The musical “Show Boat” was written in 1927 by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II.
This musical dealt with serious issues such as racism and miscegenation.
The musical was written during the time of segregation. A lot of the current social issues of segregation led to the displays of racism seen throughout “Show Boat”.
The musical also mentions mixed-race marriages many times, which was still illegal in many states during the 1920s. “Show Boat” had African American characters played in a sympathetic way, which is something the audience was not very familiar with. The audience at the time was mostly familiar with comedic, minstrelsy shows that used black-face.
Although “Show Boat” was very progressive for the time it was written, many things that were in the musical would not have been accepted today.
For example, The n word was said many times through different parts of the musical, including the first opening lines.
One of the most famous songs from show boat, “Ol’ Man River”, also used the N Word during the song.
There have been many revivals of “Show Boat” since the 1920s. The revivals changed the lyrics to “Darkie”, or “Colored folk”, or removed the line from the script.
Although, this removed the offending n word it did not take out all of the racism in the show.
There are many discussions today on whether not theaters should choose to continue to produce and perform “Show Boat”.
From my experience, we can’t erase history, and “Show Boat” is a part of history.
If a theater chooses to perform “Show Boat” to an audience, the audience should be able to have a discussion with the black actors after the show. The open discussion will make the audience learn about what they just watched, and take that knowledge into the future with them.
Equality and Equity are something theaters should continue to fight for.
Dealing with the historical history of racism in theater should be a part of moving theater into the next century.