where was it showcased first?
Broadway
Show Boat
 The premiere of "Show Boat" on Broadway was an important event in the history of American musical theatre. 
who is h.d.? She was an American poet, novelist, and memoirist what is her original name? Hilda Doolittle where was she born? Pennsylvania which was her first novel? The first, "Magna Graeca", consists of "Palimpsest" and "Hedylus was there any film which she was associated with? "Borderline"  featured H.D. and Paul Robeson in the lead roles who is the latter? He was an American bass baritone concert artist and stage and film actor name any other film he has acted in? The Proud Valley has he been a part of any famous drama? Show Boat, Ol' Man River what was the theme of the former? Racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love. who produced it? Florenz Ziegfeld
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Show Boat [SEP] Introduction
It "was a radical departure in musical storytelling, marrying spectacle with seriousness", compared with the trivial and unrealistic operettas, light musical comedies and "Follies"-type musical revues that defined Broadway in the 1890s and early 20th century. According to "The Complete Book of Light Opera": Here we come to a completely new genre – the musical play as distinguished from musical comedy. Now … the play was the thing, and everything else was subservient to that play. Now … came complete integration of song, humor and production numbers into a single and inextricable artistic entity.