Earlier this month I visited the newly opened Museum of Broadway in the theatre district of New York City. Included in the many exhibits of history and artifacts on Broadway, was this book art from the musical Show Boat. Premiering in 1927, with music composed by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (based on the novel by Edna Ferber), the musical is considered to "have both embodied and propelled the broad advancement being made in musical storytelling in the late 1920s."
To commemorate its importance of Show Boat an entire room is dedicated to the production. American artist Rachel Marks' installation includes a flowing scattering of pages from the novel, music and lyrics wallpaper, and a slice of tree trunk with each paper ring representing a year since its debut.
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