''A Guest of Honor'' is the first opera created by celebrated ragtime composer

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin ( 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Because of the fame achieved for his ragtime compositions, he was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his career, he wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ra ...

. The focus of the production was the 1901 White House dinner hosted by President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

for the civil rights leader and educator

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

. The event was politically polarizing, with Roosevelt receiving criticism from Democrats for dining with the African-American leader.Biography from ScottJoplin.org
Joplin is believed to have begun writing ''A Guest of Honor'' shortly after Washington’s visit to Roosevelt’s White House. A copyright application was filed in 1903 with the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

, but Joplin did not include a copy of the score with the application. It is theorized that he intended to have the score published prior to the copyright submission, but this never happened. Joplin created an opera company of 30 people and produced ''A Guest of Honor'' for a national tour. It is not certain how many productions were actually staged, or even if this was an all-black show or a racially mixed presentation (which would have been very unusual for 1903). During the tour, either in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, or

Pittsburg, Kansas Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, United States, located in southeast Kansas near the Missouri state border. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ci ...

, someone associated with the company stole the box office receipts. Joplin could not meet the company’s payroll or pay for the company’s lodgings at a theatrical boarding house. It is believed the score for ''A Guest of Honor'' was confiscated with Joplin’s belongings, due to non-payment of his bills. To date, no copy of the score to ''A Guest of Honor'' has ever surfaced, and it is considered lost.

References

External links

Article on ''A Guest of Honor''''Sedalia Weekly Conservator'' August 22, 1903 formation of ''A Guest of Honor''''New York Clipper'' September 12, 1903 report of schedule of three performances of ''A Guest of Honor''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guest Of Honor, A 1903 operas Cultural depictions of Booker T. Washington Cultural depictions of Theodore Roosevelt English-language operas Lost operas Operas Operas about politicians Operas based on real people Operas by Scott Joplin Operas set in the 20th century Operas set in the United States Political operas