Musical History Studies
...f the ship and riggings, which he made into a model stage. The plots of each of them are very different, the synopsis of H.M.S. Pinafore is very straightforward and simple e.g. The captain's daughter and a common sailor on his ship fall in love. The end. Whereas with showboat which was a much later musical is a lot more complex and has twists etc. It is a musical treasure that beautifully paints a portrait of the ugliness of racism, marital discord and abandonment. And it is a story of love proclaimed in songs that have become standards in American musical literature. ‘SHOW BOAT’ covers one of the most dramatic eras in American history and spans four decades to tell its panoramic, romantic story of the Cotton Blossom floating theatre, the Hawks family and their show boat troupe of actors. Now with the wizard of oz its different again, the other too are more believable and fact, whereas the wizard of oz starts off believable but then is changed to make believe and fantasy. It too has a more complex plot. E.g. It’s basically about a girl, who wants to get away, she gets knocked out and a twister transports her house to another land. In this land called ‘OZ’, her house lands on a wicked witch. She wants to go home, so the good fairy tells her to go and see the ‘wizard of oz’. She sets off on a journey with a wicked witch after her who’s trying to get hold of the ruby slippers Dorothy was given. On the way she meets a scarecrow tin man and loin, all of which have something missing, so they all join Dorothy on her journey to see the wizard. Oz is a land that’s ‘over the rainbow’ so it’s very make believe. She does manage to get home again. Each musical is portraying a different example to the audience. For example, ‘Showboat (which out of the three is the most hardcore and symbolic) as its a public statement of how much gambling could ruin your life and to make people aware of how easy it is to become addicted. Gambling was very common in this genre with all the gangsters’ etc, so it was showing people what it could do to families and friends. Racism is also a major issue in this musical. Racism was all around in this genre. In the musical its conveyed by a mulatta named Julie Laverne, who is forced out of her job in Captain Andy's Floating Palace because her black blood is revealed to the authorities. Throughout the film, Magnolia is contrasted against Julie (the mulatta, or as she is represented in the film, the black character). As showboats and adaptation of a book by Edna Ferber, she acknowledges that her book "failed in its handling of the Negro". The film adaptation of her novel posits an interesting understanding of American race relations and a recognition (albeit in the shadows) of the necessity of African Americans in American culture. Magnolia, serving as the white double for Julie, expresses herself through blackness, and in fact, makes a living by singing "Niger songs" (the description of a potential employer in the film). Juda Bennett notes of "the importance of performance in the making of Americans". Again, a passing character engages in the co-modification of black culture, while also bringing the performance of race and capitalism together to create identity The point I believe the wizard of oz is trying to convey is that when you’ve got something you love, make sure you keep it because one day you mite lose it and all you’ll want is to get it back, no matter how much you think you don’t. The H.M.S. is so basic that it’s not really portraying any points though it! The music in all of them are also different, in what they are trying to portray and how they are sung. In some musicals the actual songs mean a lot to the musical itself and in others its just another pretty song to add to the mood, tension and affection of the performance. In the H.M.S. Pinafore the lyrics were written after the actual music was composed and that why it’s not that impressive or meaningful, they were very random, long and complicated word also with nonsense meaning. A perfect example of the type of song you’d expect to hear in this musical from the song ‘I am the monarch of the sea’ – COUSIN HEBE. And so do his sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts! ALL. And so do his sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts! SIR JOSEPH. But when the breezes blow, I generally go below, And seek the seclusion that a cabin grants; COUSIN HEBE. And so do his sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts! ALL. And so do his sisters, and his cousins, and his aunts! His sisters and his cousins, Whom he reckons up by dozens, And his aunts! In showboat the lyrics were written first, therefore making the songs much more lyrical and meaningful. But they aren’t really needed to make the story flow, they are used to show the audience how the actors/characters are feeling emotionally at that time, and example of what the lyrics are like, from the song ‘loving dat man of mine’ - Fish got to swim, birds got to fly, I got to love one man till I die. Can't help lovin' dat man of mine. Tell me he's lazy, tell me he's slow, Tell me I'm crazy, (maybe I know). Can't help lovin' dat man of mine. When he goes away, Dat's a rainy day, ‘In the wizard of oz’ the music is su...