3.3: American Musical Theatre Early Period- late 1800s through the 1930s

Musical theatre is a uniquely American creation. Tracing the roots of American musical theatre involves looking at the social and economic history of the United States. Just as the establishment of a foundation for our great country can be traced to the seventeenth century, so too can the origins of American musical theatre. David Walsh and Len Platt in Musical Theater and American Culture (2003) noted that,

The history of the musical was largely, until the last decades of the twentieth century, the history of the relationship between American popular culture and society, as it changed from the nineteenth century on to make the musical not simply an index and reflection of American society, but a popular genre that helped to form, articulate, and instantiate its shape. (p. 2)

Julian Mates, Dean of the Faculty of Visual and Performing Arts, Long Island University, noted in America’s Musical Stage (1985), how American newspaper clippings and letters of correspondence from the 1600s and 1700s documented the rising interest in stage works. Companies sprouted up along the eastern seaboard and toured various towns to expose new communities to drama, but this practice produced insufficient revenue. Soon, actors decided to spread out and work in various communities, traveling westward to share their talents in the pioneering villages. This exposure in pioneer towns fueled the desire to create theatre in a dramatic company exclusive to the individual town, and by the middle of the nineteenth century, theatre companies and dramas were being produced as far west as California.

In 1664, the British navy took over the Dutch colony on Manhattan Island and renamed it New York, after the King’s brother, the Duke of York. Since it was the widest street for their trading route, it was named “Broad” Way. With taverns, brothels, businesses, and LIFE happening on this street, Broadway became the commercial and cultural spine of New York City. A working capitalism and a cultural sense of the American character was cultivated and invigorated on Broadway.

Figure 3.1. A.S. Seer Print. Pirates of Penzance [graphic]. New York : A.S. Seer Print, c1880.

In the early 1800s, the popular form of entertainment on the stage in America was known as Operetta. Imported predominantly from England and Europe, this early form of a musical included song, dance, comic operas, and pantomimes. No one took these shows seriously as art, they were disposable, similar to today’s daytime TV soap operas (Kenrick, 2011, p. 51).

Chapter 3, Jazz Dance, discussed the emergence of the truly American phenomenon of jazz dance. One of the early forms of American dance that led to the development of both jazz dance and American musical theatre dance, was known as minstrelsy. Minstrelsy emerged in the 1830s and was a most popular form of entertainment from approximately 1845 through 1900 (Stearns, 1994, p. 45). Minstrels performed in black face to white audiences, satirizing the dances from plantations in a very stylized or choreographed fashion. By the mid-1800s, Minstrelsy, performed by African American dancers, or white dancers in black face, had taken the beginnings of what would be considered American jazz dance from folk dance to the professional stage.

In the 1800s, minstrel shows, burlesque houses, opera houses and variety acts, or vaudeville as it was also called, were the epitome of stage entertainment. Each form of entertainment largely kept to its own venue (Mates, 1985). Vaudeville shows, or variety acts, imply just as the genre is named, a variety of different artists who presented their talents on stage. Most did not have classical training as there were no legitimate acting, voice, or dancing schools in America at the time. White men would paint their faces black and perform comedic acts, often using pantomime, in minstrel shows. Opera houses advertised works by Gilbert and Sullivan, who although they hailed from England, were, along with Europeans Strauss and Offenbach, considered important precursors to the history of American musical theatre for their prolific work in the area known as the operetta (Engel, 1975). In John D. Mitchell’s interview of Broadway conductor, Lehman Engel, Engel succinctly argued that the Irish composer, Victor Herbert, was largely responsible for the development of American musical theatre (Mitchell, 1982). Engel noted that Herbert was looking to emulate the Viennese operetta style circa 1900. While in New York, he created a style that was simpler than the Viennese style operetta. “He wrote a simple melody on lyrics, about American life, for a libretto largely about American life” (Mitchell, 1982, p. 29).

Minstrel shows had a basic format, a standard, three-part sequence that allowed for certain parts to be changed out and added in, depending on the strengths of the performers. The first section included a “master of ceremonies”, not typically in blackface that helped to lead the sequence of events. The cast, including comedians, singers, instrumentalists, and more, would be seated in a semicircle of chairs stretching across the stage. A chorus number would be included, as well as jokes and other actors. The second section, or “Olio” would include the specialty acts, while the final section, the “Afterpiece” contained a one-act play with different themes. “The afterpiece traditionally ended with a popular dance known as the Cakewalk. This reliable format was “the first completely American-born musical entertainment, one that did not have any clear European ancestors” (Kenrick, 2011, p 54). Minstrel shows were performed by white or black entertainers and in black face for a white audience, While a condemned practice today for inherent racist tones, performers were not necessarily racist themselves. Many black entertainers were able to perform and get paid to do so. Minstrelsy’s lasting legacy included their songs. Since the entertainers traveled around the country, they were most quickly able to spread their songs to different audiences, such as “Oh, Susannah”, “Camptown Races” and “Old Folks at Home” (Kenrick, 2011, p. 56).

It must be noted that in this era of entertainment, the term burlesque referred to a form of comedy. It is not until the early to mid-twentieth century that burlesque shows began to shift from comedic acts to the revelation of scantily clad women sashaying to music and shedding articles of clothing for the amusement of the predominantly male ticketholders (Mates, 1985).

Figure 3.2. Poster of musical theatre The Black Crook, representing the finale in which the Amazons crush the forces of evil.

Kiralfy Bros grand production, Black crook. (2015). The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/resource/var.1527/

The Black Crook, which debuted in 1866, was arguably the precursor to the modern American musical. It did contain all of the elements that embody the musical as it is defined today: some integrated music, acting, dance, and a story line. However, notable sources such as Julian Mates in America’s Musical Stage refer to it as an extravaganza, a melodrama, a “girlie show” (p. 128), that held little plot and not really any integration of story with music. Walsh & Platt (2003), referencing Mates (1985), does give The Black Crook credit for creating the marketing and producing angle of the then burgeoning musical theatre business.

…it took a major step in the commercialization of popular theater in America since it established a new form and organization of theatrical management as big business-as ‘Broadway.’ The musical would need this economic institutionalization and, as The Black Crook did, it would involve the investment of huge sums to produce a spectacular event with star performers who were advertised precisely as such to create and capture an audience. (p.33)

A new form of entertainment began to emerge during the height of Minstrelsy, around the 1870s. Like a variety concert, Vaudeville shows included acrobatics, jugglers, musicians, comedians and more. A new form of music was used in Vaudeville acts, called Ragtime, that originated in New Orleans. This style of music utilized polyrhythmic and highly syncopated music, reminiscent of African origins, and was the precursor to American jazz music (Amin, 2014, p. 40). Vaudeville shows became a “cleaner” or more family-based form of entertainment and, more importantly for the producer, a substantial way to make big money. America was growing, in population and in innovation, in the last two decades of the 19th century. Americans worked hard and ended their week with more money in their pockets to spend on frivolity in their limited free time. Business savvy types set up a network of popularized entertainment up and down the seaboard, increasing the professionalism and standardizing expectations for performers and audiences alike. Average factory workers before 1920 made less than $1,300 a year, while performers, playing a forty-two week season, could make over $3,00 a year (Kenrick, 2011 p 98). Vaudevillian-style entertainment remained popular into the 1920s and not only helped to standardize performer wages and expectations, but also sparked a new kind of audience that was respectful and more refined, helping to pave the way for the full emergence of the musical theatre genre as we know it today.

Figure 3.3. Bert Williams and George Walker

Wikipedia. https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/File:George_Walker_003.png (File:George Walker 003.png. (2015, October 8).)

At the turn of the twentieth century, professional contracts for black performers were scarce. Yet, Bert Williams and George Walker were two of the busiest comedians in America, harolded for their storytelling, singing, dancing, and pantomime. This unique duo created a new kind of comedy, embodying characters popular with black and white audiences alike (Bert Williams and George Walker--Victor Releases (1901), n.d.).

One of the final precursors to the definitive musical theatre show is the revue. A certain nightclub promoter-turned Broadway producer, with an innate ability to find talent and create unforgettable stage spectacle was Florenz Ziegfeld. Florenz Ziegfeld is best known for his lavish revues, his first Ziegfeld’s Follies debuting in 1907. Rows and rows of barely dressed chorus girls with dazzling legs and even more dazzling costumes highlighted these shows (Mordden, 1976). Popular songs of the period were included in these shows and Ziegfeld made certain the cast was a star-studded array of popular singers, actors and comedians. Noted composers of the day like George Gershwin and Cole Porter could be found lending their expertise to the music of these productions.

Figure 3.4. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, photograph by Harris & Ewing, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-123456]

While he did not have the cash on hand to hire expensive stars, Ziegfeld decided to elevate the role of the ordinary chorus girl and create extraordinary pageantry around a huge cast of them. “Unlike the brash burlesque girls in tights, Ziefled’s chorus dressed at (at least on stage) behaved like young ladies, providing a classy, unifying element” (Kenrick, 2011 p. 123). Ziegfeld owned the recipe for the “revue” a style that, in his case was referred to as “Ziegfeld Follies”, included different vignettes of song and dance and comedy, in a clean and refined fashion. Over the years and throughout his shows, the talent could come and go, but what remained the highlight and the focus was the lavish productions with the chorus girls, elevating theatrical standards to bigger heights.

Figure 3.5. The Four Cohans.

George M. Cohan. (2024, February 20). Wikipedia. https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/George...r_Cohans_(SAYR E_12395).jpg

One of the stand out entertainers of the time was George M. Cohan. Originally a member of a family group, The Four Cohans, George was a dancer, a singer, a writer, a director, and eventually a producer of his own shows that starred - himself! Cohan’s skits were known for athleticism, patriotism and wit. This branding had already been secured long before World War I with his Common Man themes and his love for his country. Cohan’s style of movement that made it acceptable for leading men to dance, his conversational lyrics in song, his comedy, and his patriotism, secured his legacy in American musical theatre (Kenrick, 2011, p 122). Writing, producing and starring in his own shows, Cohan’s work is considered one of the strong roots of musical theatre (Engel, 1975). His uptempo, fresh melodies and positive storylines exhibited America beginning to develop stories of her own - and the audience was hooked. “This, at last, was American musical comedy, with some of the clichés, formulas, and stereotypes to which it would henceforth cling” (Ewen, 1959, p. 24). Formulaic musical theatre stories included boy chasing pretty girl, villain getting caught, and an abundance of chorus girls in dazzling production numbers. Audiences were so completely entertained by Cohan and Ziegfeld’s Follies they largely ignored, or rather escaped the horrors of the Great World War to be entertained, and did not travel to the theatre to think anything other than happy thoughts.

Figure 3.6. Give My Regards to Broadway (2024, February 24).

Wikipedia. https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_M...ards_to_Broadw ay.jpg

While Minstrelsy, Vaudeville and revues were phenomena developing in real time in the United States, operettas from overseas still enjoyed some of the spotlight. That is, until World War I broke out. Distrust for foreigners and foreign products was real. Americans began to turn inward and patriotism was key in all factors of life, including the beginnings of modern musical theatre. “It may be that if not for World War I, some of America's greatest musical theatre writersRichard Rodgers and Larry Hart, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George and Ira Gershwin, the men who would shape the nature of the musical theatre - might never have gotten their shot” (Miller, 2007, p. 14-15). Cohan wrote “Over There” as an anthem for the United States, many performers enlisted to fight the war, Ziegfeld began to include patriotic themes in his shows and musical comedy celebrated Nationalism. Irving Berlin, a Russian-Jewish composer and lyricist, known for “co-opting” African-American’s ragtime genre of music and becoming a widely popular composer, wrote “This is the Army” among an estimated 1500 songs and the scores for 20 original Broadway shows and 15 Hollywood films.

Figure 3.7. The Yankee Doodle Boy. (2024, February 4).

Wikipedia. https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ya...Yankee_Doodle_ Dandy_trailer.jpg

After a victory in World War I, Americans were on a high and wanted to keep it going as long as possible. Speakeasies became hubs for liquor, music and dancing. During this era, music became popularized mostly from the musicals on Broadway, not necessarily from radio or any other live sources. Along with the celebrated rhythms of ragtime, another growing popular form of music was called “jazz” and the style, first heard in the streets of New Orleans, was ushered into musicals with the help of Cole Porter. His first hit song, “Let’s Do It” included a jazzy rhythm and lyrics that, on the surface, seemed innocent, however the meaning was simply scandalous. The public loved it. (Kenrick, 2011, p. 177). Cole also wrote for Hollywood in the 1930s and enjoyed a prolific professional career with many notable singles, called “standards” - favorite hits of the time - as well as several popular musicals, including his most-praised, Kiss Me Kate, from 1948.

Figure 3.8. Irving Berlin. (2024, March 3).

Wikipedia. https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving...CUBAcover.jpeg

There were successful writing partnerships of musicals in the twenties. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart became some of the most successful with thirteen Broadway scores alone in the second half of the decade. A particular project of theirs would showcase a former vaudeville leading man that ends up dancing with a ballet company. George Balanchine, arguably the most prolific ballet choreographer of the twentieth century, was brought in and On Your Toes was born. Balanchine dabbled in a few other Broadway shows before focusing exclusively on his ballet company. Rodgers would soon leave his partnership with Hart for an even more substantial one, that of Oscar Hammerstein II (to be discussed later). Another vital partnership was George and Ira Gershwin. Their sounds were synonymous with the jazz era of syncopated rhythms. With over two dozen Broadway and Hollywood scores to their credit, they are influential for raising the level of entertainment on Broadway from musical comedy to an American art form.

Figure 3.9. Frances White Studios, C. (1920, December 1). English: A young white woman with short, slicked-back dark hair, wearing a strapless dress.

Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...sWhite1920.png

A notable musical from the 1920s, Shuffle Along is a musical composed by Eubie Blake, with lyrics by Noble Sissle and a book written by the comedy duo Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles. Black performers had not had much success on Broadway for several decades, but this pioneering show changed that. African American professionals gained recognition and respect from their Caucasian peers. Black performers had the opportunity to play real characters and not comedic or stereotypical caricatures (Jones, 2003, p. 69). Previously, romantic songs between black performers had to be comedic in nature, however this song not only was solely romantic in nature, it closed the end of the first half of the show. Eubie Blake is quoted as saying,“The proudest day of my life was when Shuffle Along opened. At the intermission all those white people kept saying, “I would like to touch him, the man who wrote the music.’ Well, you got to feel that. It made me feel like, well, at least I’m a human being” (Woll, 1989, p. 62-63). The success of Shuffle Along allowed scores of black performers to stay employed on Broadway for a long period of time and it proved to producers that white audiences could enjoy musicals with and about black performers.

Figure 3.10. Shuffle Along.

Cast of the African American musical “Shuffle Along,” Boston, 1921-1924 - UCLA Library Digital Collections. (n.d.). Digital.library.ucla.edu. Retrieved May 2, 2024, from https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/z1qz3v4b