Chitlin' Circuit

The Chitlin' Circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other entertainers during the era of racial segregation in the United States through the 1960s.

The Chitlin' Circuit was considered to be by, for, and about black people. There is debate as to when the Chitlin' Circuit peaked. Some say its peak was in the 1930s, some say it was after World War II, and others say it was the time of the blues.

Etymology

The name derives from the soul food dish chitterlings (boiled pig intestines). It is also a play on the term " Borscht Belt", which referred to particular resort venues (primarily in New York State's Catskill Mountains) that were popular with Jewish performers and audiences during the 1940s through the 1960s. Chitterlings are part of the culinary history of African Americans, who were often limited to the intestines of the pig to eat as opposed to the bacon or ham. The food symbolizes acquiring a taste out of necessity and eventually coming to like it.

The term "Chitlin' Circuit" did not appear in print until a 1972 article on Ike & Tina Turner in '' The Chicago Defender''. However, the slang term "Chitlin'" was used long before it was printed. Blues musician W.C. Handy wrote of chitlin' cafes in his 1917 song " Beale Street Blues". In the 21st century, the term is applied to the venues, especially in the South, where contemporary African-American blues singers such as Bobby Rush, Denise LaSalle, and O.B. Buchana continue to appear regularly.

Contemporary use

'' Ebony'' magazine prefers the term "urban theater circuit" for recent work like that of playwright and actor Tyler Perry. In a January 2004 interview with Perry, the genre's leading practitioner, ''Ebony'' wrote that his work marked "a new chapter in the urban theater circuit as a whole—a genre that has been dogged by criticism from some Blacks in the traditional theater. Perry, as the most visibly recognized player in the circuit, has felt the brunt of this criticism." "They say that Tyler Perry has set the Black race back some 500 years with these types of "Chitlin' Circuit" shows. The problem with the naysayers is that they don't take the opportunity to see my shows,' Perry argued. "With my shows, I try to build a bridge that marries what's deemed 'legitimate theater' and so-called 'chitlin' circuit theater,' and I think I've done pretty well with that, in bringing people in to enjoy a more elevated level of theater.'"

Origins

Leading figures in establishing the Chitlin' Circuit were the Black Indianapolis entrepreneurs Sea and Denver D. Ferguson. After the collapse of the Theatre Owners Booking Association (TOBA) in 1930, the Ferguson brothers drew on bandleader and influential columnist Walter Barnes and his contacts to bring top Black entertainers to Indianapolis in the 1930s. When their businesses' licenses were revoked in 1940, they opened Ferguson Brothers, a booking agency, which grew rapidly and became the most powerful Black-owned talent agency in the country. They helped various orchestras, bands, and vaudeville shows book gigs, including Jay McShann, King Kolax, Tiny Bradshaw, Roosevelt Sykes, Claude Trenier, the Bama State Collegians, Carolina Cotton Pickers, Snookum Russell, Milton Larkin

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