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A
Trip to Coon Town:
the black American cultural influence on the American Musical Theatre. By Michael Moor M.A The impact of black culture or more specifically the indigenous arts and crafts of Africa was enormous during the first quarter of the 20th century. Directly and indirectly, influencing artists such as Picasso, Modigliani, Gaugin and others of the early primitivism movement By
1925 in his influential essay Legacy of
the Ancestral Arts, the black scholar Alain Lock was appealing to the black
American artist to draw upon his/or her African heritage in order to develop a
new black American culture for the 20th century. In this essay Lock
suggested white artists were using African art as an inspiration to shape a
'modern art' and culture in Europe. Lock suggested that it was the duty of the New
Negro to do the same for him/herself in America. This was a key work in what
is now known as the Harlem
Renaissance. However,
Lock’s New Negro was not new at all. He
had been waiting in the wings since the 1890’s, exemplified by men like W.E.B.
Du Bois, (see his famous rebuttal of Booker T Washington’s infamous Atlanta
speech of 1891 published in his book The
Souls of Black Folk.(1903) founder of the NAACP.
The
charismatic Black Nationalist, Marcus Garvey, father of black consciousness, had
been active in the US since 1916. His movement the UNIA had grown into a 'mass
movement' by the 1920's. In
the 'fine' arts Meta Warrick Fuller (who had studied with Rodin in Paris) was
producing works such as Man Eating his
Heart Out 1906(painted plaster) and 'Ethiopia
Awakening' 1914(bronze) Furthermore,
Journals such as The Crisis,
Negro
World and others suggest black cultural and political awareness had been
growing in the US for some time before 1925, the New Negro simply came of age in
Locks essay. The
confidence and emerging identity of the black American and the black American
artist can be traced, certainly in the North from the 1890’s. This confidence
and identity is reflected as well in the popular entertainment's as it is in the
politics and fine arts of the period. The
study of the music and the musical theatre of the period provides a 'cultural
mirror' reflecting the evolving status and contribution of the black American
artist. A Trip to Coon Town Ironically it was the early (white) Minstrel shows that introduced a black presence on the legitimate stages of America from around the 1840's. By 1870 there were also several black minstrel troops in existence touring the US. Black performers during this period were saddled with the conventions of the ‘burned cork’ white minstrels, they to had to 'black up'. They also tended to play the second rate venues. Given this situation they were able to contribute very little directly to the development of musical theatre during these early years. They more or less imitated whites imitating blacks, in effect contributing little more than their own stereotyped image in the theatre The
1890’s saw the syncopated ‘ragtime’ rhythms of Scott Joplin become popular
(his 1899 composition; Maple Leaf Rag
was, for example the first instrumental sheet music to sell a million copies)
and the ‘coon song’ soon followed. The
‘coon song’ was named after a song written in ‘ragtime’ by black
performer Ernest Hogan called “All
Coons Look Alike to Me” in 1890. The
song is about a “dusky maiden” forced to choose between two handsome black
men. The song became a big hit at the time and its title became a ‘catch
phrase’ leading to the latest ‘ragtime numbers’ being called ‘coon
songs’. Vaudeville
and Broadway took note of this popular trend and introduced the ‘coon song’
into its shows. Blond
haired, blue eyed May Irwin became a well known ‘coon shouter’ after the
premier of The Widow Jones in 1895 in
which she sang “The Bully Song”.
The song told of a “razor-toting nigger”.
There was dat new bully standin on the ground. I’ve
been lookin for nigger and I’ve got you found. Razors
‘gun a flyin’ niggers gun to squawk I
lit upon that bully like a sparrow hawk…. …When
I got through with the bully, a doctor and a nurse. Wa’nt
no good to dat nigger, so they put him in a hearse. Viewed
from today’s ‘politically correct’ perspective these songs may seem,
embarrassing and offensive. It is true that these songs contributed to and
added to black stereotyping in the theatre.
Nonetheless they represent a direct contribution to the musical stage by
blacks. The ‘coon song’ did popularize a rhythm and style that would develop
into both Jazz and ‘tin pan alley’. Black songsters such as ‘Fats
Waller’ with songs like “Ain’t
Misbehavin’ may be seen in the tradition of, whilst at the same time, a
development of the ‘coon song’. At
the same time as an authentic black American sound was filtering into the
musical theatre via the 'coon song' a black movement vocabulary was also being
introduced in the form of a dance called the ‘Cake Walk’. The
Cake Walk (a dance of slave origin) was popularized by the black vaudeville team
of Bert Williams and George Walker after their debut in the 1896 production of The
Gold Bug. Within weeks it became a dance craze in white ‘high society’.
Not only did the Cake Walk introduce a black dance vocabulary to the theatre it
also led to the first tentative steps towards the black musical. The
black composer Marion Cook was originally a classical musician who had trained
with Antonin Dvorak. However
he decided to explore the Cake Walk craze with his first musical comedy, the
1898 production Clorindy, the origin of
the Cake Walk. Cook engaged
Walker and Williams and built the show around their talents. A combination of
black dance and black music. The show was a success. However
it did not break entirely with earlier traditions as is evident from the number
of ‘coon song's in the show (Who Dat
Say Chicken in
Dis Crowd, for example). It was
more a long sketch than an actual musical. However it did prove as Cook said at
the time “Negroes are at last on Broadway and here to stay!’. This
statement was emphasized by the opening that same year of Bob Cole's, A
Trip to Coon Town. Which has the distinction of being the first Broadway
musical to be produced by, written by, directed by, sung, danced and acted by
and staffed by blacks. As such it can truly be called the first black musical.
(Despite its title!) What
both Clorindy and Coon
Town proved was that 'black' themes could be commercial. Theatre managers
would have a more open mind in the future about the funding and presentation of
black artists, in the big cities of the North at least! The
white backlash Blacks
were still being lynched in the South and would continue to be until the 1930's.
(It has been suggested by historians, see D'Souza,'95.p 177, that in the last
two decades of the 19th century between 2 and 3 thousand blacks were
lynched.) T.D
Rice's legacy (considered by many to be the first minstrel and the man who
introduced the character Jim Crow to the American public) was more than just a
theatrical one. 'Jim Crow' was the name given to a number of laws enacted in the
Southern States to guarantee white supremacy and segregation (from the1890's as
a backlash from the brief period after reconstruction of Federal Government
enforcement of the civil rights of Southern blacks). By
1925 the membership of the Ku Klux Clan was estimated to be between 2-5 million.
In popular culture blacks were still seen as a threat. The 1915 Hollywood
spectacle Birth of a Nation Directed
by W.D.Griffith was a good example of the 'popular'
perception of the 'Negro' during this period and for a long time after.
Essentially for the Afro-American there was two America's. The North and the
South. While
it is true to say Clorindy and Coon
Town marked a development in musical theatre by introducing a black cultural
influence this lasted only about 10 years. Between the years 1910-1921 there was
little further assimilation of black cultural influences in the musical theatre.
However there were steps to-wards interracial casting and a greater acceptance
of the black artist. Led by impresarios like Florenz Ziegfeld. (Bert William's
was one of the Follies's stars from
1910-1919. He was actively 'courted' and supported by Zeigfeld despite initial
opposition from many of the white cast members who threatened to quit. Ziegfeld
to his credit stood his ground.) Nigger
Heaven By
the time Hubie Blake's Shuffle Along appeared
in 1921(described by black writer Langston Hughes as a "scintillating"
start to a period known as the Harlem
Renaissance) the racial climate had changed sufficiently for the influence
of black music and movement vocabulary to have a more far-reaching and lasting
effect. However audiences were still segregated in as much as they were
allocated seating according to race. The balcony seats were often allocated to
black members of the audience and got the nickname 'Nigger Heaven'. (This was
rather normal even in New York. The Cotton Club, famous for it's black
entertainment did not allow blacks into the club as patrons) The
Jazz Age. Scott
Fitzgerald called the 1920's the "jazz age" because jazz music
captured the 'spontaneity' of the times. It was in many respects and in certain
quarters a time of 'bohemian' pursuits; a time for questioning 'Victorian'
values and a time of sexual liberation. There is little doubt that part of the
appeal of jazz at this time was it's underlying sexual content, references, and
associations. These references and associations are to be found in its 'slang'
terms and in its 'Jook Joint' and its 'Whore House' origins. There is
historically a 'sleazy', 'immoral' element associated with jazz. The
profound and radical ideas of Freud and Jung found acceptance during the jazz
age. It was a time of 'fads' and
new ideas, in the arts, architecture, design, and business. (Exemplified by, Da
Da, surrealism, The International Movement and exploitation of the mass market.)
The 'jazz age' may also be seen as a reaction to the austerity and horrors of
WW1. In
any case Jazz became the sound and feel of the 1920's. The craze for jazz
elevated the status of the black musician and dancer. Many found international
fame. (Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, Paul Robeson, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson
to name a few.) Jazz
music and dance remains an inspiration and influence on many of the performing
arts even in the late 1990's exemplified most notably perhaps by the
much-acclaimed revival of the Jazz Age show Chicago
that was first produced in 1926. White
Jazz Perhaps
one of the best ways of gauging the impact of jazz is through the early cinema.
We may suggest it was more than mere chance that the first 'talkie' was
the 1929 'The Jazz Singer'. (Starring vaudeville star and Negro impersonator Al
Jolson both in and out of 'black face'.) The popularity of Jazz music would help
guarantee its success. If sound was to be a factor in the movies then it makes
perfect sense that it should be the most popular sound of the day that should be
the focus of the first talking movie. (It should be remembered only the songs
had sound, originally played from records by the projectionist) A
number of white American composers and popular songwriters were strongly
influenced by Jazz. George Gershwin's 'Porgy
and Bess' is a good example, as is Rhapsody
in Blue and popular songs such as I
got Rhythm. The
Fred Astaire movies of the 1930's suggest a main stream influenced by jazz.
However it is an elegant and rather 'sanitized' manifestation for mass
(white) consumption. This
mass appeal and adaptability of jazz suggests why it has had a lasting influence
on music. Jazz rhythms and phrases
have become so familiar that they are simply part of a 'general' music
vocabulary, to be drawn upon as and when necessary. The
same is true of the Jazz dance movement language. It has influenced theatrical
dance to the point where its origins no longer matter to the choreographer or
audience. Jazz dance is no longer
seen as an exclusively black preserve, indeed white choreographers such as Jack
Cole, Lester Horton and Bob Fosse are linked with jazz dance as much as any
black choreographer. The same
can be said of white jazz dance techniques such as Matt Matox and Luigi. The
highly influential choreographer George Balanchine also experimented with
elements of black movement language, perhaps most notably in his collaboration
with black choreographer Katherine Dunham in
the 1946 Cabin in The Sky. The
strong influences of jazz movement techniques are evident in Jerome Robbins's
work on West Side Story. The same can
be said for Fosse's Sweet Charity. With
the success of the 1997 production of Chicago,
with it's multi-racial casting and audiences that do not expect to sit in
separate areas of the theatre according to race.
It is perhaps a timely reminder of how much has changed since the days
when A Trip to Coon Town broke new
ground! Let us also reflect on how much richer the musical theatre is for such
black cultural influences.
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Lecture 1
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costume design for Josephine Baker during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem
Renaissance was not confined to Harlem or even the USA. This flourishing of
black artistic talent was originally called the Negro