Read Online Enchanted Evenings:The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber by Geoffrey Block - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Geoffrey Block
Ads: Link
in its entirety in August by Doubleday. Early in October, Kern, who had read half of Ferber’s new book, phoned Woollcott to ask for a letter of introduction to its author and met her at a performance of Kern’s latest musical,
Criss Cross
, that same evening. Even before Ferber had signed a contract on November 17 giving Kern and Hammerstein “dramatico-musical” rights to her hot property, the co-conspirators had already completed enough material to impress
Follies
impresario Ziegfeld nine days later. 21 On December 11 Kern and Hammerstein signed their contracts, according to which a script was to be delivered by January 1 and the play was to appear “on or before the first day of April 1927.” 22
By 1927, Kern had long since earned the mantle allegedly bestowed on him by Victor Herbert (1859–1924), the composer of
Naughty Marietta
(1910) and dozens of other Broadway shows, as the most distinguished American-born theater composer. For more than a decade Kern had been the modeland envy of Porter, Gershwin, and Rodgers, who were embarking on their careers during the Princess Theatre years. But it was not until
Show Boat
that Kern had the opportunity to create a more ambitious species of Broadway musical. The care which he lavished on the score is conspicuously evident from the numerous extant pre-tryout drafts on deposit at the Library of Congress (see “Manuscript Sources for Ravenal’s Entrance and Meeting with Magnolia” no. 1 in the online website) and by an unprecedentedly long gestation period from November 1926 to November 1927 that included numerous and lengthy discussions with librettist and lyricist Hammerstein. Many other changes were made during the out-of-town tryouts.
Reconstructing
Show Boat
(1927–1994)
In order to provide a framework for discussing
Show Boat
it will be useful to distinguish among its various stage and film versions. Although the vocal score of the 1927 production, published by T. B. Harms in April 1928, has been out of print for decades, much of this original Broadway version was retained in the still-available London vocal score published by Chappell & Co. (also 1928). It is also fortunate that much of the Convent Scene and two brief passages absent from the Chappell score—the parade music in act I, scene 1, and the “Happy New Year” music (“Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”) in act II, scene 6—can be found in a third vocal score, published by the Welk Music Group, that also corresponds reasonably well to the 1946 touring production. 23
McGlinn’s 1988 recording is an indispensable starting point for anyone interested in exploring a compendium of the versions produced between 1927 and 1946 (as well as the 1936 film). 24 All of these versions incorporate new ideas and usually new songs by the original creators. Even if one does not agree with all of McGlinn’s artistic and editorial decisions, especially his decision to include in the main body of the recording (rather than in the appendix) material that Kern and Hammerstein had agreed to cut from the production during tryouts, the performances are impressive and the notes by Kreuger and McGlinn carefully researched.
In the introduction to his monograph Kreuger notes that “one fascinating aspect of
Show Boat
is that, unlike most major musicals, it has never had an official script or score.” 25 The lack of the former did not pose a problem to Kreuger, who had obtained the 1927 libretto directly from Hammerstein himself a few days before his death in August 1960. 26 Its absence has proven, however, to be an enormous headache for historians and, conversely, a source of opportunity for some directors (for example, Hal Prince), who havebeen given a free hand to decipher and interpret the complicated evolution and varied documentary legacy of this musical according to their personal visions.
One extended number published by Harms, “Mis’ry’s Comin’ Aroun,’” had been dropped from the production in
Criss Cross
, that same evening. Even before Ferber had signed a contract on November 17 giving Kern and Hammerstein “dramatico-musical” rights to her hot property, the co-conspirators had already completed enough material to impress
Follies
impresario Ziegfeld nine days later. 21 On December 11 Kern and Hammerstein signed their contracts, according to which a script was to be delivered by January 1 and the play was to appear “on or before the first day of April 1927.” 22
By 1927, Kern had long since earned the mantle allegedly bestowed on him by Victor Herbert (1859–1924), the composer of
Naughty Marietta
(1910) and dozens of other Broadway shows, as the most distinguished American-born theater composer. For more than a decade Kern had been the modeland envy of Porter, Gershwin, and Rodgers, who were embarking on their careers during the Princess Theatre years. But it was not until
Show Boat
that Kern had the opportunity to create a more ambitious species of Broadway musical. The care which he lavished on the score is conspicuously evident from the numerous extant pre-tryout drafts on deposit at the Library of Congress (see “Manuscript Sources for Ravenal’s Entrance and Meeting with Magnolia” no. 1 in the online website) and by an unprecedentedly long gestation period from November 1926 to November 1927 that included numerous and lengthy discussions with librettist and lyricist Hammerstein. Many other changes were made during the out-of-town tryouts.
Reconstructing
Show Boat
(1927–1994)
In order to provide a framework for discussing
Show Boat
it will be useful to distinguish among its various stage and film versions. Although the vocal score of the 1927 production, published by T. B. Harms in April 1928, has been out of print for decades, much of this original Broadway version was retained in the still-available London vocal score published by Chappell & Co. (also 1928). It is also fortunate that much of the Convent Scene and two brief passages absent from the Chappell score—the parade music in act I, scene 1, and the “Happy New Year” music (“Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”) in act II, scene 6—can be found in a third vocal score, published by the Welk Music Group, that also corresponds reasonably well to the 1946 touring production. 23
McGlinn’s 1988 recording is an indispensable starting point for anyone interested in exploring a compendium of the versions produced between 1927 and 1946 (as well as the 1936 film). 24 All of these versions incorporate new ideas and usually new songs by the original creators. Even if one does not agree with all of McGlinn’s artistic and editorial decisions, especially his decision to include in the main body of the recording (rather than in the appendix) material that Kern and Hammerstein had agreed to cut from the production during tryouts, the performances are impressive and the notes by Kreuger and McGlinn carefully researched.
In the introduction to his monograph Kreuger notes that “one fascinating aspect of
Show Boat
is that, unlike most major musicals, it has never had an official script or score.” 25 The lack of the former did not pose a problem to Kreuger, who had obtained the 1927 libretto directly from Hammerstein himself a few days before his death in August 1960. 26 Its absence has proven, however, to be an enormous headache for historians and, conversely, a source of opportunity for some directors (for example, Hal Prince), who havebeen given a free hand to decipher and interpret the complicated evolution and varied documentary legacy of this musical according to their personal visions.
One extended number published by Harms, “Mis’ry’s Comin’ Aroun,’” had been dropped from the production in
Similar Books
