Kern: Showboat

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Cat No: 8120789

Release Date: 30 April 2005

Label: Naxos - Nostalgia / Naxos Nostalgic

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 636943278925

Genres: Jazz

Description
Show Boat1932 Studio Album and 1946 Broadway RevivalMusic by Jerome Kern Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein IIShow Boat shares something with the MississippiRiver so central to its story: it never flowsthe same way twice.Perhaps more than any other work inmodern theatre, Show Boat has varied with eachnew incarnation, due to changes in political ordramatic fashion. Lyrics have been rewritten,songs dumped or added, scenes juggled andcharacters reconceived.This recording reflects three of the variousversions of the score which have come down tous over the years since Show Boat opened onBroadway on 27 December 1927.Actually, the musical began its journey toNew York three and a half years earlier, with anappropriately theatrical setting.Author Edna Ferber was on the road with aplay of hers which was then called Old ManMinick. After a spectacularly unsuccessfullypremi?â?¿re in New London, Connecticut, producerWinthrop Ames tried to cheer up Ferber and thecompany with a whimsical notion.'Next time,' he said,'I won't go out of townwith a show. I'll just let it play on a show boat.''What's a show boat?' asked Ferber andhistory was made.Ames went on to explain to her that sinceshortly after the Civil War, large especiallyequipped riverboats had been sailing up anddown the Mississippi river, presenting comedies,melodramas and variety shows to the people inthe riverside towns.Ferber instantly saw this as a setting for oneof those sweeping historical romances that hadmade her famous and in 1926 Show Boat waspublished to great critical acclaim as well ashuge popular sales.One of the people to read it with particularinterest was Jerome Kern. The successfulcomposer of such Broadway hits as \Sallyand"Sunny"was always on the lookout for his nextproject. Before he had finished more than a fewchapters, he called up Oscar Hammerstein II, oneof his favourite collaborators, and told him hehad found their next vehicle.Hammerstein shared Kern's enthusiasm forthe work and almost at once the pair of themwere outlining scenes and conceiving songs fortheir proposed show.The only problem was that they didn't havethe rights to Ferber's novel.Kern waited until the opening of his nextshow, Criss-Cross, on 12 October 1926. Heforced his way across the lobby at intermissionto confront the larger-than-life critic AlexanderWoolcott, a good friend of Ferber's. He beggedWoolcott to arrange a meeting, going on and onabout how he had to get the rights to ShowBoat. The waspish Woolcott let his friendexhaust himself before finally turning and introducinghim to his companion of the evening,Edna Ferber.Fortunately, Ferber and Kern got along, as didHammerstein when he was added to theequation. The trio then aimed their sights onFlorenz Ziegfeld, the most flamboyant produceron the theatrical scene.He, too, loved the idea and wanted it to openhis new Ziegfeld Theatre in February of 1927.Hammerstein and Kern were capable of rapidwork, but they sensed this project could besomething out of the ordinary
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