You Are Love
Encyclopedia
You Are Love is a song by Jerome Kern
and Oscar Hammerstein II
from their classic 1927 musical play Show Boat
. It is sung twice in the show - first, by Magnolia Hawks, the heroine, and riverboat gambler Gaylord Ravenal
when they agree to marry near the end of Act I, and again in the penultimate scene of Act II by Ravenal when he returns to Magnolia after having deserted her for twenty-three years.
Some productions, notably the 1936 film version of the show
, shift the song's Act II reprise to the show's final scene. (Both Magnolia and Ravenal sing the reprise in the film.) In the 1951 film version
of the musical, the song is sung only once, and reprised instrumentally as background music in the final scene.
Reportedly, Jerome Kern hated the song even though he wrote the music for it, believing it too "operetta-ish", and unsuccessfully sought to have it deleted from the 1936 film.
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 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...
from their classic 1927 musical play 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...
. It is sung twice in the show - first, by Magnolia Hawks, the heroine, and riverboat gambler 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...
when they agree to marry near the end of Act I, and again in the penultimate scene of Act II by Ravenal when he returns to Magnolia after having deserted her for twenty-three years.
Some productions, notably the 1936 film version of the show
Show Boat (1936 film)
Show Boat is a 1936 film based on the musical play by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II , which the team adapted from the novel by Edna Ferber....
, shift the song's Act II reprise to the show's final scene. (Both Magnolia and Ravenal sing the reprise in the film.) In the 1951 film version
Show Boat (1951 film)
Show Boat is a 1951 Technicolor film based on the musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and the novel by Edna Ferber....
of the musical, the song is sung only once, and reprised instrumentally as background music in the final scene.
Reportedly, Jerome Kern hated the song even though he wrote the music for it, believing it too "operetta-ish", and unsuccessfully sought to have it deleted from the 1936 film.