NYT: Why ‘Show Boat’ Is America’s Most Enduring, Unstable Musical

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/08/arts/music/show-boat-river-musical-revival.html?unlocked_article_code=1.n04.DtLj.TzmARJmq6_M-

That's a well-thought article, so thank you for sharing.

Show Boat is an important work of American theatre history, and I think it holds up as a whole. However, as the writer points out, things that were progressive in the 1920s are dated and sometimes offensive 100 years later. When I watch an old movie, it's easy to forgive something as being from a "different" time, and it's interesting academically to examine what isn't acceptable now. Theatre just isn't the same because the creative team now has to grapple with performing the old material now. As much as I'd love a full-scale revival of the original Show Boat as it was with no cuts, I'm sure there would be performers and audiences who would balk at the first word of the original libretto. And would the appearance of that word cover up the actual intention of why it was used, especially because its meaning has changed in 100 years? Probably. That's why I think it's a smart idea to change In Dahomey enough so that the original 1920s intention exists but it's now appropriately asked to a 2020s audience.

Am I just asking the same questions as the article but less clearly? Probably. But this is the sort of thing that I find fascinating.

That really is an overall great article, but not only as pointed out does it bizarrely state that "In Dahomey" was set in a "human zoo," but it also implies that the blackface number in the 1936 version, "Gallivantin' Around," had been a part of the stage version, which it wasn't. And, yeah, don't believe there was ever any Rhaposdy in Blue in the orchestrations. In terms of the revamping of "In Dahomey" for this production, it's odd to have the chorus sing at first in actual Zulu, as the whole point of the song is that they feel no connection to the (fake) African culture the Fair has imposed on them as a job. And unless the lyrics are being alterned in the chorus, they will still be expressing that sentiment. But the original Show Boat is in the public domain now, so if they want to change the lyrics to the chorus, they are certainly free to do so.

I love Show Boat to distraction, but have always said a revival wouldn't work right now. I have to say, this sounds like an interesting production that could maybe prove me wrong. Hope we hear from people who see it.

I was at, what I believe was the first performance of Show/Boat: A River last night. The first half especially was a tough watch. The people sitting both to the right and left of me left at intermission and didn't come back. I'm glad leave I didn't but did consider it.

The basic problem was most of the major changes they make takes you out of the story, instead of modernizing it. Except for Joe and Queenie, there's color-blind casting for the roles and the actors wear a white sash saying "whiteness" when they were playing a white character. A stage hand wearing modern clothes and a Covid mask conspicuously hands props to the actors. The show goes in and out of trying to be a commentary on Show Boat, and actually performing it.

It makes it really hard to follow what's going on, and I also bought the soundtrack when I was 9 years old. If I'm getting confused, good luck to the person seeing Show Boat for the first time in sorting all this out.

It does become a little easier focusing on the story in the second half, and the songs which have always been the show's biggest selling point, mostly sounded great. The new non Kern opening song I'm not even going to comment on because of mike problems. The Zulu version of “In Dahomey” sounded pretty.

Obviously, a show originally involving blackface demands revisions to be staged. Maybe making more extensive changes to the book, giving the Black characters (in addition to Julie) actual storylines would have worked better? Staging a version that actively seemed to be fighting with the idea of performing Show Boat just didn't work for me.

Updated On: 1/10/25 at 09:10 AM

I agree. Julie is basically the only thing I remember about Show Boat because her story is so compelling.

The sashes discussed in the article kinda gave me the ick but I’ll reserve my judgement until I see it. Good to know it would help to refresh myself the plot a bit beforehand.

Show Boat is so clearly an extremely well-intended and (for its time) progressive show, hamstrung today by its creators being white men who were products of their time. It's also an unwieldy show, spanning nearly half a century and not really sure where to focus, leaving some characters by the wayside.

I'm also not sure that a wholesale revision of the book to modernize its sensibilities would be effective- such revisals rarely are successful. I think a deconstruction of it would be interesting, but nothing I've read or heard so far about Target Margin's production fills me with confidence and I'm really not sure Herskovits is the right person to be heading this. But I'd love to see an artist like Brendan Jacob-Jenkins give it the An Octoroon treatment.

raddersons said: "The sashes discussed in the article kinda gave me the ick"

Same.

joevitus said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Jonathan Cohen said: "Maybe making more extensive changes to the book, giving the Black characters (in addition to Julie) actual storylines would have worked better?"


I haven't seen this production yet (going in a few weeks), but for me Julie has always been the most compelling character in SHOW BOAT. To me, it would make most sense to focus the show around HER journey and arc in a future revision of the piece."

You'd, uh, have to jettison something like 80% of the show if you did that."

I never said it would be a small change! Don't know percentage but it would be a matter of refocusing and rewriting the book, modifying some lyrics, and perhaps reassigning some songs. But I'm not a director/writer mounting this. It was a fleeting thought.

But these are things that are allowed now that it's public domain, and the original version (and subsequent revisals) will always exist.

Kad said: "
I'm also not sure that a wholesale revision of the book to modernize its sensibilities would be effective- such revisals rarely are successful.."

I think the closest and best we can get to that was what Hal Prince did--even if I don't agree with all of his changes. Certainly, he did the best job I've seen of trying to keep the focus tighter (especially in Act II which is, almost by design, unwieldy.) Because Show Boat has had so many different versions, it's hard to know when to call something a revisal or a revival, but I think Hal Prince's production from a text stand point is certainly more of what I'd call a revisal than, say, anything that's ever been done with a Rodgers and Hammerstein show--except Flower Drum Song. And then if you do look at Flower Drum Song, Prince's Show Boat doesn't look like a revisal at all, so... (I have no idea what I'm saying anymore :P )

Jonathan Cohen said: "

Obviously, ashow originally involving blackface demands revisions to be staged. "

Thanks for your detailed review!

As to this point, while the (pretty great) 1936 movie does have a blackface number in a diegetic performance piece, the black face in the original was different. Yes, Queenie was played by Italian actress Tess Gardella whose stage credit at the time was Aunt Jemima which now is just all kinds of gross. But from all accounts, including the great book Show Boat: Performing Race in the American Musical, she played the role not as a blackface character but just with coloured makeup. Which still of course now is gross but for 1927 was not all that different from how in 1951, despite best intentions, most of the Asians in King and I, not to mention two years earlier in South Pacific, were white actors in makeup (as if understanding this issue, 6 years later Hammerstein made a point that for Flower Drum Song they would only cast Asians, but in the end they used one white actor--without makeup--in a lead anyway. And of course there's the interesting case of the great Juanita Hall who was black but played Asian leads in both South Pacific and Flower Drum Song but...

So in 1927 casting Queenie that way, wasn't regarded as blackface the way it would be in other shows. If that makes sense--the role wasn't written as a blackface role. Which of course doesn't excuse anything but gives some context.

What I kind of love about SHOW BOAT is that there isn’t a definitive version of the book and score and it’s impossible to include all 3.5+ hours. Sort of like the CANDIDE conversation that happened on here a few weeks ago. But the piece is strong enough to withstand a lot of different versions cherry-picking an individual person’s preferred edition of the material.

wearing a sash that says "Whiteness" is about as close as you get to reverse racism as possible. It's as offensive to me as Blackface. Theatre has become a joke. It's not about telling the story the author wrote anymore... Colorblind casting was begun by actors who want jobs. Nothing more. If colorblind casting works so well... can I do an all white cast of a August Wilson play? I should be able to. It's colorblind. The author is the KING of any production. NOT the actor and their desires. Everyone is there to serve the intention of the author.

What a sad state to reduce characters to sashes and buttons.