Music​ ​History
Showboat​ ​and​ ​The​ ​Scottsboro​ ​Boys
The​ ​two​ ​musicals​ ​​Showboat
​
​ ​and​ ​​The
​
​
Scottsboro
​
​
Boys
​
​ ​discuss​ ​the​ ​nature​ ​of​ ​African
Americans​ ​in​ ​society​ ​during​ ​times​ ​of​ ​racism.​ ​Both​ ​musicals​ ​use​ ​their​ ​perspective​ ​bases​ ​to​ ​bring
awareness​ ​to​ ​the​ ​injustices​ ​and​ ​cast​ ​an​ ​ugly​ ​shadow​ ​on​ ​harsh​ ​mistreatment​ ​based​ ​on
allegations​ ​of​ ​race.​ ​The​ ​two​ ​musicals​ ​also​ ​share​ ​the​ ​idea​ ​of​ ​having​ ​a​ ​show​ ​within​ ​a​ ​show​ ​which
is​ ​one​ ​reason​ ​these​ ​two​ ​plays​ ​were​ ​chosen​ ​for​ ​comparison.​ ​While​ ​the​ ​musicals​ ​were​ ​not​ ​written
at​ ​the​ ​same​ ​time,​ ​the​ ​older​ ​​Showboat
​
​ ​shows​ ​large​ ​amounts​ ​of​ ​African​ ​American​ ​talent​ ​which​ ​for
the​ ​time​ ​period​ ​was​ ​a​ ​big​ ​deal.​ ​The​ ​idea​ ​of​ ​having​ ​an​ ​integrated​ ​choir​ ​of​ ​both​ ​black​ ​and​ ​white
talent​ ​is​ ​a​ ​big​ ​part​ ​to​ ​the​ ​message​ ​that​ ​makes​ ​​Showboat
​
​ ​a​ ​powerful​ ​piece​ ​of​ ​musical​ ​history.
Meanwhile,​ ​​The
​
​
Scottsboro
​
​
Boys
​
​ ​musical,​ ​written​ ​much​ ​later​ ​than​ ​​Showboat
​
,​ ​shows​ ​the