"Here, I thought, was one of the most melodramatic and gorgeous bits of Americana that had ever come my way. It was not only the theater - it was the theater plus the glamour of the wandering drifting life, the drama of the river towns, the mystery and terror of the Mississippi itself... I spent a year hunting down every available scrap of show-boat material; reading, interviewing, taking notes and making outlines."
Inspired by an offhand comment made by Winthrop Ames during the opening night of Minick, Edna Ferber became enamored with the idea of show boats and the magic of the lives of traveling performers. Crafting a story of love and racial prejudice amid the changing times, Ferber-s 1926 Pulitzer Prize winning novel Show Boat follows three generations of performers aboard the Cotton Blossom.
Set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, Show Boat sees Captain Andy Hawks, his wife Parthy Ann and his daughter, Magnolia, buying the new show boat Cotto
