Show Boat February 4, 2010

Show Boat has been unanimously acclaimed the first great American musical, so far ahead of its time that there would be no comparable achievement for nearly two decades. We'll examine how composer Jerome Kern and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II created this monumental 1927 masterpiece from Edna Ferber's sprawling contemporary novel. Thismultimedia presentation will include photos from the original production, video clips from the excellent 1936 film version, and a consideration of the changes wrought in the many revivals over the past 80 years. R-120