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Summary
Summary
A comprehensive directory of more than 600 entries, this detailed ready reference features professional, semi-professional, and academic stage organizations and theatres that have been in the forefront in pioneering most of the advances that African Americans have made in the theatre. It includes groups from the early 19th century to the dawn of the revolutionary Black theatre movement of the 1960s. It is an effort to bring together into one volume information that has hitherto been scattered throughout a number of different sources. The volume begins with an illuminating foreword by Errol Hill, a noted critic, playwright, scholar and Willard Professor of Drama Emeritus, Dartmouth College.A comprehensive directory of more than 600 entries, this detailed ready reference features professional, semi-professional, and academic stage organizations and theatres that have been in the forefront in pioneering most of the advances that African Americans have made in the theatre. It includes groups from the early 19th century to the dawn of the revolutionary Black theatre movement of the 1960s. It is an effort to bring together into one volume information that has hitherto been scattered throughout a number of different sources. The volume begins with an illuminating foreword by Errol Hill, a noted critic, playwright, scholar and Willard Professor of Drama Emeritus, Dartmouth College.Included in the volume are the earliest organizations that existed before the Civil War, Black minstrel troupes, pioneer musical show companies, selected vaudeville and road show troupes, professional theatrical associations, booking agencies, stock companies, significant amateur and little theatre groups, Black units of the WPA Federal Theatre, and semi-professional groups in Harlem after the Federal Theatre. The A-Z entries are supplemented with a classified appendix that also includes additional organizations not listed in the main directory, a bibliography, and three indexes for shows, showpeople, and general subjects. Cross referencing makes related information easy to find.
Author Notes
BERNARD L. PETERSON, JR., is Professor Emeritus of English and Drama at Elizabeth City State University. He is the author of Contemporary Black American Playwrights and Their Plays (1988), Early Black American Playwrights and Dramatic Writers (1990), and A Century of Musicals in Black and White (1993), all of which were published by Greenwood Press. He is currently completing a directory of African Americans in the theatre, 1820-1960s (forthcoming from Greenwood Press).
Reviews (3)
Booklist Review
Subtitled A Comprehensive Guide to Early Black Theatre Organizations, Companies, Theatres, and Performing Groups, this is Peterson's fourth work on the African American theater and will soon be accompanied by his fifth, Profiles of African American Theatre People, 1816^-1960, which will also be published by Greenwood. The two works are intended to complement each other, with the one under review covering theater groups and its forthcoming companion concentrating on individual performers. The bulk of this work consists of more than 200 pages of alphabetically arranged entries, well stocked with cross-references and citations for further research. Entries range in length from a sentence or two to up to three pages for such entities as the Atlanta University Summer Theatre; the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem; and Pekin Stock Company of Pekin, Illinois, the first professional stock company in residence at a black theater. Supplementing this are two appendixes. The first is a list of theaters and other performance venues divided into two parts, one listing performing venues cited in the main body of the directory and one listing those not cited due to space limitations. The second appendix is a list of theater companies and organizations classified by one of eight types, such as minstrel companies and academic theater groups. Also included are a list of sources of information and indexes by personal and organizational names as well as show titles. This guidebook charts a course of study for an area sometimes left unexplored in standard American theater histories. Performing arts and African American studies collections should find it a welcome addition.
Choice Review
The author (Elizabeth City State Univ., NC) used diverse sources to compile this comprehensive alphabetical directory that includes some 700 African American theatrical organizations, companies, and performing groups and spans the pioneer period of the early 1800s through the black theatrical revolution of the 1960s. In addition to black-oriented or black-controlled theaters, halls, and performance spaces, the directory includes "scores of groups that were well known during their time, but are relatively forgotten today." Entries vary in length from a few lines to two or more pages. The directory is the fourth in the author's series documenting African American contributions to US theater. Other titles in the series include Contemporary Black American Playwrights and Their Plays (CH, Nov'88), Early Black American Playwrights and Dramatic Writers (CH, Mar'91), A Century of Musicals in Black and White (CH, Jun'94), and the forthcoming Black Stars and Theatre People of the Early American Stage. In addition to Errol Hill's informative foreword outlining the history of African American theater, the present work contains two helpful appendixes: lists of 200 theaters, halls, etc., included in the directory, and 500 theatrical groups excluded because of space limitations. The only directory of its type, this book should be considered essential for all libraries serving African American theater students. G. T. Johnson; Central State University (OH)
Library Journal Review
This is an excellent addition to the author's earlier works on African Americans in the American theater, including Contemporary Black American Playwrights and Their Plays (Greenwood, 1988). Here he offers a comprehensive guide to black theater organizations, theaters, groups, and so forth and brings to light an area of theatrical history hitherto underrepresented in most collections. The foreword, by Errol Hill (editor, The Theatre of Black Americans, Applause, 1986), whets the appetite and provides a good introduction to the scope of African American theater in the United States; the eight pages of information resources will prove useful to future researchers. There are also two helpful appendixes: one an alphabetical listing of theaters, halls, and performance spaces, the other a classification of organizations, groups, and companies by type. Unfortunately, there is no way of finding theaters by geographical location. Recommended for academic libraries and theater collections in both academic and larger public libraries.Susan L. Peters, Emory Univ. Lib., Atlanta (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.