The Black Crook Myth

1966 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
Julian Mates
Keyword(s):  
Reference Point ◽  
Theatre History ◽  
American Theatre ◽  
Common Reference ◽  
Musical Comedy ◽  
History Of ◽  
American Theatre History

Dates and events are frequently useful scholarly pigeonholes into which may be neatly tucked whole periods of literature or significant literary trends. The scholar knows them to be oversimplifications, but so long as their limitations are recognized, they remain useful tools for teaching, talking, and writing. Occasionally, however, history is hung from a date so unreliable and so unjustified that delineation of material is blurred rather than clarified, traditions are obscured rather than illuminated, and fields of research are closed rather than opened. American theatre history affords a perfect example of the misused common reference point. The year 1866, with its production of The Black Crook, has been accepted as the landmark indicating the beginnings of American musical comedy. Cecil Smith, in Musical Comedy in America, says, “For all important purposes, the history of musical comedy in America starts with The Black Crook, as everyone has always said it did.”

The Achievements of the Douglass Company in North America: 1758–1774

1982 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
David D. Mays
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
North America ◽  
West Indies ◽  
Theatre History ◽  
The West ◽  
American Theatre ◽  
History Of ◽  
American Theatre History ◽  
A Company

On Monday, October 16, 1758., Hugh Gaine reported a novelty. “Friday last,” he told his readers in the New-York Mercury, “arrived here from the West Indies, a Company of Comedians; some Part of which were here in the Year 1753.” This brief notice, which went on to assure its readers that the company had “an ample Certificate of their Private as well as publick Qualifications,” marks the beginning of the most significant event in American theatre history: the establishment of the professional theatre on this continent. The achievements of the Company of Comedians during its sixteen-year residence in North America are virtually without parallel in the history of the theatre, and have not received sufficient recognition by historians and scholars.

A History of African American Theatre. By Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch. Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003; pp. 608. $130 cloth.

2005 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-129
Author(s):  
Harry Elam
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Theatre History ◽  
American Theatre ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Black Theatre ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
American Theatre History ◽  
Daunting Challenge

Over the more than twenty years since the publication of two profoundly influential collections—Errol Hill's two-volume anthology of critical essays The Theatre of Black Americans (1980) and James V. Hatch's first edition of the play anthology Black Theatre USA (1974)—there has been considerable activity in African American theatre scholarship. Yet even as scholars have produced new collections of historical and critical essays that cover a wide range of African American theatre history, book-length studies that document particular moments in the historical continuum such as the Harlem Renaissance, and Samuel Hay's broader study African American Theatre: An Historical and Critical Analysis (1994), no one until now has written a comprehensive study of African American theatre history. Into this void have stepped two of the aforementioned distinguished scholars of African American theatre, Errol G. Hill and James V. Hatch. To be certain, writing a comprehensive history of African American theatre poses a daunting challenge for anyone hearty enough to undertake it. Where to begin? What to include and exclude? With their study, A History of African American Theatre, Hill and Hatch show themselves indeed worthy of the challenge. They explore the evolution of African American theatre across time and space, documenting the particular efforts of artists, writers, scholars, and practitioners, from inside as well as outside the United States, that have had an impact on our understanding of African American theatre. The authors make clear that the definition of African American theatre from the beginning has been in constant flux and that it has been affected by the changing social times in American as much as it has influenced those times.

The State of Research in American Theatre History

1981 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-131
Author(s):  
Walter J. Meserve
Keyword(s):  
General Condition ◽  
The State ◽  
Theatre History ◽  
Popular Entertainment ◽  
American Theatre ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Of Research ◽  
The Many ◽  
American Theatre History ◽  
Insight Into

In the “last analysis” the concern must always be for insight. Saul Bellow made it a demand: “Now I want insight.” So, too, should the reader of theatre history. Unfortunately, in the vast majority of recently published material on American theatre history that demand is not being met. Among the many young scholars researching and writing on this subject, few appear even to aspire to that mastery of the material which will produce major scholarship. The old guard persists, but today's youthful historians of American theatre tend toward an annual birth and death pattern rather than perennial growth. Obviously, such an observation should not be construed as an adverse criticism of all existing scholarship; yet, it does describe a general condition of research in American theatre history. There are surveys, general observations, memoirs, descriptions, expository and critical essays on various topics, studies of theatres and playwrights, essays on popular entertainment and ethnic or racial theatre. Some of these publications contribute meaningfully to an understanding of American theatre; few, however, suggest insight into the history of that theatre.

scholarly journals The American Marketing Association

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 538-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franck Cochoy
Keyword(s):  
Reference Point ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Sociological Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Common Reference ◽  
Coupling Procedure ◽  
Professional Body ◽  
History Of ◽  
Written Sources

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the sociological process behind the development of the American Marketing Association (AMA). It shows how the shift from isolated endeavors to an organized movement happened in marketing, how and why marketing pioneers merged to build a professional body and what this body provided to its community and to society at large. Design/methodology/approach – This paper studies the history of the AMA from the perspective of the sociology of science and relies on the marketing literature and other written sources. Findings – The paper shows that the AMA is both the result and the center of a coupling procedure. Isolated pioneers in the marketing field found it useful to communicate with those who were engaged in endeavors similar to their own. The meeting resulted in a dialog, and the dialog had necessitated the establishment of the AMA as a common reference point. The AMA provided the marketing community with a language and an institution that could help them to exist and move forward together. Originality/value – This paper provides an up to date account of the history of the AMA as well as a sociological analysis of its development.

From the Margins to Center Stage: Tyler Perry’s Popular African American Theatre

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashida Z. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
African American ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Theatre History ◽  
American Theatre ◽  
Center Stage ◽  
Black Performance ◽  
History Of

If Perry now functions as a platform onto himself, his career began with seemingly much less broad, but no less significant, aspirations. In her analysis of taste, class, and the popular, in Chapter TwoRashida D. Shaw places Tyler Perry’s career within the context of a Black performance and theatre history that extends back to the nineteenth century, as she centralizes the history of the “Chitlin Circuit” or “Urban Theatre.” After establishing a literary cultural history that frames and restages the popularity, appeal, and reception of Perry’s plays, Shaw’s analysis more closely explores the ramifications of Perry’s behind-the-scenes role and onstage presence at the 2012 Tony Awards during a year that resulted in numerous historic successes for not only African American theatre-makers, but also for African American–centric productions in general.

Co-operation in the Nordic countries before 1914: international networks and the transmission of ideas

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Hilson
Keyword(s):  
Reference Point ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
Personal Networks ◽  
Entire Region ◽  
International Networks ◽  
Common Reference ◽  
History Of ◽  
Similarities And Differences

The chapter introduces the co-operative movement in the Nordic countries (excluding Iceland), summarising the history of co-operation in each country in turn. It asks what were the main influences on the development of co-operation in the Nordic context, and in particular, what was the role of foreign models of co-operation. The Rochdale system of co-operation was a common reference point across the entire region, but it was never the only model for how to organise a co-operative society: co-operators also drew on examples from Germany and Ireland, among others. Particular attention is paid here to the role of Nordic contacts in shaping the development of co-operation and how the personal networks of certain key individuals were gradually replaced by more formal institutional links. The chapter examines similarities and differences across the region and considers the extent to which these supported or undermined the existence of a common co-operative movement.

Composing Ourselves: The Little Theatre Movement and the American Audience. By Dorothy Chansky. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2004; pp. 256; 15 illus. $55 cloth; Summer Stock! An American Phenomenon. By Martha Schmoyer LoMonaco. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2004; pp. 320; 25 illus. $27.95 cloth.

2005 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-346
Author(s):  
Barbara Ozieblo
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Theatre History ◽  
Financial Policies ◽  
Southern Illinois ◽  
American Theatre ◽  
Times Square ◽  
Economic Issues ◽  
History Of ◽  
A Site

The theatre has long been recognized as a site from which national and social values can be promoted, and this was particularly the case with the Little Theatre and summer stock phenomena. Even when performing non-American plays, these movements addressed the education of the audience, as Dorothy Chansky and Martha Schmoyer LoMonaco make apparent in two rigorously researched studies. Both have chosen to focus on the audience as an integral component of the theatrical event and, eschewing postmodern theories of the spectator's gaze, they bring a sociohistorical perspective to their findings, which are based on in-depth research of theatre documents, memoirs, and reviews. Chansky examines how the Little Theatres constructed and educated their audiences, whereas LoMonaco, in tracing the history of a number of summer-stock theatres, uncovers the hold that the audience has on artistic and financial policies. The two books cover areas and aspects of theatre history not frequently studied; they examine the complex artistic and economic issues involved in founding and running a theatre, while also certifying that American theatre has never been contained by a few streets in the vicinity of Times Square.

Making History

2004 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry J. Elam Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Theatre History ◽  
Theatrical Production ◽  
American Theatre ◽  
The Past ◽  
Dramatic Criticism ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
American Theatre History

These three quotes will serve as a starting point as I enter into this discussion of the import and role of theatre history. While I make a case for theatre history generally, my examples and thesis are drawn from African American theatre history most specifically. My argument is for a critical historicism, a process that recognizes the need to historicize and situate dramatic criticism as well as the need to theorize history or, as Walter Benjamin suggests, to “rub history against the grain.” Rubbing history against the grain means that we must interrogate the past in order to inform the present, remaining cognizant of the material conditions that not only shape theatrical production but the historical interpretations of production. It implies a need to work against conventional historical narratives and the ways in which history has been told in the past.

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