It's Getting Dark On Old Broadway Analysis
"It's getting dark on old Broadway"
African American theatre of the Harlem Renaissance in search of the right direction
Contents
Introduction 3
1 Blackface minstrelsy: the ancestors of Black theatre 4
2 Black musical theatre: From Broadway to Harlem nightclubs and back 5 2.1 The special role of musical theatre 5 2.2 Vaudeville and the first black musical comedies (1880-1910) 6 2.3 The Term of Exile (1910-1920) 7 2.4 Shuffle Along - Back to Broadway (1921-1929) 8
3 Black Drama: In search of the right direction 9 3.1 Protest drama or folk theatre? 9 3.2 Folk drama and the Little Theatre movement 11 3.3 Black drama on Broadway 12
4 Dilemmas of the Black performer: dangers and chances of going mainstream 13 4.1 The double audience 13 4.2 Imitating white material or creating new black material 14 4.3 White writers and producers staging "black" drama 15 4.4 Segregation and discrimination 16
Conclusion 16
Introduction
It's getting very dark on Old Broadway
You see the change in ev'ry cabaret
Just like an eclipse of the moon,
Ev'ry café now has the dancing coon.
Pretty choc'late ladies
Shake and shimmie ev'rywhere
Real dark-town entertainers hold the stage,
You must black up to be the latest rage ("It's getting dark on old Broadway" from the Ziegfeld Follies of …show more content…
Audiences had become attached to the minstrel shows as the earliest form of a musical revue. With the minstrel shows, they had become attached to the Negro images they presented (Hay 15). The actors of the early 20th century musicals did not mind the stereotypical images at first. The most important thing to them was that for the first time, Black artists could make a living in the performing arts (18). The minstrel label should however influence the themes and forms of musical theatre of the ensuing
African American theatre of the Harlem Renaissance in search of the right direction
Contents
Introduction 3
1 Blackface minstrelsy: the ancestors of Black theatre 4
2 Black musical theatre: From Broadway to Harlem nightclubs and back 5 2.1 The special role of musical theatre 5 2.2 Vaudeville and the first black musical comedies (1880-1910) 6 2.3 The Term of Exile (1910-1920) 7 2.4 Shuffle Along - Back to Broadway (1921-1929) 8
3 Black Drama: In search of the right direction 9 3.1 Protest drama or folk theatre? 9 3.2 Folk drama and the Little Theatre movement 11 3.3 Black drama on Broadway 12
4 Dilemmas of the Black performer: dangers and chances of going mainstream 13 4.1 The double audience 13 4.2 Imitating white material or creating new black material 14 4.3 White writers and producers staging "black" drama 15 4.4 Segregation and discrimination 16
Conclusion 16
Introduction
It's getting very dark on Old Broadway
You see the change in ev'ry cabaret
Just like an eclipse of the moon,
Ev'ry café now has the dancing coon.
Pretty choc'late ladies
Shake and shimmie ev'rywhere
Real dark-town entertainers hold the stage,
You must black up to be the latest rage ("It's getting dark on old Broadway" from the Ziegfeld Follies of …show more content…
Audiences had become attached to the minstrel shows as the earliest form of a musical revue. With the minstrel shows, they had become attached to the Negro images they presented (Hay 15). The actors of the early 20th century musicals did not mind the stereotypical images at first. The most important thing to them was that for the first time, Black artists could make a living in the performing arts (18). The minstrel label should however influence the themes and forms of musical theatre of the ensuing