One of the great, great shows of American musical theater, now sometimes maligned as “racist”.
The greatest show of the American musical theater—wonderful music and some of Hammerstein’s best lyrics ever. I like the MGM version with Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, and Katharine Grayson. The Keel-Grayson duets give me goosebumps and the final scene with the down and out Ava Gardner watching the departing showboat breaks your heart. They don’t make them like that anymore.