"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.