Chapter 8: Broadway and Musical Theater
Alongside Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern (1885–1945) was one of the most influential early composers in American musical theater, playing a crucial role in the shift from revue and operetta styles toward the more cohesive book musical format that came to define Broadway’s golden age.
Kern began his musical training with a strong foundation in classical music. After finishing high school, his parents sent him to Germany to study harmony, counterpoint, and music theory—a common path for aspiring composers of the time. On his return to the United States, Kern spent a formative year in London working as a rehearsal pianist for vaudeville and operetta productions. There, he gained valuable experience and earned a reputation as a "tune doctor," someone skilled at revising weak melodies or chord progressions to strengthen songs.
By the time he returned to America, Kern was already recognized as a talented pianist, arranger, and composer. Between 1905 and 1912, he wrote over 100 songs for 31 stage musicals, contributing to both British and American productions. Early songs such as "Yesterdays" and "The Last Time I Saw Paris" demonstrated his melodic inventiveness and lyrical sensitivity.
Kern’s greatest achievement came in 1927 with the groundbreaking musical Show Boat, a collaboration with lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. Based on a novel by Edna Ferber, Show Boat broke new ground by combining serious storytelling with fully integrated songs and characters—a major departure from the light, episodic style of earlier Broadway productions. Its music and themes addressed complex topics such as racial prejudice, love, loss, and social mobility, making it one of the first truly dramatic book musicals in American theater history.
Show Boat featured several now-iconic songs, including "Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man of Mine" and "Ol’ Man River" with the latter becoming one of the most enduring numbers in American musical history. The score blended operatic richness with the rhythms of jazz and blues, illustrating Kern’s talent for bridging classical composition with popular appeal.
The success of Show Boat provided a model for later Broadway musicals, demonstrating how music, lyrics, and narrative could work together to tell a cohesive and emotionally resonant story. Kern’s work laid the foundation for later composers like Rodgers and Hammerstein, whose own musicals would continue to build on the innovations first realized in Show Boat.
Jerome Kern’s legacy lives on not only through his contributions to theater but also through the many standards he composed, which have become staples of the American songbook and are still widely performed today