1st Live Performance: “Show Boat” at the New London Theatre, London
On my way back home for the summer (which is Kolkata, India for me – quite a long commute, you can imagine!) after the spring semester ended, I spent two weeks in London visiting friends and family. While I was in the city with my father, in accordance with our London theatre tradition, we had to watch a musical this time round too. We saw the New London Theatre revival of the 1927 musical “Show Boat,” which was truly sublime and it carried a wave of overwhelming emotion, nothing like what I had experienced watching a musical.
We were running late for the musical (okay, I admit, it was my fault) and my father was quite worried throughout the cab ride by the idea of being held at the gates by the ushers until the end of Scene I; luckily, nothing of the sort happened (Pranav 1 – 0 Dad). The West End was very different from the other London theatres I had visited in the past like the Royal Albert and Prince Edward. Rather “new” (as I was told by my father; wonder what that meant…), it was larger than the others I remembered, with two stories; the stage was at the centre of the auditorium with seats surrounding half the projected circumference, it looked like a thrust stage. The orchestra was concealed and the play did not utilise many changes of sets. The actors made use of the aisles very frequently, making entrances and entrance – this made me feel that the stage had been very naturally extended. The main set, which was where most of the scenes happened, was the show boat at its dock, with people freuently coming in, going, and passing by. With few scenes shot at Chicago’s bar shown “Trocadero” which show the Cap’n, Gaylord and Magnolia’s house and their daughter’s school, the show boat set was made the site of most of the play’s happenings.
Show Boat was first adapted into a musical in 1927 from Edna Ferber’s best-selling novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock workers on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat, over 40 years, from 1887 to 1927. Its themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love. Judging by its narrative, dialogues, character representations and motive, Show Boat boldly portrays racial issues of the Jim Crow era of the American South. It is was also the first racially integrated musical. The songs from the musical are extremely effective in setting this tone and are emotionally powerful in communicating the theme. The most popular song “Ol’ Man River” from the musical became a consistent and synonymous undertone in the way I could perceive and understand the race issues and struggle portrayed. What I found very unique was that Show Boat, at its time, addressed the idea of race: what makes you white or black; the stigma carried by interracial marriage; and, the “need” people felt for segregation. When Julie’s character was exposed to be or mixed race, it came as a shock for me as I did not expect such a revelation or plot twist because of the time it was written in. This portrayal also made me think about the blurred distinction race has. While Magnolia and Gaylord can be written off as the protagonists of the play, with most of the plot surrounding them, the musical’s narrative runs parallel story lines with characters such as the Cap’n Hawks and his wife and Joe, the African-American dock worker and his wife the cook, Queenie. The second song from the musical, which, I thought, was absolutely a wonderful composition and worked well with the story, was “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man.” This was almost allegorical in the beginning and later deeply reflective, as and when Magnolia sings it – because, like the words to the song, with her husband Gaylord’s irresponsible gambling and even after he abandoned her and their daughter, he can’t help loving that man. This is also projected as a universal theme among the women characters of the musical from Julie to Queenie, as all of them are seen singing the song. As with “Ol’ Man River,” which becomes the overarching theme for all the African-American characters, as they all sing it.
Just by virtue of the musical’s theme, associated history and uniquely emotional premise, “Show Boat” had a very powerful effect on me. There were moments, in the play and in between songs, where I was left teary-eyed, just by the emotion that I instantly found resonance with. Show Boat at its very core is a inspiring narrative with great historical significance. I feel lucky to have been able to have seen it and thank god we didn’t miss that 1st scene.