Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:47, 25 September 2008

Revision as of 19:56, 5 October 2008

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The song, written in a [[blues]] tempo, is sung in the show by several characters, but is most closely associated with the character Julie, the [[mulatto]] leading lady of the showboat "Cotton Blossom". It is Julie who is first heard singing the song - to Magnolia, the daughter of Cap'n Andy Hawks and his wife Parthenia (Parthy), owners of the show boat. In the musical's plot, the number is supposed to be a song familiar to African-Americans for years, and this provides one of the most dramatic moments in the show. When Queenie, the black cook, comments that it is strange that light-skinned Julie knows the song because only black people sing it, Julie becomes visibly uncomfortable. Later, we learn that this is because Julie is "[[Passing (racial identity)|passing]]" as white - she and her white husband are guilty of [[miscegenation]] under the state's law.

==Repeated during ''Show Boat''==

AfterImmediately after Julie sings the song through once, Queenie chimes in with her own lyrics to it, and she is joined by her husband Joe, the black [[stevedore]] who sings ''[[Ol' Man River]]'' in the show. This is followed by Julie, Queenie, Magnolia, Joe, and the black chorus all performing a song-and-dance to the number.

==RepeatedPepeated duringDuring ''"Show Boat''"==

The last refrain of the song is briefly reprised at the end of the first act by the [[ensemble cast|ensemble]], as Magnolia and riverboat gambler Gaylord Ravenal enter a local church to get married.

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The song makes one last appearance in Act II of the show, when Magnolia uses it as an audition piece while trying to get a job as a singer in the Trocadero nightclub after Ravenal has deserted her.

==History of Performances==

"Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" was extremely associated with 1920s [[torch singer]] [[Helen Morgan]], who played Julie in the original 1927 stage production of ''Show Boat'', as well as the 1932 revival and [[Show Boat (1936 film)|the 1936 film version]]. While Morgan was alive, she "owned" the song as much as [[Judy Garland]] owned "[[Over the Rainbow]]" (from ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]''). However, Morgan died prematurely in 1941, her recordings are seldom played or reissued today, her films are infrequently seen, and the 1936 film version of ''Show Boat'' was taken completely out of circulation in 1942 to make way for [[MGM]]'s 1951 [[remake]] which featured [[Ava Gardner]] as Julie (with singing dubbed by Annette Warren). Therefore, modern audiences unfamiliar with the 1936 film have most likely never heard Helen Morgan's performance of the song. Another singer who had a big hit with it was [[Lena Horne]], who sang it in the [[Jerome Kern]] biopic ''[[Till the Clouds Roll By]]'', and could have easily played Julie in [[MGM]]'s ''Show Boat'' had the studio not been nervous about casting her in the role.