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Early American Musical Forms
1800-1900s
Introduction
The origins of musical theatre in the United States are multi-faceted, complex, and ambiguous. Several types of performances existed, intended for a variety of audiences, and not until the 20th century did these musical forms coalesce into what is today recognized as musical theatre. While some trends were imported from Europe (such as the melodrama), other practices were uniquely American. This guide will explore the different types of popular musical performance during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Terminology
- Burlesque: entertainment that seeks to ridicule by means of grotesque exaggeration or comic imitation.
- Civil War: a civil war in the United States fought between the Union and the Confederacy from 1861 to 1865.
- Melodrama: a play interspersed with songs and orchestral music accompanying the action.
- Minstrel: a member of a band of entertainers, typically white actors who performed with blackened faces.
- Riverboat: a large passenger boat that travels up and down a river.
- Vaudeville: a type of popular entertainment popular chiefly in the early twentieth century, featuring a mixture of specialty acts, such as burlesque comedy and song and dance.
Key Dates & Events
- 1750 - First documented musical performance in New York City: The Beggar’s Opera
- 1796 - The Archers, considered the first American musical production
- 1816 - Actor-producer Noah Ludlow purchases “Noah’s Ark,� a simple keelboat to use for traveling performances along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers
- 1826 - Stephen Collins Foster, the “father of American music� is born. He is best known for parlor and minstrel songs (“Oh, Susanna!�, “Camptown Races,� “Beautiful Dreamer�), many of which were incorporated into early American musical shows.
- 1828 - “Jump Jim Crow� and blackface performance popularized by Thomas D. Rice
- 1831 - British actor William Chapman, Sr. develops the Floating Theater showboat
- 1860 - Laura Keane’s The Seven Sisters
- 1861 - The beginning of the American Civil War, ending showboats and impacting other theatrical performances
- 1870 - “Mulligan Guard� created by Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart, considered the first American musical comedy form
- 1885 - The beginning of “Tin Pan Alley� in Manhattan
- 1886 - Al Jolson, “The World’s Greatest Entertainer,� is born
- 1904 - George M. Cohan’s “Give My Regards to Broadway,� a Tin Pan Alley hit
- 1927 - Show Boat, considered the first book musical, premieres
Context & Analysis
Showboats
Prior to the Civil War, most theatrical entertainment was based on European models and European writers. In the early 1800s, British businessmen were buying riverboats to use for entertainment--literal showboats that traveled along the rivers, entertaining audiences. The earliest showboats were most likely just transport for the acting troupe who would
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Cindi Calhoun
Theatre teacher, director, writer, and seamstress