The main characters were unlikeable, their romance dull, and too many peripheral characters wandered in and out of the action. Show Boat, with its riverboat setting, had been a natural for musical adaptation, and whereas Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern had succeeded in compressing the epic into a lively stage production, the creative team behind Saratoga was unable to wring much excitement from a romantic relationship stemming primarily from a mutual desire for vengeance.
The main characters were unlikable, their romance was monotonous, and many secondary figures appeared and disappeared. Show Boat, with its riverboat setting, had been an ideal candidate for musical adaptation, but Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern managed to condense the grand narrative into a lively stage production. However, the creative team behind Saratoga could not generate much excitement from a romantic relationship that was primarily driven by mutual hatred.