In eastern North Carolina, Beaufort County in particular, you’ll find the small town of Bath. Measuring just under a square mile and home to just 249 people as of the 2010 census, Bath is an unassuming little hamlet that proudly holds the title of “North Carolina’s Oldest Town.”

Incorporated in 1705, Bath is home to the oldest standing Episcopal Church in North Carolina – and four other locations on the National Register of Historic Places. The town is also host to Atlantic pirate legends aplenty, as notorious pirate Edward Teach – better known as Blackbeard – settled there for a time in 1718. But Blackbeard and old buildings aren’t Bath’s only claim to fame: the town also inspired the stage show that is generally recognized as the first modern musical.

Written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, “Show Boat” premiered on Broadway in 1927. The play incorporated serious themes and comedic follies, showtunes and somber melodies, and became a turning point in American musical theater. The production was based on a novel written by Edna Ferber, who spent several weeks aboard the “James Adams Floating Palace Theatre” as it floated on Bath Creek in 1925.

No awards for Broadway shows existed when “Show Boat” premiered, but its immense commercial and critical success endured over the years, and frequent revivals have won Tony awards and Laurence Olivier Awards alike.

The story of “Show Boat” features an interracial relationship and addresses issues of segregation in the South. Amidst all the songs and fun that a stage play can present, “Show Boat” took time to be serious, and to underline the drama and tension found in real life alongside joy and music. The original production ran over four hours, but was trimmed to just over three – the length that it stayed over its original run of a year and a half, totaling 572 performances. “Show Boat” is recognized as one of the first musical shows to begin the transformation of musical theater from frivolous to facund, and has seen multiple revivals, films, albums, dramas and radio plays following in the footsteps of the original ground-breaking production.

As for the “James Adams Floating Palace Theatre” that provided Ferber’s research material, it ended its run in 1942 after 28 years on the water – but not before getting immortalized in one of the greatest musicals ever written.

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