THE COTTON Blossom show boat sails the Mississippi River entertaining passengers with its variety shows, but underneath the laughter and song, the performers and crew must endure racial prejudice, forbidden love, and the constraints of a society where intolerance is in plentiful supply.
This is Show Boat, the classic musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, featuring such immortal songs as ‘Ol’ Man River’, ‘Can’t Help Loving’ Dat Man’, and ‘After The Ball’, which will be performed by the Galway Patrician Musical Society in the Town Hall Theatre from Tuesday March 6 to Saturday March 10 at 8pm.
He jes’ keeps rollin’ along
Show Boat is a special production for the Patrician Musical Society as it celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. The society was originally founded by the Christian Brothers in 1952 as a choir for the Patrician Boys Schoo. By the following year it had evolved into a musical society.
The PMS debuted on the stage with the opera Maritana by the Irish composer William Vincent Wallace, with a cast that included Sonny Molloy, Angela Coyne, and Gerry Glynn. Since then the PMS has staged a major production each year, bringing such musicals as My Fair Lady, Fiddler On The Roof, and the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, etc, to appreciative audiences, while also allowing generations of Galwegians a chance to strut their stuff on the stage.
“One of the reasons the society has been around for 60 years is that it has a core group that has always remained committed,” says Helen Cooke, a PMS committee member, who has served in a variety of posts from a ‘gofer’ in the 1970s to later being stage manager, president, and vice-president. “And their families come into it and you can often have three generations involved. My grand-niece for example is involved in the society.
“It’s also about what you learn - the fun, the camaraderie, and the acting, singing, and dancing skills. It’s a hobby and a lifetime commitment. The most important thing though that really keeps it going is the music. We just love it. Everyone is very passionate about what we are doing, the younger ones especially, and their enthusiasm in turn ensures the society will keep going into the future.”
So why has the PMS decided to mark its 60th birthday with Show Boat?
“It has some of the best music and a large number of parts for singers as there are 10 individual parts for actor/singers,” explains Helen. “It re-introduces audiences to Show Boat who have not seen it for a long time, as well as to those who may know ‘Ol Man River’ but not know where it comes from. And it’s a musical that has stood the test of time.”
Oh don’t be so narrow minded, Mrs Hawks
Much of the musical centres around Julie La Verne, a leading singer and actress on board The Cotton Blossom. She is mixed-race, being part African-American and part white. She is also married to a white man Steve Barker - a union that was actually illegal under the USA’s Anti-miscegenation laws which lasted from the 1600s to 1967.
Given the drama, jealousy, hidden identities, and suffering that characterise Julia’s life, and that she sings ‘Can’t Help Loving’ Dat Man’, it is a major role and one that actress Aoife Flannery is relishing.
“Julia is mixed-race and gets kicked off the show boat for having a white husband,” she says, “Then Julia and Steve split up and she ends up singing in a bar becoming a drunkard, but she is the character who gets to sing ‘Can’t Help Loving’ Dat Man’.
“There will be pressure on when I sing that song as people recognise it. Even if they don’t know the whole song, they know that line. We have an amazing line-up. There are two other characters, Magnolia and Queenie, and the actresses who play them are amazingly talented and they will be singing it with me. It will be a highlight of the show. It a key song and a way for Julie to express her Negro blood.”
Show Boat was both groundbreaking and controversial when it was first staged on Broadway in 1927. It was the first racially integrated musical, in that both black and white performers appeared and sang on stage together. Its depiction of an inter-racial romance was also daring.
Despite this the show has been criticised on numerous occasions with some commentators alleging its portrayal of black people is characterised by racism and stereotyping. And then there is the opening song, ‘Cotton Blossom’: “Niggers all work on the Mississippi/Niggers all work while the white folks play”.
What kind of challenges has the PMS faced in trying to overcome such inapprorate language and problems posed by the prejudices which were commom when the show was written, in putting together this production?
“As regards the opening song there is no way we will use that word,” declares Helen. “That word has been removed from productions of Show Boat and has been replaced and the word ‘Negros’ is used instead.
“In terms of portraying the African-American characters it is actually much easier now than it was in the past. In older productions, you would actually have your face blacked up like Al Jolson, which was ridiculous. For this production we will be using brightly coloured costumes to indicate the black characters and cooler, darker colours for the white characters.
“I think when you see the show now you see it is the black characters who emerge as the more powerful. They are not portrayed in any ‘stagey’ way. They have humour and integrity and come across as real people. I also think the show takes a stand on racism. It shows that Julie is not allowed live a full life because of racial prejudice and when she is being kicked off the boat, Cap’n Andy tries to stop that happening.”
Show Boat is also the musical which contains ‘Ol Man’ River’, which has become inextricably linked to American singer Paul Robeson, who made the song his own on the 1936 film version of the musical, thanks in large part to his seven leagues deep voice. Does the PMS have anyone who can get near that rich, low, register?
“We have the most amazing, amazing, amazing, man to sing the song - Cormac Ó Corcoráin,” declares Aoife. “He has the perfect pitch and tone. He is six foot six and skinny, but he can sing it. It will be a show stopper. It is an epic song and to have someone who can do it justice is brilliant.”
Life upon the wicked stage
Show Boat is directed by Peter Kennedy, the musical director is John Roe, and the chorus mistress is Martha O’Toole. The cast is Iona Le Gros (Magnolia ), Ronan Rooney (Gaylord ), Fr Michael Byrne (Cap’n Andy ), Margaret Martin (Parthy ), Alva Slevin (Queenie ), Cormac Ó Corcoráin (Joe ), Aoife Flannery (Julia ), Joe Joyce (Steve ), James Harris (Frank ), and Michelle Glynn (Ellie ).
The society is also keen to point out that Uachtaráin na hÉireann Michael D Higgins will attend the Wednesday night performance and it also wishes to thank “the Galway City Council and all our major sponsors, as well as all the people who have and continue to support us, through the years”.
Tickets are available from the Town Hall on 091 - 569777 and www.tht.ie
