Plantation Revue

Not to be confused with Plantation Days.

Plantation Revue was a 1922 revue put together by Lew Leslie, featuring some of the more popular musical numbers and comedy acts that he had hired at Harlem's Plantation Club.[1]

The original revue underwent other versions, with minor or major changes to the cast: Dover Street to Dixie (pairing-up with a British production in London); Dixie to Broadway (pairing-up with a one-act white revue) and Dixie to Paris.

Plantation Revue

Performers included Florence Mills, around whom the revue was built,[1] and who would become an even bigger star thanks to this revue,[1] her husband, U. S. Thompson, and blues star Edith Wilson. Shelton Brooks was hired as the emcee, as well as himself performing in the revue.[1]

As well as for its initial Broadway run, Brooks, Mills, Thompson, and Wilson all continued performing in future versions of the show: its pairing-up with a British production, Dover Street to Dixie, in London, and the pairing-up with a one-act white revue, Dixie to Broadway, on Times Square.[1] All four also went on to perform in Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1926.[1]

Leslie brought Aaron Palmer over from Whitman Sisters' Troupe[1] to join the ensemble, for which he teamed up with another dancer. Their act, together with those of U. S. Thompson and Lou Keane, made up the Plantation Revue's dance acts.[1]

Dover Street to Dixie (1923)

Leslie arranged with English impresario C. B. Cochran[1] to take half the cast of the Plantation Revue, as the Dixie part, staged by Leonard Harper,[1] to London, with Stanley Lupino and Odette Myrtil making up the London-based half of the show.[1] Vaudeville blues singers Gladys Bryant and Lena Wilson were also a part of the London revue tour but received no mention in British publications.[2]

Dixie to Broadway (1924-25)

Following a shake-out tour,[1] Dixie to Broadway ran for 77 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre, in Times Square,[1] starting 29 October 1924, before touring the USA again.[1] It featured Hamtree Harrington[1] and Cora Green,[1] Will Vodery, as musical director,[1] and his Orchestra,[1] tap dancers Willie Covan[1] & Ulysses "Slow Kid" Thompson,[1] whom Variety described as "Effortless steppers who mix some light trick stuff in with soft-shoe rhythmatics".[3] Johnnie Nit,[1] Aida Ward,[1] and Eddie Rector.[3]

With Florence Mills, as usual as the star attraction, Dixie to Broadway featured her singing "I'm a Little Blackbird Looking for a Bluebird",[1] with lyrics by Grant Clarke[4] and Roy Turk,[4] and music by Tin Pan Alley songwriter George W. Meyer,[4] and Arthur Johnston.[4] which, a couple of months later (17 December 1924), would first be recorded for the OKeh label by Eva Taylor, accompanied by Clarence Williams’ Blue Five (Clarence Williams (piano); Louis Armstrong (cornet); Charlie Irvis (trombone); Sidney Bechet (soprano saxophone), and Buddy Christian (banjo).[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville, old & new : an encyclopedia of variety performers in America. New York: Psychology Press. ISBN 0-415-93853-8. OCLC 62430748.
  2. ^ Rye, Howard (2004-02-10). "Showgirls and stars: Black-cast revues and female performers in Britain 1903–1939". Popular Music History. 1 (2): 167–188. doi:10.1558/pomh.v1i2.167. ISSN 1743-1646.
  3. ^ a b Seibert, Brian (2015). What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-86547-953-1. OCLC 898419561.
  4. ^ a b c d e "OKeh matrix S-73027. I'm a little blackbird looking for a bluebird / Clarence Williams’ Blue Five; Eva Taylor". Discography of American Historical Recordings, UC Santa Barbara Library. Retrieved 17 December 2022.