... up the plot Kern said " songs must be suited to the action and mood of the play" and in showboat his songs helped us to see certain aspects of the characters and also to create certain moods during the play. This was completely different to the vaudeville musical with the unnecessary songs and weak storyline. Showboat went against convention by starting the play with a group of negro Americans singing about their lives on quite a sombre note instead of the expected "scantily clad chorus girls". This was a play that was dealing with severe issues and realistic problems that included racial prejudice kern helped to show the theme of racism with the clever use of Negro rhythms, ragtime numbers and the sound of the banjo. Kern also used "leitmotifs" (A distinct melodic fragment that represents an emotion, idea object or person) to help us to get a good ...

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