''Mamba's Daughters'' () is a

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

novel written by

DuBose Heyward Edwin DuBose Heyward (August 31, 1885 – June 16, 1940) was an American author best known for his 1925 novel '' Porgy''. He and his wife Dorothy, a playwright, adapted it as a 1927 play of the same name. The couple worked with composer Georg ...

and published by the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

Press. It was later adapted by Heward and his wife

Dorothy Heyward Dorothy Heyward (née Kuhns; June 6, 1890 – November 19, 1961) was an American playwright. In addition to several works of her own, she co-authored the play '' Porgy'' (1927) with her husband DuBose Heyward, adapting it from his novel of the ...

for the stage; the play premiered on Broadway in 1939.

Novel

The book is set in the early 20th century, following three different families in scenes of deception and social transformation. The book also explores racial boundaries during that period of the 20th century. It received positive reviews, with the ''Georgia Historical Quarterly'' commenting that it provided "a unique perspective not only of Charleston's racial tensions, but also of the unique subculture shared by Charleston's elite whites and poorer blacks". ''Mamba's Daughters'' was translated into French (1932) and Dutch (1939).

Stage adaptation

The novel was adapted for the stage by Heyward and his wife

, with songs by

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

; it premiered on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

at the Empire Theatre on January 3, 1939, starring

Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...

, for whom the Heywards wrote the adaptation, and directed by

Guthrie McClintic Guthrie McClintic (August 6, 1893 – October 29, 1961) was an American theatre director, film director, and producer based in New York. Life and career McClintic was born in Seattle, attended Washington University in St. Louis and New York's A ...

. It initially ran for 162 performances, closing on May 20, 1939, and then returned the following year, to the

Broadway Theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

, running for 17 performances, from March 23, 1940, to April 6, 1940. Notably, Waters became the first African American, male or female, to star in a television show, ''

The Ethel Waters Show ''The Ethel Waters Show'' was a one-hour American television program, television variety show, variety special that ran in the earliest days of NBC#Television, NBC Television, on June 14, 1939, and was hosted by actress and singer Ethel Waters. Wat ...

'', which was broadcast on NBC on June 14, 1939, and included a dramatic sequence from the play, along with two actresses from the stage production,

Georgette Harvey Georgette Harvey (December 31, 1884 – February 17, 1952) was an American singer and actress. She is perhaps most famous for creating the role of Maria in the original Broadway production of '' Porgy'' (1927) and the 1935 Broadway product ...

and

Fredi Washington Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington (December 23, 1903 – June 28, 1994) was an American stage and film actress, civil rights activist, performer, and writer. Washington was of African American descent. She was one of the first Black Americans ...

. Perry Watkins, designing the scenery, was the first African-American to design a Broadway show. He then, in 1942, worked in scenic designing on the Herbert B. Ehrmann play '' Under this Roof''.

Original cast

– Hagar *

Anne Brown Anne Brown (August 9, 1912March 13, 2009) was an American lyric soprano for whom George Gershwin rewrote the part of "Bess" into a leading role in the original production of his opera ''Porgy and Bess'' in 1935. She was also a radio and concert ...

– Gardenia *

Willie Bryant William Stevens Bryant (August 30, 1908 – February 9, 1964) was an American jazz bandleader, vocalist, and disc jockey, known as the "Mayor of Harlem". Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, while growing up he took trumpet lesso ...

– Gilley Bluton * Georgia Burke – Eva * Helen Dowdy – Willie May *

José Ferrer José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hi ...

– St. Julien DeC. Wentworth *

– Mamba (Hagar's mother) *

Alberta Hunter Alberta Hunter (April 1, 1895 – October 17, 1984) was an American jazz and blues singer and songwriter from the early 1920s to the late 1950s. After twenty years of working as a nurse, Hunter resumed her singing career in 1977. Early life Hu ...

– Dolly * J. Rosamond Johnson – The Reverend Quintus Whaley *

Canada Lee Leonard Lionel Cornelius Canegata (March 3, 1907 – May 9, 1952), known professionally as Canada Lee, was an American professional boxer and actor who pioneered roles for African Americans. After careers as a jockey, boxer and musician, he beca ...

– Drayton * Harry Mestayer – The Judge *

– Lissa * Jimmy Wright – Tony

References

External links

Full text of ''Mamba's Daughters''
at HathiTrust Digital Library
Productions at the Internet Broadway database
1929 American novels Novels set in South Carolina {{1920s-novel-stub