Nannie "Nan" Bagby Stephens (1883 – December 29, 1946) was an American playwright and composer, best known for the libretto of '' Cabildo'' (1932), an opera, with music by

Amy Beach Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (September 5, 1867December 27, 1944) was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Her "Gaelic" Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra ...

Early life and education

Stephens was from

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, the daughter of James McConnell Stephens and Zipporah Bagby Stephens. Both of her grandfathers were slaveowners in Georgia. Her younger sister Frances married French opera conductor Louis Hasselmans. She graduated from Girls High School in Atlanta and

Agnes Scott College Agnes Scott College is a Private university, private Women's Colleges in the Southern United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Decatur, Georgia. The college enrolls approximately 1,000 undergra ...

, and trained as a pianist in Vienna with Johanna Müller and

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky; ; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915) was a Polish pianist, professor, and composer active in Austria-Hungary. He was born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land ...

Career

Stephens, who was white, was known for writing songs and plays based on traditional "negro music" of the American South, often with regional themes and dialect lyrics. Her Broadway play ''Roseanne'' was initially produced in 1923 with white performers in

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

, including Chrystal Herne. Soon after, in 1924, it was produced with a Black cast, including Charles Sidney Gilpin,

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...

, and

Rose McClendon Rose McClendon (August 27, 1884 – July 12, 1936) was a leading African-American Broadway theatre, Broadway actress of the 1920s. A founder of the Negro People's Theatre, she guided the creation of the Federal Theatre Project's African America ...

. ''Roseanne'' became a source for

Oscar Micheaux Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (; January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and c ...

's film '' Body and Soul'' (1925). Black critic Eric D. Walrond called ''Roseanne'' "good art and punk propaganda" in his 1924 review. ''Roseanne'' was revived in 1945, at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine. Stephens was a vice-president of the

National Federation of Music Clubs The National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC) is an American non-profit philanthropic music organization that promotes American music, performers, and composers. NFMC endeavors to strengthen quality music education by supporting "high standards o ...

, representing the South Atlantic states, and taught play writing at Agnes Scott College in the late 1920s.

Works

* "Lafayette, we have come!" (1918, song, words by J. W. Greer) * ''Tradition's Daughter'' (1918, play) * ''Lazy Daisy'' (1918, play) * ''Noblesse Oblige'' (1918, a comedy) * ''Angelo'' (1918, play) * "Morning Song"; "Plantation Ditty"; "Little Tin Ho'n" (1921, songs, words by Frank L. Stanton) * "My Dearie", "When the Little Boy Ran Away", "Hymn to Mother" (1921, songs, words by Frank L. Stanton) * "A Song of Georgia" (1921, song) * ''Roseanne'' (1923–1924, play) * "Negro Spirituals" (1924, essay in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'') * ''John Barleycorn'' (1927, play) * ''Tares'' (1927, play) * ''The Auction Block'' (1927, one-act play) * ''Charivari'' (1927, one-act comedy set in Louisiana) * ''Barbed Wire'' (1931) * ''Cabildo'' (1932, one-act opera, music by Amy Beach) * ''Glory'' (1932, novel based on the same story as ''Roseanne'') * ''Rome and July'' (1933, radio serial) * ''First Lady, or, Madam President'' (1933, a play about Mary Todd Lincoln) * ''Cousin George'' (1933, a comedy about a ghost, also known as ''The Green Vine'') * "Habeas Corpus" (1935, short story) * ''Lily'' (1940, play) * ''If I Ever Cease to Love'' (1941, play)

Personal life and legacy

Stephens died in 1946, in Georgia. Her 1932 collaboration with composer Amy Beach, a one-act opera named ''Cabildo'', about a prison in New Orleans, was first recorded in 1965, and saw its first professional production in 1995, at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

. It was part of the Muffled Voices Festival, with performances in Moscow and other Russian cities in 2024. Her letters to Beach are in the Amy Beach paprers at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

References

External links

A portrait of Stephens
in the Fort Worth History Center Archives * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Nan Bagby 1883 births 1946 deaths American librettists American women writers Writers from Atlanta American women composers Agnes Scott College faculty