An Inconvenient Black History Of British Musical Theatre: 1900 - 1950

An Inconvenient Black History of British Musical Theatre: 1900 - 1950 makes a radical and vital intervention in this established history of British musical theatre. It records how Black performance and creative practice was a significant force in the British musical theatre industry and disrupts established ideas that Black British performance practice starts after the arrival of the Windrush in 1948. Through original research and investigation this book draws together threads from existing work in histories of popular music alongside significant archival work and framing of newly digitised newspapers, theatrical newspapers and magazines, and genealogical records. It makes two overarching arguments; firstly, that Black performance practice was a vital and significant part of the history of British musical theatre with an extraordinary impact on the development of the form; and secondly, that this was inherently a resistant practice on the part of hundreds, of practitioners of African descent, whose backgrounds reflect the breadth of the African diaspora. Through considering the presence of, and relationships between, African American, Caribbean and Black British performers and creative producers, this book reinstates the work of hundreds of practitioners by focusing on a close reading of twelve key figures who made musicals theatre in the UK. From Mabel Mercer, Johnny Nit, Pip Graham and Gordon Stretton to Frank Weaver, Alberta Hunter, and Clarence “Buddy” Bradley, it shows how Black composers, musicians, performers and choreographers with a variety of heritages and national identities played a central role in reshaping the form from Edwardian musical comedy into the age of modernism and beyond. Many of their names or works are not included in histories of the British musical. This book exposes this inconvenient history.

• | Author: Sean Mayes, Sarah K. Whitfield
• | Publisher: Methuen Drama
• | Publication Date: 23-Sep-21
• | Number of Pages: 304 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover
• | ISBN-10: 1350119636
• | ISBN-13: 9781350119635