Make Believe (Jerome Kern song)
Encyclopedia
"Make Believe" is a show tune
from the 1927 Broadway musical Show Boat
with music by Jerome Kern
and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
.
In the show, it is first sung as a duet by the characters Gaylord Ravenal
, a handsome riverboat gambler, and the teenage Magnolia Hawks, an aspiring performer and daughter of the show boat captain, soon after their meeting in Act I. It reveals that they are smitten with each other almost immediately upon meeting and sets the tone for the contrasts between the ideal “make believe” world of the young lovers and the harsh realities of life that they will encounter throughout the story.
In Act II, Ravenal sings it to his little daughter Kim, just before he deserts her and Magnolia because of his compulsive gambling. He tells Kim to sing it whenever she is lonely and to pretend he has never been away.
The song was introduced by Norma Terris
and Howard Marsh
. It was not performed in the 1929 part-talkie film of Show Boat. For film, it was sung by Irene Dunne
and Allan Jones in the 1936 version of the musical, by Tony Martin
and Kathryn Grayson
in the 1946 Kern biopic Till the Clouds Roll By
, and by Howard Keel
and Kathryn Grayson in the 1951 version of Show Boat.
In the 1951 film, instead of singing it to Kim just before he leaves, he sings it to her when he meets her for the first time after being away for several years - the exact reverse of the situation in the original show and the 1936 film version. He has finally returned and now asks her to pretend that he has never been away.
The song has since become a standard and been recorded by numerous musical artists, including Frank Sinatra
, Jo Stafford
, Peggy Lee
& Patrice Munsel
.
Barbra Streisand
recorded the song for The Third Album.
Show tune
A show tune is a popular song originally written as part of the score of a "show" , especially if the piece in question has become a "standard", more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context...
from the 1927 Broadway musical Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
with music by Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
.
In the show, it is first sung as a duet by the characters Gaylord Ravenal
Gaylord Ravenal
Gaylord Ravenal is the leading male character in both Edna Ferber's novel Show Boat and in the famous Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical play of the same name, based on the novel. He is a compulsive riverboat gambler, and he becomes leading man of the show boat Cotton Blossom at the same time...
, a handsome riverboat gambler, and the teenage Magnolia Hawks, an aspiring performer and daughter of the show boat captain, soon after their meeting in Act I. It reveals that they are smitten with each other almost immediately upon meeting and sets the tone for the contrasts between the ideal “make believe” world of the young lovers and the harsh realities of life that they will encounter throughout the story.
In Act II, Ravenal sings it to his little daughter Kim, just before he deserts her and Magnolia because of his compulsive gambling. He tells Kim to sing it whenever she is lonely and to pretend he has never been away.
The song was introduced by Norma Terris
Norma Terris
Norma Terris was an American musical theatre star. Her mother, a singer, named her after the heroine of Bellini's opera, Norma....
and Howard Marsh
Howard Marsh
Howard Marsh was a leading Broadway tenor of the 1920s. He created the role of Baron Franz Schober in Sigmund Romberg's operetta drawn from Schubert's life and music, Blossom Time, in 1921, and that of Prince Karl Franz in the original 1924 production of Sigmund Romberg's operetta The Student...
. It was not performed in the 1929 part-talkie film of Show Boat. For film, it was sung by Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron , Theodora Goes Wild , The Awful Truth , Love Affair and I Remember Mama...
and Allan Jones in the 1936 version of the musical, by Tony Martin
Tony Martin (entertainer)
Tony Martin is an American actor and singer.-Career:Tony Martin was born on Christmas Day, 1913 as Alvin Morris in San Francisco, California to Jewish immigrant parents. He received a saxophone as a gift from his grandmother at the age of ten. In his grammar school glee club, he became an...
and Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson was an American actress and operatic soprano singer.From the age of twelve, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to MGM by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals...
in the 1946 Kern biopic Till the Clouds Roll By
Till the Clouds Roll By
Till The Clouds Roll By is a 1946 American musical film made by MGM. The film is a fictionalized biography of composer Jerome Kern, who was originally involved with the production of the film, but died before it was completed...
, and by Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
and Kathryn Grayson in the 1951 version of Show Boat.
In the 1951 film, instead of singing it to Kim just before he leaves, he sings it to her when he meets her for the first time after being away for several years - the exact reverse of the situation in the original show and the 1936 film version. He has finally returned and now asks her to pretend that he has never been away.
The song has since become a standard and been recorded by numerous musical artists, including Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
, Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
& Patrice Munsel
Patrice Munsel
Patrice Munsel is an American coloratura soprano, the youngest singer who ever starred at the Metropolitan Opera, nicknamed "Princess Pat"....
.
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
recorded the song for The Third Album.