The musical is entirely the work of white people: Jerome Kern wrote the music and ... gets to rumble the anthemic “Ol’ Man River.” But even these classics apparently need reframing.

William Warfield, the esteemed American baritone who sang “Ol’ Man River” in the 1951 MGM film version of Jerome Kern’s “Show Boat,” has died. He was 82. Warfield died Sunday at the ...