The Helen Morgan Page

On January 5, 1946, seventy-nine years ago today, Show Boat returned to Broadway … and the Ziegfeld Theatre.

The production marked the first major American production of the perennial favorite without Helen Morgan as Julie, who had passed four years before.

For this production, Oscar Hammerstein II heavily revised his original book to mirror the style of his still-running revolutionary hit shows Oklahoma! and Carousel. Robert Russell Bennett also revisited his 1927 orchestrations.

Jerome Kern composed a new song for Kim to sing in the final scene. Sadly, “Nobody Else But Me” turned out to be the last song Kern ever composed. (Kern passed suddenly eight weeks before opening night.)

While planning its 1951 film re-make, MGM ear-marked Judy Garland to play Julie. To beef up her part, she was assigned “Nobody Else But Me.” Instead of leading a production number, the song was slowed down and delivered as a ballad during the miscegenation scene.

Well, it would have, had Garland stayed at Metro. When the studio dismissed her, they cut the song, although the cue remains in John Lee Mahin’s screenplay.

A few subsequent productions, notably the 1971 London outing, borrowed MGM’s idea. Here’s the London Julie, Cleo Laine, having her go at “Nobody Else But Me.”

This site serves as a companion to Helen Morgan: The Original Torch Singer and Ziegfeld’s Last Star. Ask your local independent bookseller to stock it today!