Historical Dictionary of African American Theater (Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts)

625 Pages·2008·3.17 MB·English

by  Anthony Hill

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.
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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