Making Show Boat: Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II & the Power of Performers

Part of the American Musicological Society-Library of Congress lecture series, musicologist Todd Decker discusses his research into the creation of the hit Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II musical "Show Boat." Decker's research was principally conducted in the Kern and Hammerstein collections in the Music Division. Speaker Biography: Todd Decker is the chair of the music department at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also serves as an associate professor of musicology. He received his doctorate from the University of Michigan. He is the author of three books: "Music Makes Me: Fred Astaire and Jazz" (2011), "Show Boat: Performing Race in an American Musical" (2013), and "Who Should Sing Ol' Man River?: The Lives of an American Song" (2014). For transcript, captions, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feat...