Oscar Hammerstein II and the Performativity of Race and Intersectional Oppression in American Musicals from Show Boat (1927) to Carousel (1945)

Abstract

Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960), with various collaborators, addressed issues of race and intersectional oppression (here defi ned as multiple features that can contribute to oppression either socially or individually, and can include factors such as race, age, gender, and social class) in many of his works. This essay investigates such representations in Show Boat (1927, music by Jerome Kern), The New Moon (1928, music by Sigmund Romberg), Sunny River (1941, music by Romberg), Oklahoma! (1943, music by Richard Rodgers), and Carousel (1945, music by Rodgers) as well as selected twenty-fi rst century revivals of Oklahoma! and Carousel. In each show, white hegemony is the norm, and characters of color, if they appear, represent some sort of diff erence that is made subservient to the white norm. In selected modern revivals, multicultural casting bri ngs such issues, including negative stereotypes, to the fore and allows for new insights into issues of race and intersectional oppression.