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This musical centers around the lives, loves, and heartbreaks of several generations of show performers on the Mississippi River. The main plot follows the simple minded daughter of the show boat captain, as she weds a troubled gambler and moves with him to the big city of Chicago. Their marriage worsens as his gambling continues, and as his debts compound, and soon he deserts her and their young daughter. A smaller plot centers on the impending arrest of the daughter Magnolia's selfless best friend on charges of miscegenation when it's discovered that she is mulatto, and her spiral into despair and poverty because of the charges against her. The passing of time within the show reunites Magnolia and her now-adult daughter with her family on the show boat as well as with her husband, who eventually returns offering a hopeful second chance at familial fulfillment. This was one of the first musicals to revolutionize Broadway with an advanced plot and characters that had much more to them than characters in musicals prior to this. Show Boat was the true beginning of The Golden Age. (Mordenn)
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