If one had to use a single word to describe Signature Theatre's much-anticipated production of Show Boat, Eric Schaeffer's much-ballyhooed "reinvention" of the landmark Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical considered the first-ever classic of American musical theater, it would be "streamlined."

But, in this case, too much has been pared away. The story of show folk plying their trade on the great river is severely compromised, and the work's powerful themes of emotional change and racism are shrouded or lost. What remains is an old-fashioned show biz story with stock characters, held together with good songs. The time passes quickly and pleasantly enough, but that doesn't seem enough fo[...]