Show Boat

  “Another opening, another show . . .” And again I’m effusive about this treasure in the Valley—the Arizona Broadway Theatre. Last Tuesday we saw what they did with Show Boat, the Jerome Kern/Leonard Hammerstein chestnut from 1927. I remember seeing the film version in 1951, with Howard Keel, Catherine Grayson, and Ava Gardner. I decided to listen on YouTube to those versions of “Ol’ Man River” to see which was better. In 1927, Paul Robeson sang it; in the film, William Warfield sang it; and at ABT, Earl Hazell sang it. Mr. Hazell was much better than Robeson and about as good as, maybe even better than, Warfield. Talk about a voice like milk chocolate. He may not have been as low as a basso profondo but he was certainly deep, more a basso cantante with an upper register that was rich and effortless. When I saw the film version, it didn’t hit me then what a musical statement this show made about race relations, male dominance, and alcoholism. I learned that the various productions, depending on the times and audiences, have wrestled with a suitable way to refer to Blacks. In the opening lyrics to “Ol’ Man River,” it went from, “Niggers all work” to “Colored folk work,” to “Here we all work.” How curious. Today, we still find “nigger” offensive enough that it’s referred to as the “n-word.” How silly. I would think most Black males would be more offended by “Hey, boy” than by “nigger.”  Show Boat also addressed the miscegenation laws back in the day. Julie, who is trying to pass as white, is about to be arrested because she’s married to a white man. Before the sheriff gets there, her husband cuts her finger and then sucks some blood so that he could truthfully say he was a black man, having one or two drops of Negro blood in him. How strange that not that long ago, we had such a racist attitude toward Negros. The story may have been shallow and outdated, but the sets, costumes, choreography, and voices were all excellent, especially that of Earl Hazell as Joe, Brittany Santos as Magnolia, Lacy Sauter as Julie, and Jamie Parnell as Gaylord Ravenal. ABT just keeps getting better and better.