The Famous Black Moguls. Song and Chorus. [From A Trip to Coontown]
- Folio, 4 pp. Covers split, stamp from a Kalamazoo, Michigan piano store near publisher information, otherwise near fine, with th
- New York: Howley; Haviland and Co, 1898
New York: Howley; Haviland and Co, 1898. Folio, 4 pp. Covers split, stamp from a Kalamazoo, Michigan piano store near publisher information, otherwise near fine, with the lithographic illustration very bright and attractive, very good overall. Very good.. An illustrated sheet for “The Famous Black Moguls,” one of the opening choruses from A Trip to Coontown, the musical comedy written, produced, directed, and performed by Bob Cole and Billy Johnson during the 1897–1898 theatrical season. The show is recognized as among the earliest full-length musical productions created and staged under African American creative control. The work evolved from Cole’s earlier sketch At Jolly Coon-ey Island, written for Black Patti’s Troubadours, and its title parodied the popular musical A Trip to Chinatown (1891). Production records identify “The Famous Black Moguls” as an early Act I number performed by the character Captain Fleetfoot, placing it among the introductory musical selections used to establish the show’s principal characters and theatrical setting.
The show premiered in South Amboy, New Jersey, on September 27, 1897, and later appeared in New York at the Third Avenue Theatre in April 1898. Theater historian Thomas L. Riis and co-authors describe the production as: “performed, directed, and produced by African Americans, an astounding feat in an era where few independent theaters could even consider taking a chance on such a production. Unfortunately, the play—like so many other nineteenth-century African American documents and artifacts—was lost, and scholars could only make conjectures (based mainly on newspaper reviews) about what it looked and sounded like. ”[1] Peter Lefferts, in “A Chronology of the Career of Bob Cole: Materials for a Biography,” found a program from April, 1898 that identifies “The Famous Black Moguls” was the first song in the production.[2] We are unable to identify the artist for the illustration. We find one copy of this sheet in OCLC, at the British Library Reference Collections, and nothing else from the original show in commerce at the time of writing. Overall a very scarce and attractive sheet from an important production with little surviving ephemeral record.
[1] Krystyn R. Moon, David Krasner, and Thomas L. Riis, “Forgotten Manuscripts: A Trip to Coontown,” African American Review 44, no. 1/2 (2011): 7–24.
[2] Peter M. Lefferts, “A Chronology and Itinerary of the Career of Bob Cole: Materials for a Biography”, Faculty Publications: School of Music. 56 (University of Nebraska, 2016).
The show premiered in South Amboy, New Jersey, on September 27, 1897, and later appeared in New York at the Third Avenue Theatre in April 1898. Theater historian Thomas L. Riis and co-authors describe the production as: “performed, directed, and produced by African Americans, an astounding feat in an era where few independent theaters could even consider taking a chance on such a production. Unfortunately, the play—like so many other nineteenth-century African American documents and artifacts—was lost, and scholars could only make conjectures (based mainly on newspaper reviews) about what it looked and sounded like. ”[1] Peter Lefferts, in “A Chronology of the Career of Bob Cole: Materials for a Biography,” found a program from April, 1898 that identifies “The Famous Black Moguls” was the first song in the production.[2] We are unable to identify the artist for the illustration. We find one copy of this sheet in OCLC, at the British Library Reference Collections, and nothing else from the original show in commerce at the time of writing. Overall a very scarce and attractive sheet from an important production with little surviving ephemeral record.
[1] Krystyn R. Moon, David Krasner, and Thomas L. Riis, “Forgotten Manuscripts: A Trip to Coontown,” African American Review 44, no. 1/2 (2011): 7–24.
[2] Peter M. Lefferts, “A Chronology and Itinerary of the Career of Bob Cole: Materials for a Biography”, Faculty Publications: School of Music. 56 (University of Nebraska, 2016).
Details
Title
The Famous Black Moguls. Song and Chorus. [From A Trip to Coontown]
Author
[African-Americana – Performance] Johnson, Billy; Cole, Bob
Binding
Folio, 4 pp. Covers split, stamp from a Kalamazoo, Michigan piano store near publisher information, otherwise near fine, with th
Condition
Very Good
Publisher
Howley; Haviland and Co: New York
Date
1898