On today’s date in 1927, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s hit musical SHOW BOAT premiered on Broadway at the Ziegf...

On today’s date in 1927, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s hit musical SHOW BOAT premiered on Broadway at the Ziegfeld in New York City. Adapted from Edna Ferber’s novel of the same name, SHOW BOAT is based on Ferber’s visits to the James Adams Floating Theatre in Bath, Beaufort County, NC. The musical produced the standards “Ol' Man River” (made famous by Paul Robeson), “Can’t Help Lovin' Dat Man,” and “After the Ball,” and its cast of characters is drawn from performers aboard a floating theatre. In a fashion sometimes ham-fisted for modern audiences, SHOW BOAT’s plot and tunes deal with themes of race and romance in America. The 1951 film version of SHOW BOAT featured Winston-Salem soprano Kathryn Grayson and Johnston County’s Ava Gardner – with the motion picture further popularizing the show and its songs. The popular musical has been staged countless times on theatres large and small, and is set to be revived at NYU’s Skirball in 2025 for a radical retelling. Image: “James Adams Floating Theatre Marker (Beaufort County),” By Mike Stroud, via HMdb.org Alt text: An NC Historical Marker, black text on gray background, describing Edna Ferber’s visit to the James Adams Floating Theatre, with trees and sky in the background