operetta-like style anyway. (and one of the non opera stars, Paige O'Hara pre Beauty and the Beast is wonderful).

What it really shows though is what an awesome HUGE piece of work Show Boat was--the music is so grandiose even--and some fo those cut choruses are just GORGEOUS. I knwo Show Boat is always revived in changed scripts but I love the New York Fair's segment, songs liek Hey Feller, great great stuff. And the original orchestrations with banjo; wonderful. you really can picture the huge Ziegfeld production (some of the chorus bits are hard to understand the words too but again I sorta think this may be authentic--in those big unmiked theatres).

It certainly makes me miss a lot of music in other versions (as much as I loved the Prince revival)

One piece of gossip I remember--McGlinn had a black and a white chorus, and the black chorus refused to sing the "n*s all work" opening so he had to have the white chorus sing it instead.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 8:04am

Ed, thanks so much for the head's up about the Jerome Kern Treasury CD! It looks like jUST the kind of CD I've been wanting to get.

[TheKryptoniteKid]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 8:15am

I've been listening to and loving this recording since 1988. The big dance number on the last disc, incorporating I'M JUST WILD ABOUT HARRY, is a showstopper!

[philcrosby]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 9:48am

In addition to the JEROME KERN TREASURY, other McGlinn "must haves" are BROADWAY SHOWSTOPPERS (for the sublime "Some Girl is On Your Mind" if for nothing else), his BRIGADOON featurng Brent Barrett, Rebecca Luker and Judy Kaye, and my guilty-pleasure fave THE BUSBY BERKELEY ALBUM.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 5:20pm

I have always loved Teresa Stratas. Now if only there had been a recording of her in Rags. Julia Migenes is in fine voice on the 91 studio recording, but from the handful of people I know who saw the show, does not reach the same levels that Stratas did.

However, probably because she is the only one I've seen in a full production, Lonette McKee's rendition of "Bill" is my favorite. I love the husky, deep quality of her voice on the Hal Prince recording. Stratas and Audra McDonald are tied for second place in my ears.

[elmore3003]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 6:11pm

EricMontreal22, I have to defend McGlinn for a moment in your criticism of his use of opera singers. This was part of his contract with EMI; they wanted crossover albums and they wanted shows that could use their concept of stars. McGlinn's first album for EMI was opera star Kiri Te Kanawa, who was a pain in the butt, singing Gershwin songs. Hence, the Thomas Hampson casting in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN over, say, Ron Raines. John always had to think, in casting possible shows, what stars would make EMI happy.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 3/6/09 at 3:11am

Eric, it's worth it to save up your money as well and buy a copy of the amazing book "Showboat, The Story of a Classic American Musical" by Miles Krueger. Never before or since has anyone analyzed a Broadway show the way Miles does (and it helps that he owns a great deal of the original papers from the production.) The book is an amazing example of just how many changes a show can go through, of all the runs shows in the 20s and 30s had (New York, Los Angeles and tours both first class and poverty-row.) It details the poor, bedraggled cast of the national tour that, during the start of the depression, cut the show down to 60 minutes so it could open in front of big movies - Helen Morgan turns out to have been a goddess as she stayed with the tour for the whole run, at a constantly-dwindling salary just so everyone else would have a job.

I really can't stop singing the praises of Miles' work here.

BTW, the bok is usually very expensive, if you can find it.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/6/09 at 3:19am

> Julia Migenes is in fine voice on the 91 studio recording, but from the handful of people I know who saw the show, does not reach the same levels that Stratas did.<

Stratas is Stratas, but Migenes sounds almost eerily similar on Rags to Stratas' vocals in the same.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/6/09 at 6:48am

"However, probably because she is the only one I've seen in a full production, Lonette McKee's rendition of "Bill" is my favorite. I love the husky, deep quality of her voice on the Hal Prince recording. "

I got to see her in the Prince production in Canada and she was heartbreaking--and sounds wonderful she hasn't really done any musical theatre since has she? It's also interesting (but hard to compare due to old recording quality--acoustic I believe) Helen Morgan in the role.

Allofmylife--Iw as a Show Boat FREAK as a junior high student and I actually got a copy of that book from our library--I knew a librarian and when they were doign a discard sale I pointe dout it hadn't been checked out in YEARS except by me and she gave it to me for a dollar it's a wonderful book, the kind you wish were out there for every musical (and of course his linear notes for the CD are good too--he must have been so thrilled to help with the recording after writing the book when it seemed one would never happen).

Elmore that makes complete sense--I know they marketed them through their classical division (because when I bought one--again at 11 or 12 years old, the store owner gave me a sampler CD from the company of some selections from new releases). Thanks for clearing it up, for some reason I didn't think of that. As I said, for the msot part I think it works particularly for Show Boat (more so than Annie Get Your Gun) as 1927 voices, especially for the leads were fairly oepratic and he did for the most part, again a good job of picking opera singers who could crossover (when you hear Renee Fleming try to sing Rodgers and Hart, still using a full operatic voice and pronounciation you know what I mean)

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 3/12/09 at 2:58am

"Eric, it's worth it to save up your money as well and buy a copy of the amazing book 'Showboat, The Story of a Classic American Musical' by Miles Krueger. Never before or since has anyone analyzed a Broadway show the way Miles does (and it helps that he owns a great deal of the original papers from the production.) The book is an amazing example of just how many changes a show can go through, of all the runs shows in the 20s and 30s had (New York, Los Angeles and tours both first class and poverty-row.) It details the poor, bedraggled cast of the national tour that, during the start of the depression, cut the show down to 60 minutes so it could open in front of big movies - Helen Morgan turns out to have been a goddess as she stayed with the tour for the whole run, at a constantly-dwindling salary just so everyone else would have a job."

Just wanted to clarify that this is what happened on the tour of the 1932 revival, which admittedly was more or less a recreation of the original production and was produced by Ziegfeld. Ziegfeld died during the Broadway run of the revival so he didn't produce the tour. The show was cut down to 90 minutes, according to Kreuger, not 60. But, yes, it's a sad story.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/12/09 at 3:20am

It's also interesting (but hard to compare due to old recording quality--acoustic I believe) Helen Morgan in the role.

Nope it's electric. The record labels switched to using microphones in 1925. (Before that all recordings were made acoustic.) The diference in sound quality between 1924 and 1925 records is quite astounding.

Morgan recorded her songs for Victor Talking Machine soon after SHOW BOAT opened. She re-recorded them for Bunswick's album of the 1932 revival, weaving some of "Mis'ry's Comin' Aroun'" into the arrangement, which I quite like.

I also like Cleo Laine's version of "Bill" on the 1971 London cast, as well as her solo of "Nobody Else But Me."

But as I said earlier, EMI's complete recording is essential.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 3/12/09 at 2:05pm

The book "Showboat: The Story of a Classical American Musical" by Miles Krueger is $160.00 on Amazon!!!

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/12/09 at 2:28pm

^ I guess the copy I got for $20 at a used bookstore was a good investment.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/12/09 at 7:24pm

Sadly, I haven't been able to listen to this recording of SHOWBOAT since Jerry Hadley took his life two years ago.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/12/09 at 11:01pm

way to bring a downer on all of us...

(That was tragic, though I think in a way it's nice to have these wonderful recordings to remember him by)

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/13/09 at 2:04pm

Hmm was that SHOW BOAT album cursed? Hadley & McGlinn. Plus Bruce Hubbard also passed away quite young not long after the album was released.

We have also lost Nancy Kulp and Lilian Gish (due to old age)

[allofmylife]

Posted: 3/13/09 at 2:35pm

nobodyhome, you are absolutely correct on all points. I would have written it up just that way, but frankly, I pulled that knowledge out of my ass. All my stuff is in storage, including my playbill collection and the great Krueger book, so I was doing that from memory. Oh, and I have both versions of the program for the 32 revival, one with the ladies of the chorus and the other with the portrait of Ziggie after he died. I also have many with The Great Z hawking Camels on the back cover - at least we know where the lung cancer came from.....