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African American Musical Theater
African-American musical theater includes late 19th and early 20th century musical theater productions by African Americans in New York City and Chicago. Actors from troupes such as the Lafayette Players also crossed over into film. The Pekin Theatre in Chicago was a popular and influential venue. Early history The African Grove Theatre opened in New York City in 1821. Before the late 1890s, the image portrayed of African-Americans on Broadway was a "secondhand vision of black life created by European-American performers." Stereotyped "coon songs" were popular, and blackface was common. Minstrel shows were often performed in early history and were inspired by black music. These shows were first performed by white people who used black face in the 1800s. Many of these performers wore old ripped clothing, some actually stolen from slaves, to “represent” the enslaved African Americans. Along with the clothing, they acted black people out to be lazy, thieves, and dumb. ...
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Musical Theater
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals. Although music has been a part of dramatic presentations since ancient times, modern Western musical theatre emerged during the 19th century, with many structural elements established by the works of Gilbert and Sullivan in Britain and those of Harrigan and Hart in America. These were followed by the numerous Edwardian musical comedies and the musical theatre wor ...
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Watermelon Stereotype
The watermelon stereotype is a stereotype that African Americans have an unusually great appetite for watermelons. History The first published caricature of Black people reveling in watermelon is believed to have appeared in ''Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper'' in 1869. The stereotype emerged shortly after enslaved people were emancipated after the Civil War. Defenders of slavery used it to portray African Americans as a simple-minded people who were happy when provided with watermelon and a little rest. The slaves' enjoyment of watermelon was also seen by the Southern people as a sign of their own supposed benevolence. The stereotype was perpetuated in minstrel shows often depicting African Americans as ignorant and lazy, given to song and dance and inordinately fond of watermelon. For several decades in the late nineteenth century through to the mid-twentieth century, the stereotype was promoted through caricatures in print, film, sculpture and music, and was a common de ...
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Jesse A
Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' (album), a 2003 album by Jesse Powell * "Jesse", a 1973 song by Roberta Flack - see Roberta Flack discography * "Jesse", a song from the album ''Valotte'' by Julian Lennon * "Jesse", a song from the album ''The People Tree'' by Mother Earth * "Jesse" (Carly Simon song), a 1980 song * "Jesse", a song from the album ''The Drift'' by Scott Walker * "Jesse", a song from the album '' If I Were Your Woman'' by Stephanie Mills Other * ''Jesse'' (film), a 1988 American television film * ''Jesse'' (TV series), a sitcom starring Christina Applegate * ''Jesse'' (novel), a 1994 novel by Gary Soto * ''Jesse'' (picture book), a 1988 children's book by Tim Winton * Jesse, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Jesse Hall, University of Missour ...
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Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American Civil War, Dunbar began writing stories and verse when he was a child. He published his first poems at the age of 16 in a Dayton newspaper, and served as president of his high school's literary society. Dunbar's popularity increased rapidly after his work was praised by William Dean Howells, a leading editor associated with ''Harper's Weekly''. Dunbar became one of the first African-American writers to establish an international reputation. In addition to his poems, short stories, and novels, he also wrote the lyrics for the musical comedy ''In Dahomey'' (1903), the first all-African-American musical produced on Broadway in New York. The musical later toured in the United States and the United Kingdom. Suffering from tuberculosis, which the ...
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In Dahomey
''In Dahomey: A Negro Musical Comedy'' is a landmark 1903 American musical comedy described by theatre historian Gerald Bordman as "the first full-length musical written and played by blacks to be performed at a major Broadway house."Bordman, Gerald, ''Musical Theatre: A Chronicle'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), p. 190. It features music by Will Marion Cook, book by Jesse A. Shipp, and lyrics by poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. It was written by Jesse A. Shipp as a satire on the American Colonization Society's back-to-Africa movement of the earlier nineteenth century. ''In Dahomey'' is regarded as a marquee turning point for African-American representation in vaudeville theater. It opened on February 18, 1903, at the New York Theatre, starring George Walker and Bert Williams, two iconic figures of vaudeville entertainment at the time. The musical ran for 53 completed performances and had two tours in the United States and one tour of the United Kingdom.Riis, Thomas L., ...
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Sons Of Ham
''Sons of Ham'' was a 1900 musical staged in the United States. Will Marion Cook wrote the music and Jesse A. Shipp the book. It was a farce, with Bert Williams and George Walker portraying two young men mistaken for twin heirs. It opened October 15, 1900 at the Star Theatre and closed October 20, 1900 after 8 performances. It also played April 29, 1901 at the Grand Opera House and closed May 4, 1901 after 8 performances. Bert Williams and George Walker were photographed performing their characters in the show. The show succeeded their first together, ''A Lucky Coon''. The title of the show, a biblical reference, caused some controversy and protest. Their show ''In Dahomey ''In Dahomey: A Negro Musical Comedy'' is a landmark 1903 American musical comedy described by theatre historian Gerald Bordman as "the first full-length musical written and played by blacks to be performed at a major Broadway house."Bordman, Ge ...'' followed. References {{Reflist African-American theat ...
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Isham's Octoroons
John William Isham (1866 – September 24, 1902) was an American vaudeville impresario who was known for his ''Octoroons'' and ''Oriental America'' shows. These had their roots in traditional minstrel shows but included chorus girls, sketches and operas. They were part of the transition to the American burlesque shows of the early 20th century. Early years John William Isham was born in Utica, New York in 1866. He had some African-American ancestry but was fair-skinned and often passed for white. When he entered show business he was therefore allowed to assume responsible positions in management and advertising. He worked for the Ryan & Robinson circus in the 1883–84 season in the advertising department. He then worked for the Sells Brothers (1885–86) and Barnum & Bailey (1886–88). Isham was employed as advance man for the ''Creole Burlesque Show'' by Sam T. Jack. The show, which ran from 1890 to 1897, was the first to present beautiful black women as chorus girls in place ...
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California Midwinter International Exposition Of 1894
The California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894, commonly referred to as the "Midwinter Exposition" or the "Midwinter Fair", was a World's Fair that officially operated from January 27 to July 5 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In 1892, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison appointed Michael H. de Young as a national commissioner to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago. During the exposition in Chicago, de Young recognized an opportunity to stimulate California's economy in its time of depression. In the summer of 1893, de Young announced his plans for the California Midwinter International Exposition to be held in Golden Gate Park. One of the draws, according to de Young, was California's weather, which would allow for a fair in the middle of winter. Golden Gate Park Superintendent John McLaren fought against holding the exposition in the park claiming,"the damage to the natural setting would take decades to reverse." In August 1893, the U.S. Congres ...
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San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of California cities by population, fourth most populous in California and List of United States cities by population, 17th most populous in the United States, with 815,201 residents as of 2021. It covers a land area of , at the end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second most densely populated large U.S. city after New York City, and the County statistics of the United States, fifth most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. Among the 91 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco was ranked first by per capita income (at $160,749) and sixth by aggregate income as of 2021. Colloquial nicknames for San Francisco include ''SF'', ''San Fran'', ''The '', ''Frisco'', and '' ...
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Cakewalk
The cakewalk was a dance developed from the "prize walks" (dance contests with a cake awarded as the prize) held in the mid-19th century, generally at get-togethers on Black Slavery in the United States, slave plantations before and after End of slavery in the United States of America, emancipation in the Southern United States. Alternative names for the original form of the dance were "chalkline-walk", and the "walk-around". It was originally a processional partner dance danced with comical formality, and may have developed as a subtle mockery of the mannered dances of white slaveholders. Following an exhibition of the cakewalk at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the cakewalk was adopted by performers in minstrel shows, where it was danced exclusively by men until the 1890s. At that point, Broadway shows featuring women began to include cakewalks, and grotesque dances became very popular across the country.. The fluid and graceful steps of the dance may have g ...
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Two Real Coons
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultures. Evolution Arabic digit The digit used in the modern Western world to represent the number 2 traces its roots back to the Indic Brahmic script, where "2" was written as two horizontal lines. The modern Chinese and Japanese languages (and Korean Hanja) still use this method. The Gupta script rotated the two lines 45 degrees, making them diagonal. The top line was sometimes also shortened and had its bottom end curve towards the center of the bottom line. In the Nagari script, the top line was written more like a curve connecting to the bottom line. In the Arabic Ghubar writing, the bottom line was completely vertical, and the digit looked like a dotless closing question mark. Restoring the bottom line to its original horizontal ...
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George Walker (vaudeville)
George Walker (1872 or 1873 – 1911) was an American vaudevillian, actor, and producer. In 1893, in San Francisco, Walker at the age of 20 met Bert Williams, who was a year younger. The two young men became performing partners. Walker and Williams appeared in ''The Gold Bug'' (1895), ''Clorindy'' (1898), ''The Policy Player'' (1899), ''Sons of Ham'' (1900), ''In Dahomey'' (1903), ''Abyssinia'' (1906), and '' Bandanna Land'' (1907). Walker married dancer Ada Overton, who later also was a choreographer. The two men set up an agency, The Williams and Walker Company, to support African-American actors and other performers, create networking, and produce new works. Early life George W. Walker was born in 1873 in Lawrence, Kansas, the son of a policeman and his wife. He began his career as a child performer, touring in black minstrel and medicine shows. George Walker and Bert Williams Walker and Bert Williams became two of the most prominent figures of the minstrel era and a ...
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