Variety (Jan 1948)

Fortyseeottd P^fysiETY AnniverMury .WedneBday, J«mi«fy 7t 1948 WHIH MINSTRELS By BERNARD SOBEL> If Arthur Klein's promises and hopes >come true, the present gen- eration wiU have a chance to see an American minstrel show. The prospect is ex- citing, for it embodies a re- vival of a form o f. entertain- ment that dom- inated the en- tire U. S. for almost a cen- tury. . The real ori- gin of the White Min- „ , „ ^ , strels has nev- Beraara Sobel ^ ^j^g^ deter- mined, but its source can be traced to the plantation Negro and to the Jnedicine-man on the street corner •who stood in a wagon, sold phoney drugs and sang songs as a comeon. Sometimes he carried an assistant, his driver, a white or colored man, •who Imew how to play the banjo and tell stbrieSi Edith J. B. Isaacs, In her excelleivt new work, "The Negro in the Ameri- can Theatre," credits the Negro • himself as being the originator of the minstrel show, basing her opinion, largely on paintings of the ■period. One water color which ap- peared in 1790 shows a group of Kegroes watching a banjo player, 4 <lrummer, and a group of'dancers v^hUts another, by William S. Mount, called "The Bones Player," shows a , man using the actual rib-bones of a Sheep, sheared and scraped like castanets, "the very properties from which the original Mr; Bones got his name". The iAtA «f the first professional N. y. rtiiAstrel show was born in 1843, at a boarding house owned by iwrs. Elizabeth Brooks, 37 Qsctherine street. New York Cityj where mdny . actors and musicians ■ congregated regularly. Prominent among their^ were Dan Emmett, colored fiddler; Billy .Whitlock, Negro banjoist; 3E(aaicis Bower, who . rattled the ' ibdtti^and Dick Pelham, who juggled the tetnbourine to music. • show, Cohan and Harris', Minstrels (1908) advertised a hundred enter- tainers. Vot Fi« Herbert' •Vlrginls Minstrel'. One day, the four of them, either -by-Hintention or accidentr 'a-matter which has never been determined, decided to jnerge their abilities into a professional quartet balled the 1'yirginia Minstrel" and ti) put on'a show. No theatre was available; so they decided to give their entertain' ment at another boarding house, the Bowery hotel, operated by Jonas Bartlett, who set up a temporary stage in the billiard room. .^The programv was made up of iopical. jokes .: and music, and it caught :0n at onee. If caught on so well, in fgct, that the four perform- ers joined by Edwin P. Christy, vocal soloist, decided to go to Lon- don. • Here, the N. Y. success was dup- licated. ! Negro minstrels' became the rage and traveled for years through- out England. Sitoultaneovsly, bands of minstrels sprang up rapidly and be>?an to tour the U. S. Among the early companies were the White Serenaders and the Camp- bell-Miastrels, who used the slogan on posters and bills: "The Campbells are Coming." Tailent was recruited, ■ largely, from dime museums, variety acts and circuses which featured acts called "Ethiopian Delineators -Very early the minstrel-took on certain forms and conventions that were to become traditional. Every '■ 'Bh/iw ■was'di^^idfed into a first" part, olio and a second part, which con- cluded with the runaiound, a singing and dEiricing finale! Every show featured' an interlocutor, originally known -as a middle man, and two end'men called Bones and Tambo. And every show began with the salutation, "CJentlemen, Be Seated." The program consisted largely di antics, songs, conundrums, dances and dialect numbers intended to d-uplicate the behavior of slaves "befo' de war;" Popular also were ^stump Bpeeches" by a e6median Karrying a carpet bag and umbrella, The first part , showed the per- formers sitting around in a semi- circle or crescent, with the inter- - locutor at the center and Bones and Tambo on the ends. At first the en- tertainers sat on a level with the ••. Later they Were placed in lag tiers.' On arriving in a 'flf^.eompany always gave a. 'rade followed by a sidewalk 1 front of the theatre. The s grew from five to 25 s while the last minstrel The first performer ever to appear in blackface was a man named Her- bert, who appeared in Albany, N. Y., in 1815, sat on a chair in front of the curtain and sang songs. Once a cook, he was appropriately called "Pot Pie Herbert." Many famous theatrical men made their first appearance • in blackface entertainment. Back in 1840, F. T. Barnum did a blackface turn in a dime museum. Subsequently, Joseph Jefferson, 'Edwin Booth, Edward Forrest, Francis Wilson and Daniel Frohman all made their first ap- pearance before the footlights, masked in burnt cork.. The minstreLsy ■ hall of fame in- cludes Dave Wambold, Billy S. ("Single") Clifford, Bert WiUiams, Eddie Leonard, Vic Richards, ^ames J. Corbett and George "Honey Boy" Evans; - Al Jolson- appeared in Dock- stadter's Minstrels wearing a large paste diamond. - The minstrnl show had an early influence on American song litera- ture. Many of the early songs were taken directly from the plantation. Others were the works of Stephen Foster which were popularized in the first-part opening and included "Old Black Joe," "Swanee River' and "Nelly Was a Ijady.". Foster is credited' 'with ha'\^ng ' written 150 songs. Particularly interesting is the his- tory of the song hit, "Jump Ji.-n Crow." Thomas D. Rice was the first perfomcer to popularize this famous number, in the year 1831, while standing at the stagedoor -wait- ing for his cue during a. rehearsal, Rice glanced. across the ' way and saw a clumsy Negro in' -a stable yard rubbing dawn . a horse and singing. Rice caugh't the words: . "Wheel about, turn about Dq jis so. And every time I wheel about '1 jump Jim Croiu." Rice was so delighted with the song that, after several days,- he walked out . to the stableyard, met tlie Negro and paid hini to sing the .song'-'OVer and' over" until 'hcifad' learned it. Then, equipped witti this numbei:. Rice went to' N. Y. where he captured the applapse of the metropolitaii. public. Ihis success he duplicated throughout the country and also in £ngland. It is interesting 'to note that the song most beloved by the south %as (Continued on page 254) What r Lend at Fordham By AttTttpR SEASON'S GREETINGS . JEAN PARKER Concluded Highly Successful Tour in "DREAM GIRL" Now Doing Personal Appeariinccs Eight UJS. Plays Set For Berlin's Legit Season ■ Berlin.., Production of eight American plays is planned by Berlin theatres for the coming season. Theatre and Music section officials of Informa-* tion Control 'Branch ainnounced. They are WiUiani Saroyan's "My Heart's In The Highlands" and "Time of Your Life," "Mourning Becomes Electra" by Euigene O'Neill, "Saturday's Children" bjr Maxwell Anderson, "End oif Summer" and "No Time for Comedy" by S. N. Behrman, "One Sunday Afternoon" by J. Hagan and' Paul Osborn's "Morning's at Seven." Since July, 1945,15 plays by Amer^ lean authors have been produced in Berlin.' The most popular of these, "Thrie Men on a Horse," with a rec- ord ruii of 176 perfojinances to ca- pacity audiences, has been closed temporarily because of the illness of its- -star performer, Ernst Blume, but will reopen this month. Other outstanding' successes have been "Skin of Our teeth" by Thornton Wilder and "Biography" by Behr- man, . , Four American plays are cur- rently running in Berlin— "Skin of Our Teeth," "Claudia" by Rose Ffarike1nC"7ohn van Druten's "Voice of the Turtle" and O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness." "This Dark A«».'r," drama by Wil- liam Kendall Clark about Mary Todd' Iincobi, is being agented by Harold Freedman, of Brandt & Brandt. Author is a miember oi the CBS-writing staff. "How many sessions af«l there to be?" I asked. . "Twelve," replied Mr. McCleery. "How long are the sessions?" "Two hours." • '"What would I talk about?" ' "Directing and producing." "I could teli ali I know about the theatre in one hour. What would I do with the rest of the time?" "The. students lik^ questions and discussions, You'U find the time easy to fill." And he was right. Hours-passed quickly when the sessjon$ began though, at no time did we consume two hours. Alfred McCleery is the imagina- tive young director of Fordham University " productions. Fordham was conducting a three months' thea- tre semester for drama teachers, di- rectors, and students from all parts of the country. ■ In their eager presence the thea- tre ceased to be a Broadway problem of hits and misses, but a subject of national cultural importance. ■ These weye people not thinking of the theatre, as a place of quick and profitable recognition, not something to be Used, but a way of service in their own communities. The taking world has been grab- bing frantically for seyeral centuries,- with the result that most of the world's-hands are empty and cold. Obviously, taking is not the way of fulfillment. Slowly and reluctantly we are. learning that we are en- riched by what we giyei not by what we take. , / Old admonitions are at last taking on true meaning. "Cast,thy bread upon the waters." "It is better to give than to receive." 'These are no longer idealistic dreams, but prac- tical directions on tbe road to well-^ being. For too long well-being was some- thing to be carried in'our pockets or piroudly displayed labels. Now we know that well-being cannot be applied externally. Pockets jcan be rifled. Labels can be torn away. ■What a man is cannot^e taken from him except by his own'act, whetlier he be a' good jhan or an evil man. A year ago there was a memorial dinner for Al Smith. Many notables were there.' Some paid tribute. In- variably the speaker's elaborated on Al's. achievements, but in each case one realized that what had really impressed the speakers was not Al's achie^^ements, hot the Governor, not •the national figure, not th6 orig- inator of progressive social legisla- tion, but Al Smith, the good man. He was a good man« and that was the crowning tribute. Al Smith was a good man. What Made Mncoln Great ALFRED LUNT and LYNN FONTANNE "O MISTRESS MINE." SELWYN. CHICAGO Just as Lincoln Was great not because he was President, not be- cause he freed the slaves, but be- cause he was Lincoln. So Smith was great because he was Smith. Both loved their neighbor. Both had fol- ■ lowed the injunction of Polonius; "To thine .owns'elf be true." Both were men whose riches were within, the only riches that are Increased by sharing. And here in,these Fordham classes were' people who sought riches that they might share with communities where the, theatre is little known. So what I had, begun reluctantly, and with little faith, proved a shar- ing experience, which enriched me more than the classes. It revealed a burning desire for mature theatre throughout t h e country, which' I did not know ex- isted. Broadway'became a very small and relatively unimportant part of the theatre bf tomorrow. The thea- tre will become national, not in any single institution but in many cen- ters. The urgejjt,' unselfish desire is there and It wfll find fulfillment. What I learned at■Pioi'dham Ibring to all Who are pessimistic, as I was, about the ihea^e; becoming a great cultural force in our country. At present the theatre is one of the' great lags in American life. There are many earnest people of whom we know, nothing who are detehnined that the theatre shall be brought to the front and take its rightful and honorable place in community life. They are the theatre of tomorrow. 'Annie/ 'Mistress/ iiYjes' Big Grosses Cue Sock Chi Season ;' Chicago. Chi 1947-48 legit season, while yet not past the halfway mark, promises to be the best in the last decade, boxoSice-wise; This despite a season that started with a half-dozeii pro- ductions .folding on' each other's heels. Peculiarly enough, excellent showing is really based on only- three plays: "Annie Get Your Gun," "O Mistress Mine," and "Private Lives," with a semi-kudo 'to the 'Chocolate Soldier.'' "Annie"' in nine weks has pulled In over $450,000, bteaWng all rec- ords of the SfaUbert theatre. When it leaves the house Feb. 28 it is esti- mated that it will have taken" in over $900,000. "Mistress" also has been hitting top capacity at the Sel- wyn of about $24,000 weekly since opening Nov. 3. "Private Lives," the hardy peresnnial, after 21 weeks of excellent take, due to tije d^aw of Tallulah Bankhead, is set to hit the road about February. "Choc- olate Soldier," aided by the mugging of Billy.;Gilbert, had a fine 11-week run at t;fe,:Blackstone before folding Dec. 20. 'Oddity of the music field. Spike Jones did 10 weeks of revue at the Studebaker for good grosses. Zany troupe took in about $200,000. Surprise irf the season was the poor biis encountered by "Another Part of the Forest" and critics' prize award, "All My Sons." Press was not too happy with "Forest" a'rjd theme of "Sons" was disturbing to play attendees here. In general, the few serious pieces did poorly while musicals and comedies got the dough, "Late Christopher Bean," "Bench Warmer," "This Time ^Tomorrow" and "All Gaul Is Divided" did the swan act here. Non-union Negro revival of "Swing Mikado" flopped at the Civic Opera. Another mu- sical, "Toplitzky of Notre Dame," was received with cold hands. Maurice Chevalier did well in a week's concert. "Anna Lucasta" and "Firefly" opened Xmas day, and "Voice of the Turtle" is having a three-week stay at Erlanger. House shortage continues with shows working around Chicago until they can get in. However, Great Northern, in which plenty has been spent in rehabilitation, will reopen March 1, and there is talk of a syn- dicate taking over the Auditorium t and rebuilding it.