Selections from "Showboat" - Jerome Kern (1885-1945)/Arr RR Bennett

Showboat was a 1924 musical based on a best-selling novel by Edna Ferber, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Depicting some 50 years of the lives of the performers, stagehands, and workers aboard a Mississippi show boat, this musical drama represented a radical departure from the usual light operettas of ‘ladies, legs and laughs’ that preceded it. It was the first Broadway musical to feature a mixed race cast, with racial prejudices a major theme. Its Arranger, Robert Russell Bennett, was perhaps Broadway’s most famous orchestrator. His 300+ arrangements include Oklahoma, The King and I, The Sound of Music, Kiss Me Kate and My Fair Lady. Featured songs in this selection from Showboat include: Where’s the Mate for me? Why do I love you?; Fate Theme; Opening Act 1; Cotton Blossom; You are love; Make Believe; Finale act 1; and Old Man River.
Program Note by Patricia Matos Puente,MD