What happens
Magnolia and Gaylord Ravenal meet and fall in love aboard the showboat Cotton Blossom on the Mississippi in 1880, though Magnolia's stepfather Captain Andy Hawks is wary of him. Magnolia's leading man is removed and Ravenal is hired to replace him, and when a local legal matter comes to light, the romance and the town's suspicions collide. The episode is part of the Lux Radio Theatre series, broadcast on June 24, 1940, and stars Irene Dunn, Alan Jones and Charles Winninger in a radio adaptation of the story Show Boat. The first act closes on a wedding, and the second act skips ahead thirteen years to Chicago in 1893, where Gaylord's gambling has begun to shape the couple's fortunes.
The Mississippi River on the levee at Natchez in 1880, then Chicago in 1893 during the World's Fair
Characters: Magnolia Hawks, Gaylord Ravenal, Captain Andy Hawks, Julie, Steve Baker, Parthy Ann Hawks, Frank Schultz, Ellie
Listen for: Magnolia's romance with Gaylord Ravenal, Captain Andy's opposition to it, and the sudden arrest that puts the showboat in turmoil
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.