... first drafted. These will be examined later in the essay, along with other productions that changed the direction of the musical in different ways, such as "Oklahoma!" with its innovative writing technique. A good starting point for this study is "Showboat"; a production, which just about every stage music enthusiast has agreed, redefined the genre. It included issues such as drink addiction, gambling problems, and the recurring issue of racism, a theme that would feature quite prominently in later productions such as "Porgy & Bess" and "West Side Story". As Mike Krueger put it; "The history of the American Musical, quite simply, is divided into two eras: everything before "Showboat," and everything after "Showboat". The arrival of "Showboat" shattered and rebuilt almost every aspect of American Theatre Music. From the moment the curtain was raised on the show's opening night, the audience could quite clearly see that it was no stereotypical ...

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