Even a classic can use a little tweak sometimes.

To wit: Goodspeed Opera House's production of "Show Boat" comes equipped with some fresh alterations.

Change is actually not so out-of-the-ordinary for the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical.

Rob Ruggiero, who is directing the piece at Goodspeed, says, "There's no definitive version of 'Show Boat' that exists, really. It's never, ever quite been done the same way. It's always been evolving, it's always been changing.

"There are songs that are always there, like 'Ol' Man River,' 'Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man,' 'Bill,' and there are songs that kind of go in and out, like 'Ah Still Suits Me' and 'When Good Luck Comes My Way.'"

The version at Goodspeed has gone that tradition one better, making more significant alternations. Ruggiero has trimmed some of the script, created an entirely new scene at the top of the second act, and focused the show on story and family.

Recalling being asked to direct "Show Boat" at Goodspeed, Ruggiero - who has helmed "1776," "Camelot," "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Big River" there as well - says with a laugh, "Do I ever get offered the easy ones? It was daunting."

He had never seen a production of "Show Boat," so he started by immersing himself in the material. He listened to recordings, he watched the film adaptations, he read the 1926 Edna Ferber novel on which it was all based.

As Ruggiero writes in his Director's Vision for the "Show Boat" program, "It is a powerful story spanning nearly four decades, and takes us on a journey into the lives of those living and working on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat. The play's dominant themes of racial prejudice, family struggles, and enduring love have touched the lives of many audiences over the years, and the show itself helped redefine the musical in its time."

Ruggiero had a series of meetings with the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization about proposed revisions, getting the go-ahead to continue at various points. The organization was open to considering a version of "Show Boat" that would fit Goodspeed. Ultimately, too, that more intimate version might be licensed by more venues - venues that wouldn't normally stage "Show Boat" because of its epic proportions.

"I hope we'll be able to show them that what makes the show work can work in either a small or large space," Ruggiero says.

What makes it work is the story.

Granted, many previous "Show Boats" have tended to be a bit of a spectacle - lavish productions with grand sets and lots of dance. Ruggiero felt that, if he were going to do "Show Boat," he needed to bring a certain humanity to it.

"What I connected with is the story of the show business family, immediately," he says.

The family that show-folks create with each other comes with all the dynamics of real families.

In "Show Boat," Ruggiero says, "this show business family crossed lines of blood, it crossed lines of class, it crossed lines of color, which I'm sure in its time was quite provocative, but even today, still speaks to our sensibilities."

Beyond focusing on the family, he proposed a more streamlined, story-centric play with music and some dance - as opposed to having it be a dance-heavy piece. He felt that was the best way to tackle "Show Boat" and do something meaningful with it.

When he began, Ruggiero was given two versions of "Show Boat" - the Hal Prince 1994 licensed version, which he would have to do exactly the way it was, and a 1946 version, which he could make changes to.

He says he thought the latter "embodied more sort of the pure version of it. I was invited to be able to make some alterations, some changes, some edits. That was much more flexible. I chose that for all those reasons."

One issue with that particular script, though, was that it called for the second act to begin at the World's Fair. They'd have difficulty creating a World's Fair on Goodspeed's small stage, but, even beyond that, Ruggiero didn't think the scene paid off as well as some other alternative could.

The solution meant restructuring the first 10 minutes of that act and developing something that's unique to Goodspeed's version. The first act ends with Magnolia and Ravenal's marriage. By the time the duo appears in a boardinghouse in the second act, time has passed.

"So I had to connect those dots," Ruggiero says. "What we created is, for lack of a better word, a montage of scenes, some of them pulled from the movie script, versus the play script. I've taken 'When Good Luck Comes My Way,' 'How Do I Love You' and 'Misery's Coming' reprise, and I've woven those three songs and scenes into something that takes us through those years and the arc of Magnolia and Ravenal's relationship that you ordinarily don't get to see."

Beyond that major shift, Ruggiero made some other script revisions.

"I trimmed the fat around the edges - things that maybe were really funny back then that don't quite land now, things that don't move the story forward," he says.

Eventually, Goodspeed folks met with Alice Hammerstein, Oscar's daughter, and Julie Gilbert, Edna Ferber's great-niece. At that session, they performed the new first 10 minutes of the second act. Ruggiero acted all the parts, with Goodspeed Music Director Michael O'Flaherty and Ruggiero singing as O'Flaherty provided piano accompaniment.

They liked it.

"What I tried was not to be original for original's sake," Ruggiero says. "I tried to solve our issues, and I tried to honor the piece and to honor the story."

If you go

What: “Show Boat”

Where: Goodspeed Opera House, Route 82, East Haddam

When: Through Sept. 11; performances 2 and 7:30 p.m. Wed., 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 3 and 8 p.m. Sat., and 2 p.m. Sun.; also, 2 p.m. on select Thursdays and 6:30 p.m. on select Sundays

Tickets: $28-$72

Contact: (860) 873-8668, goodspeed.org