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showboat |
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showboat. In the early 19th cent. entertainment was brought by boat to the pioneers that settled along the western rivers (especially the Mississippi and Ohio) of the United States. At first companies only traveled by boat, performing on land. Later the boats themselves, first paddle boats and finally steamboats, were equipped with stages. Docking near a town, they would herald their arrival with trumpets and flags. The companies presented popular melodramas, with vaudeville performances, called olios, between the acts; by day, the boats often served as museums. With the coming of the Civil War, their popularity dwindled. Edna Ferber's novel Show Boat is an interesting description of the life of its people.
BibliographySee historical study by P. Graham (1951, repr. 1970). How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| Four songs from Showboat are included, as are the timeless standards "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "The Way You Look Tonight. and William Caesar Warfield, 1920-2002, who among other things was in the film Showboat in 1951 and Maltilda Sissieretta Jones, (1869-1933). They invite him to "a ball / of our very own," where the princesses compete against each other and showboat, Harlem Globetrotters-style. |
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