HISTORICALDICTIONARIES OFLITERATURE AND THE ARTS Jon Woronoff, Series Editor 1. Science Fiction Literature, by Brian Stableford, 2004. 2. Hong Kong Cinema, by Lisa Odham Stokes, 2007. 3. American Radio Soap Operas,by Jim Cox, 2005. 4. Japanese Traditional Theatre,by Samuel L. Leiter, 2006. 5. Fantasy Literature,by Brian Stableford, 2005. 6. Australian and New Zealand Cinema,by Albert Moran and Errol Vieth, 2006. 7. African-American Television, by Kathleen Fearn-Banks, 2006. 8. Lesbian Literature,by Meredith Miller, 2006. 9. Scandinavian Literature and Theater,by Jan Sjåvik, 2006. 10. British Radio,by Seán Street, 2006. 11. German Theater,by William Grange, 2006. 12. African American Cinema,by S. Torriano Berry and Venise Berry, 2006. 13. Sacred Music,by Joseph P. Swain, 2006. 14. Russian Theater, by Laurence Senelick, 2007. 15. French Cinema,by Dayna Oscherwitz and MaryEllen Higgins, 2007. 16. Postmodernist Literature and Theater, by Fran Mason, 2007. 17. Irish Cinema,by Roderick Flynn and Pat Brereton, 2007. 18. Australian Radio and Television,by Albert Moran and Chris Keating, 2007. 19. Polish Cinema, by Marek Haltof, 2007. 20. Old Time Radio, by Robert C. Reinehr and Jon D. Swartz, 2008. 21. Renaissance Art, by Lilian H. Zirpolo, 2008. 22. Broadway Musical, by William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird, 2008. 23. American Theater:Modernism, by James Fisher and Felicia Hardison Londré, 2008. 24. German Cinema,by Robert C. Reimer and Carol J. Reimer, 2008. 25. Horror Cinema, by Peter Hutchings, 2008. 26. Westerns in Cinema, by Paul Varner, 2008. 27. Chinese Theater, by Tan Ye, 2008. 28. Italian Cinema,by Gino Moliterno, 2008. 29. Architecture,by Allison Lee Palmer, 2008. 30. Russian and Soviet Cinema,by Peter Rollberg, 2008. 31. African American Theater,by Anthony D. Hill, 2009. Historical Dictionary of African American Theater Anthony D. Hill with Douglas Q. Barnett Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts, No. 31 The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2009 SCARECROWPRESS,INC. Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc. Awholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.scarecrowpress.com Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom Copyright ©2009 by Anthony D. Hill All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hill, Anthony D., 1947– Historical dictionary of African American theater / Anthony D. Hill with Douglas Q. Barnett. p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of literature and the arts ; no. 31) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5534-2 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8108-5534-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-6276-0 (ebook) ISBN-10: 0-8108-6276-X (ebook) 1. African American theater–Dictionaries. I. Barnett, Douglas Q. II. Title. PN2270.A35H53 2009 792.089'96073–dc22 2008027154 (cid:2)™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America. I dedicate this book to my mother, Flavor Bell Booker, the essence of my existence, and to all my family members, loved ones, and friends who inspired and encouraged me.—ADH I thank my mother and father, who showed me the way, my loving fam- ily for supporting me, and Roberta Byrd Barr for encouraging me to fol- low my dreams. Last, I thank the women in my life, whose magic I will always treasure.—DQB Contents Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii Acronyms and Abbreviations xv Chronology xix Introduction xxxiii THE DICTIONARY 1 Bibliography 527 About the Authors 541 vii Editor’s Foreword African American theatre does not have a very long history, and this is certainly less the fault of African Americans than their fellow citizens. Initially, the very idea of such a theatre seemed ludicrous, and it was only about the time of the African Grove Theatre (1821–23) that the first actors appeared, the first play was written, and the first theatre was opened. Early on, blacks usually had just minor—and frequently de- meaning—roles, and even “minstrels” were white. But over the past century, things have changed, very slowly and painfully at first and more recently with amazing speed and verve. Today, there are countless actors, a plethora of playwrights, and theaters of all sorts in large cities and increasingly small as well. While many of the plays grapple with specific themes, others tackle universal problems and issues. They par- take in all the genres, comedy and tragedy and farce, straight and musi- cal shows, from 1 act to 3 to even a cycle of 10. Most impressive, the audience is no longer only African American but far broader, as many of their fellow citizens also appreciate this theater, which has been suc- cessfully exported as well, while the more outstanding actors, produc- ers, directors, playwrights, and others are widely recognized and win prestigious awards. Yet, while this branch of theater is increasingly familiar to many African Americans, there are others for whom it is not even on the radar. And most other Americans, let alone foreigners, still find it a bit strange and exotic. This feeling, rooted in a lack of knowledge, can only be over- come by providing more information, and fortunately, this latest histori- cal dictionary is a treasure chest of information. The dictionary section, the core of the book, has well over 600 entries on, in order of emphasis, playwrights, actors, theater-producing organizations, directors, plays, musicals, and themes. It does not have everything, but it certainly has more than can be found anywhere else, and it conveys this information ix
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