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In Dahomey

 
American Theater Guide: In Dahomey
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In Dahomey (1903), a musical comedy by J. A. Shipp (book), Will Marion Cook (music), Paul Laurence Dunbar (lyrics). [New York Theatre, 53 perf.] When Rareback Pinkerton (George Walker) is sent to Florida by the “Negro” Get‐the‐Coin Syndicate to bamboozle a rich old man, he discovers that his bumptious companion, Shylock Homestead (Bert Williams), is an even richer man. So he proceeds to bamboozle Shylock and uses the money to live a sporting life both in Florida and Africa until Shylock suddenly sees through him. While The Origin of the Cake Walk; or, Clor‐indy (1898) was the first all‐black‐written, black‐performed show to play before major white audiences, it was a relatively short afterpiece and was performed on a summer roof garden. In Dahomey thus became the first African‐American musical to play a regular New York legitimate theatre. Despite generally favorable reviews and many raves for Williams, large segments of traditional white playgoers refused to attend the Jules Hurtig and Harry Seamon production. In London, where such prejudices were not so widespread, the musical ran seven months.

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Wikipedia: In Dahomey
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In Dahomey
Music Will Marion Cook
Lyrics Paul Laurence Dunbar
Book Jesse A. Shipp
Productions 1903 Broadway
1904 New York City

In Dahomey was a landmark American musical comedy, in that it was "the first full-length musical written and played by blacks to be performed at a major Broadway house."[1] It featured music by Will Marion Cook, book by Jesse A. Shipp, and lyrics by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The production, produced by McVon Hurtig and Harry Seamon, was also the first to star African-Americans James Smith and George Sisay, as well as one of the leading comedians in America at that time, Bert Williams.[2]In Dahomey opened on February 18, 1903 at the New York Theater, and ran for 53 performances (then considered a successful run).[3]


Contents

Tours in England and America

The poster announcing the London premiere of In Dahomey at the Shafesbury Theatre, 1903. The poster features the famous cake walk with the character of the acclaimed comedian, Bert Williams, at the top of the cake.

Based on its New York success, the producers of In Dahomey transferred the entire production to England, on April 28, 1903, with a staging at the Shaftesbury Theatre, followed by a tour through the provinces of England. This was capped by a command performance celebrating the birthday of the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace, where it was heralded as "the most popular musical show in London."[4]

After a year, touring England and Scotland, In Dahomey was transported back to New York, where it reopend on August 27, 1904 at the Grand Opera House, and ran for 17 performances. This in turn launched a major forty-week tour across America, playing such cities as San Francisco, Portland and St.Louis, and turning a profit of $64,000.[5]

Importance

During its four-year run, In Dahomey proved one of the most successful musical comedies of its era.[6] It helped make its composer, lyricist and leading performers house-hold names, and its score was the first black musical that had its score published (in England, not America).[7]

In Dahomey was also was marked an important milestone in the evolution of the American musical comedy. The score made use of "high operetta style" that its composer Will Marion Cook had studied, in addition to using the relatively new form of ragtime it its finale, "The Czar of Dixie."[8] It was a "first" in several ways, including, according to John Graziano in Black Theatre USA, it was "the first African American show that synthesized successfully the various genres of American musical theatre popular at the beginning of the twentieth century - minstrelsy, vaudeville, comic opera, and musical comedy."[9]

References

  1. ^ Bordman, Gerald. Musical Theatre: A Chronicle (Oxford University Press: New York, 1978.) p. 190.
  2. ^ Charters, Ann. Nobody: The Story of Bert Williams (The MacMillan Company: London, 1970) p. 69-71.
  3. ^ Riis, Thomas L., Just Before Jazz: Black Musical Theater in New York, 1890-1915. (Smithsonian Institution Press: London, 1989) p. 91.
  4. ^ Graziano, John. "In Dahomey", in Black Theatre: U.S.A. (The Free Press, New York: 1996) p. 76.
  5. ^ Graziano, p. 77.
  6. ^ Hatch, James. V. Black Theatre USA (The Free Press: New York, 1996.) p. 64-65.
  7. ^ Graziano, p. 65.
  8. ^ Graziano., p. 65.
  9. ^ Graziano. 64

See also

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American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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