In Dahomey
In Dahomey is an American musical comedy that premiered on February 18, 1903, at the New York Theatre, marking the first full-length production written, composed, and performed by Black Americans to open on a Broadway stage.[1][2] Starring the Black vaudeville duo Bert Williams and George Walker as the leads, with music by Will Marion Cook, book by Jesse A. Shipp, and lyrics by Paul Laurence Dunbar, the show centered on two con men from New York who impersonate African dignitaries in Dahomey (present-day Benin).[3][4] The production incorporated ragtime songs, cakewalk dances, and elements of blackface performance typical of the era, achieving 53 performances in New York before a profitable national tour and an international run culminating in a 1904 London engagement that included a command performance for King Edward VII.[5][6] Its success highlighted the viability of all-Black casts in mainstream theater amid Jim Crow restrictions, influencing subsequent works like Williams and Walker's Abyssinia (1906), though it drew mixed reactions for blending satire of American racial pretensions with minstrel conventions.[3][4]
Production History
Development and Creation
The vaudeville duo of Bert Williams and George Walker, seeking to transition from short acts to a full-length production, conceived In Dahomey as a musical comedy emphasizing Black performers in non-minstrel roles, drawing on their prior successes in variety shows.[7] The project originated around 1902, with the comedic plot centering on the fictional Dahomey Colonisation Society, a group of African Americans attempting to relocate to Africa but facing humorous obstacles.[7] Williams and Walker enlisted Jesse A. Shipp to write the book, Will Marion Cook to compose the primary music, and poet Paul Laurence Dunbar to supply most lyrics, marking one of the earliest instances of a major American musical crafted predominantly by Black creators.[7][8] Development incorporated musical influences from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where Cook and others encountered rhythms from a Dahomean village exhibit, inspiring syncopated elements and cakewalk dances that rejected blackface traditions in favor of vernacular Black styles.[3] Additional contributions included lyrics from Cecil Mack and James Weldon Johnson, and music from J. Leubrie Hill, Alex Rogers, and Bert Williams himself, with songs like "Jonah Man" emerging during rehearsals to refine the score's blend of ragtime and folk motifs.[7] The production was initially tailored for Black-oriented variety houses before Hurtig and Seamon secured backing for broader appeal, involving tryouts to adapt vaudeville sketches into a cohesive prologue and two-act structure.[7] The show held its first performance on September 8, 1902, at the Grand Opera House in Stamford, Connecticut, allowing refinements such as the addition of "That's How the Cake Walk's Done" before its New York engagements.[7] This out-of-town premiere tested the ensemble's all-Black cast dynamics, with Williams and Walker starring alongside Aida Overton Walker, emphasizing dignified portrayals amid the era's racial constraints.[7][3]Premiere and Broadway Run
In Dahomey, a musical comedy produced by and starring George Walker and Bert Williams, opened on Broadway at the New York Theatre on February 18, 1903, following out-of-town tryouts.[9][7] The production featured music by Will Marion Cook, a libretto by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Jesse A. Shipp, and an all-Black cast, marking the first full-length musical written, composed, and performed entirely by African Americans to appear in a major New York legitimate theatre.[10][11] The show ran for 53 performances, closing on April 4, 1903.[9] Despite its relatively short initial engagement, critical reception highlighted the performers' talents, with Walker and Williams drawing praise for their comedic timing and vocal abilities, though some reviews noted the influence of minstrel traditions in the staging.[12] A brief revival followed at the Grand Opera House from August 27 to September 10, 1904, extending its Broadway presence.[13]Domestic and International Tours
Following its initial Broadway run from February 18 to April 4, 1903, In Dahomey undertook domestic tours across the United States, performing in major cities including San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, St. Louis, and Seattle, where it opened at the Grand Opera House on January 8, 1905.[14] [15] A brief Broadway revival from August 27 to September 10, 1904, at the Grand Opera House, comprising 17 performances, preceded an extended 40-week national tour that sustained the production's momentum and profitability.[14] These tours capitalized on the show's novelty as an all-Black musical comedy, drawing audiences in regional theaters despite prevailing racial barriers in legitimate stage productions.[14] Internationally, the production transferred to the United Kingdom, opening on May 16, 1903, at London's Shaftesbury Theatre, where it became the first musical comedy performed entirely by Black American artists to achieve a major West End run.[16] The engagement lasted nine months, concluding around Christmas 1903 when the theater closed for renovations, and included a special truncated performance for King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on June 27, 1903.[17][16] Reception was generally positive, with outlets like the Daily Mail describing it as offering "a welcome sensation of surprise" and The Times hailing it as a "new sensation" for musical comedy enthusiasts.[16] After the original cast departed in mid-1904, variant troupes of American performers extended provincial tours across Britain, including Scotland and venues like Oldham in September 1904, perpetuating the show's influence on transatlantic perceptions of Black performance.[16]Historical Context
Origins of Black Musical Theater
The foundations of Black musical theater emerged from African diasporic performance traditions transported to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade, encompassing improvisational storytelling, polyrhythmic drumming, call-and-response vocals, and communal dances that persisted in forms like ring shouts and spirituals despite prohibitions on enslaved gatherings.[18] These elements fused with European theatrical structures post-emancipation, enabling early Black ensembles to incorporate music and movement into dramatic works as a means of cultural expression and economic survival. By the early 19th century, free Black communities in urban centers like New York established venues such as the African Grove Theatre in 1821, founded by William Alexander Brown, which hosted concerts, Shakespearean adaptations, and variety programs blending songs, dances, and sketches for audiences of color, though often facing harassment and closure by authorities.[19] [20] After the Civil War, as Black performers gained mobility, they organized independent troupes that transitioned from sporadic entertainments to structured musical revues, drawing on folk idioms like the cakewalk—a stylized strut originating in plantation mockeries of white dances.[21] The Creole Show (1890), featuring an all-Black cast including women as singers and dancers under performers like Tom Fletcher, marked a shift by replacing white blackface minstrels with authentic Black artistry; it toured for three years, grossing significant revenue through ragtime-infused numbers and chorus lines that popularized syncopated rhythms nationwide.[21] This production's success, achieved amid Jim Crow restrictions, demonstrated viability for Black-led musical enterprises outside segregated circuits. The late 1890s crystallized Black musical theater's distinct form with full-fledged comedies integrating original scores and plots. A Trip to Coontown (1898), crafted and staged entirely by African Americans Bob Cole and Billy Johnson in New York, became the inaugural full-length musical comedy of its kind, satirizing urban Black life through 20+ songs and sketches over a 10-week run.[21] Concurrently, Clorindy, or The Origin of the Cakewalk (1898)—a one-act farce with music by Will Marion Cook and libretto by Paul Laurence Dunbar—premiered at the Casino Theatre Roof Garden with an all-Black cast led by Ernest Hogan, running 50 performances and introducing "Darktown Is Out Tonight" as a hit; it is recognized as the first Broadway musical featuring exclusively Black performers, emphasizing cakewalk choreography and early ragtime orchestration that influenced subsequent syncopated shows.[21] [22] These milestones, produced amid pervasive racial barriers, established precedents for self-authored narratives and scores, paving the way for expanded casts and tours in the early 1900s.Influence of Minstrelsy and Vaudeville
Bert Williams and George Walker, the creators and stars of In Dahomey, built their careers in vaudeville, beginning with duo acts in the mid-1890s that featured comedic sketches, dialect humor, and dance routines adapted from variety theater traditions.[23] Their vaudeville billing as "The Two Real Coons" emphasized exaggerated Black caricatures to appeal to predominantly white audiences, incorporating fast-paced banter and physical comedy that became staples of the show's structure.[24] This format influenced In Dahomey's blend of musical numbers, specialty acts, and interpolated songs, mirroring vaudeville's episodic variety style rather than a strictly linear narrative.[7] Minstrelsy's legacy permeated their work through the adoption of blackface makeup and "stage Negro" tropes, with Williams applying burnt cork and oversized painted lips to portray dim-witted characters like Rareback Pinkerton, a practice he began in 1896 to conform to commercial expectations despite initial resistance.[23] Elements such as the cakewalk dance, popularized in minstrel show contests as a satirical plantation strut, were central to In Dahomey, exemplified by numbers like "That's How the Cake Walk's Done" and "Chocolate Drops," which retained rhythmic syncopation and competitive flair from those origins while showcasing Black performers' athletic precision.[7] Walker critiqued minstrelsy's dehumanizing stereotypes publicly, yet the show's comedy relied on self-deprecating dialects and "coon" archetypes—urban tricksters derived from white minstrel inventions—to generate laughs, reflecting a pragmatic negotiation with audience familiarity rather than outright rejection.[24] Though In Dahomey marked a departure by employing an all-Black cast and creative team to reclaim agency over portrayals, its reliance on minstrel-vaudeville conventions underscored the era's limited theatrical vocabulary for Black expression, prioritizing market viability over radical innovation.[23] This hybrid approach enabled the musical's Broadway success in 1903 and subsequent London run, but it perpetuated visual and verbal signifiers that blurred lines between subversion and accommodation.[7]Synopsis
In Dahomey centers on Shylock "Shy" Homestead, a gullible figure portrayed by Bert Williams, and his scheming associate Rareback Pinkerton, played by George Walker, both operating as con artists from Boston. After experiencing misfortune, the pair discovers a pot of gold, prompting them to align with the Get-the-Coin Syndicate and promote the Dahomey Colonisation Society's initiative to relocate economically disadvantaged African Americans to the African kingdom of Dahomey as a form of repatriation.[4][7] The narrative unfolds across a prologue in Dahomey, Act I in Boston's public square, and Act II in Gatorville, Florida, where Pinkerton travels to extract funds from Homestead for the society's coffers, managed by figures including Hamilton Lightfoot. Pinkerton repeatedly swindles Homestead, pocketing much of the proceeds under the guise of advancing the colonization effort. Comedic elements arise from the duo's bungled deceptions and interactions with syndicate leaders like Hustling Charley.[25][7] Ultimately, Homestead recognizes Pinkerton's betrayals and redirects his remaining wealth directly to Dahomey's inhabitants, bypassing further scams and underscoring a resolution tied to African heritage amid the farce. The production, structured in a prologue and two acts, integrates musical numbers and dances to propel the plot of repatriation schemes and personal duplicity.[26][7]Themes and Racial Portrayals
Core Narrative Elements
The musical In Dahomey employs a loose framing narrative structured around a prologue set in Dahomey and two acts primarily in Boston and Gatorville, Florida, blending comedic sketches with a satirical storyline about African American colonization efforts in Africa.[25] The central plot follows Shylock Homestead, a naive and bumbling figure portrayed by Bert Williams, and his cunning partner Rareback Pinkney (or Pinkerton), played by George Walker, who join the Get-the-Coin Syndicate to finance the Dahomey Colonisation Society.[7][10] This society, founded by Hamilton Lightfoot and his brother Moses, seeks to relocate impoverished African Americans to the African kingdom of Dahomey as a means of economic opportunity and racial uplift.[7][25] Key events revolve around the duo's schemes: Homestead and Pinkney discover or amass a fortune—depicted variably as a pot of gold or misappropriated syndicate funds—which they intend to use for the transatlantic venture.[4] Pinkney swindles Homestead out of his share, leading to farcical pursuits and confrontations that parody back-to-Africa movements and American entrepreneurial colonialism.[7][10] The narrative incorporates vaudeville-style interruptions, such as cakewalk contests and romantic subplots involving supporting characters like Lightfoot's daughter Pansy, but maintains a throughline of the protagonists' failed ambitions upon arriving in Dahomey, where they encounter local "natives" and colonists in exaggerated, humorous scenarios.[25] This structure spoofs racial stereotypes while critiquing exploitative ventures, with the action culminating in chaotic resolutions that underscore the impracticality of the colonization dream.[7][27]Representations of Black Identity
In Dahomey depicted Black identity through comedic archetypes that navigated the era's theatrical constraints while introducing elements of cultural specificity. The central characters, Shylock Homestead (played by Bert Williams) and Rareback Pinkerton (played by George Walker), represented contrasting facets of Black masculinity: Homestead as a bumbling, superstitious everyman prone to mishaps, and Pinkerton as a scheming dandy aspiring to sophistication.[7] Williams performed Homestead in blackface, a practice he adopted to amplify comedic exaggeration for white audiences, despite the all-Black cast marking a departure from white minstrels in blackface.[7] This duality highlighted internal Black aspirations and follies, with the plot revolving around their fraudulent scheme to colonize Dahomey, satirizing back-to-Africa movements as impractical fantasies rooted in American opportunism rather than genuine ancestral reconnection.[8] The show's representations blended authenticity with stereotype accommodation. Music and lyrics drew from Black folk traditions, incorporating syncopated rhythms, vernacular dialects, and cakewalk dances that originated as subversive exaggerations of white plantation masters' formalities but evolved into stylized displays of Black elegance and endurance.[3] Numbers like "I'm a Jonah Man" and "Swing Along" evoked communal resilience and humor derived from shared racial experiences, rejecting overt minstrel grotesqueries in favor of subtler folk-derived expressions.[3] Yet, to ensure commercial viability before predominantly white audiences, the production retained dialect-driven comedy and scheming character tropes, which echoed vaudeville conventions and limited portrayals to palatable entertainments rather than unfiltered realism.[10] Scholarly analyses note these constraints as reflective of broader economic pressures on Black creators, who advanced ethnic visibility but often at the cost of reinforcing familiar racial caricatures.[8] In performance, Walker’s straight-man dandy—dressed in fine attire without blackface—signaled upward mobility and refinement, contrasting Williams' darkened, clownish persona and underscoring tensions in Black self-presentation between assimilationist polish and folk authenticity.[7] This pairing allowed Black performers agency in interpreting their identities, fostering a proto-realist lens on intra-community dynamics like envy and camaraderie, though filtered through humor to evade direct confrontation with systemic racism.[8] Overseas tours, including in England, amplified these depictions but faced reinterpretation as extended minstrelsy, revealing how audience expectations shaped global perceptions of Black identity.[28] Overall, In Dahomey advanced Black theatrical agency by centering Black-authored narratives and performers, yet its reliance on stereotype-infused comedy evidenced the causal interplay between artistic ambition and market-driven realism in early 20th-century racial representation.[10][8]Music and Performance Style
Composition and Key Numbers
The musical score for In Dahomey was composed primarily by Will Marion Cook, with lyrics contributed by Paul Laurence Dunbar, Cecil Mack, and others, reflecting a fusion of ragtime, cakewalk rhythms, and romantic-era influences adapted for vaudeville-style performance.[25][29] The show incorporated both original numbers and interpolated songs, as evidenced by surviving piano-vocal scores from its London run, which document additions made during tours to suit audience preferences and performer strengths.[30] Cook's training in classical composition at institutions like Oberlin Conservatory informed more structured ensemble pieces, while comedic solos drew on popular coon song conventions of the era.[29] Key numbers included the Act I opening chorus "Swing Along," a lively ensemble piece with music and lyrics by Cook that evoked communal migration themes through syncopated rhythms and call-and-response vocals, published in London in 1902.[29][25] Another prominent ensemble, "Molly Green," featured bright, upbeat melodies highlighting group harmony, while the "Caboceers' Entrance" in the prologue showcased percussive cakewalk elements mimicking African tribal processions.[25] Bert Williams popularized the solo "I'm a Jonah Man," a satirical ditty composed by John Rosamond Johnson that played on misfortune tropes with Williams' signature deadpan delivery and minimalistic piano accompaniment.[31]| Key Number | Performers/Style | Composer/Lyricist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Swing Along" | Chorus/Ensemble | Will Marion Cook (music & lyrics) | Act I opener; ragtime-infused migration anthem, published 1902 by Keith, Prowse.[29] |
| "Molly Green" | Ensemble | Will Marion Cook | Upbeat group harmony number emphasizing optimism.[25] |
| "Caboceers' Entrance" | Caboceers/Chorus | Will Marion Cook | Prologue processional with cakewalk percussion simulating Dahomean royalty.[25] |
| "I'm a Jonah Man" | Bert Williams (solo) | John Rosamond Johnson (music); Alex Rogers (lyrics) | Comedic monologue on bad luck, interpolated for Williams' vaudeville persona.[31] |