A Trip to Coontown is an American musical comedy. It was performed, directed, and produced by
African-Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
.
It was written and performed in by
Bob Cole Robert Cole may refer to:
Entertainment
*Robert William Cole (1869–1937), British writer
*Bob Cole (composer) (1868–1911), American composer
*Bobby Cole (musician) (1932–1996), American musician
Sports
*Bob Cole (cricketer) (born 1938), for ...
and Billy Johnson.
and debuted it
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
in 1897 before touring in the U.S. and internationally. Its
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
debut was at the Third Avenue Theatre on April 4, 1898.
The musical was a reworking of Cole and Johnson's skit "At Jolly Coon-ey Island" which was written by Cole for an operatic variety company called Black Patti’s Troubadours (formed by
Sissieretta Jones). ''A Trip to Coontown'' spoofed the popular musical ''
A Trip to Chinatown
''A Trip to Chinatown'' is a musical comedy in three acts by Charles H. Hoyt with music by Percy Gaunt and lyrics by Hoyt. In addition to the Gaunt and Hoyt score, many songs were interpolated into the score at one time or another during the run ...
'' (1891).
[
In the early 20th century the musical was staged in European cities.]
Cast
According to an October 1899 advertisement in ''The Allentown Leader'', the show featured:
*Coontown Sextette
*Carter and Hillman's Bowery Spielers
*Alice MacKay, Contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...
*Freeman Sisters, acrobatic dancers
*Billy Johnson, "the Luckiest Coon in Town"
* Lloyd G. Gibbs, "Famous Colored Tenor"
* Edna Alexander, "Accomplished Soprano"
*Bob Cole Robert Cole may refer to:
Entertainment
*Robert William Cole (1869–1937), British writer
*Bob Cole (composer) (1868–1911), American composer
*Bobby Cole (musician) (1932–1996), American musician
Sports
*Bob Cole (cricketer) (born 1938), for ...
, in his own laughable creations
*Sam Lucas
Sam Lucas (August 7, 1840 – January 10, 1916) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and songwriter. Sam Lucas's exact date of birth is disputed. Lucas's year of birth, to freed former slaves, has also been cited as 1839, 1841, 1848 and 1850 ...
, the "Favorite Colored Comedian"
See also
*Coon song
Coon songs were a genre of music that presented a stereotype of black people. They were popular in the United States and Australia from around 1880 to 1920, though the earliest such songs date from minstrel shows as far back as 1848, when they w ...
*Minstrel show
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century.
Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...
References
External links
Sheet music for the song "Chicken" from the musical
1898 musicals
African-American plays
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