''Plantation Revue'' was a 1922

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own du ...

put together by

Lew Leslie Lew Leslie (born Lewis Lessinsky; April 15, 1888 – March 10, 1963) was an American writer and producer of Broadway shows. Leslie got his start in show business in vaudeville in his early twenties. Although white, he was the first major im ...

, featuring some of the more popular musical numbers and comedy acts that he had hired at Harlem's Plantation Club. The original revue underwent other versions, with minor or major changes to the cast: ''Dover Street to Dixie'' (pairing-up with a British production in London); ''Dixie to Broadway'' (pairing-up with a one-act white revue) and ''Dixie to Paris''.

''Plantation Revue''

Performers included

Florence Mills Florence Mills (born Florence Winfrey; January 25, 1896 – November 1, 1927), billed as the "Queen of Happiness", was an American cabaret singer, dancer, and comedian. Life and career Florence Mills (Florence Winfrey) was born a daughter of for ...

, around whom the revue was built, and who would become an even bigger star thanks to this revue, and her husband, U. S. Thompson.

Shelton Brooks Shelton Brooks (May 4, 1886September 6, 1975) was a Canadian-born African American composer of popular music and jazz. He was known for his ragtime and vaudeville style, and wrote some of the biggest hits of the first third of the 20th century. ...

was hired as the emcee, as well as himself performing in the revue. As well as for its initial Broadway run, Brooks, Mills and Thompson all continued performing in future versions of the show: its pairing-up with a British production, ''Dover Street to Dixie'', in London, and the pairing-up with a one-act white revue, ''Dixie to Broadway'', on

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

. All three also went on to perform in Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1926. Leslie brought Aaron Palmer over from

Whitman Sisters The Whitman Sisters were four African-American sisters who were stars of Black Vaudeville. They ran their own performing touring company for over forty years from 1900 to 1943, becoming the longest-running and best-paid act on the T.O.B.A. circu ...

' Troupe to join the ensemble, for which he teamed up with another dancer. Their act, together with those of U. S. Thompson and Lou Keane, made up the ''Plantation Revues dance acts.

''Dover Street to Dixie'' (1923)

Leslie arranged with English

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. H ...

C. B. Cochran to take half the cast of the Plantation Revue, as the Dixie part, staged by Leonard Harper, to London, with

Stanley Lupino Stanley Richard Lupino Hook (15 June 1893 – 10 June 1942), known professionally as Stanley Lupino, was an English actor, dancer, singer, librettist, director and short story writer. During the 1930s, Lupino appeared in a successful series of m ...

and

Odette Myrtil Odette Myrtil (born Odette Laure Clotilde Quignarde; June 28, 1898 – November 18, 1978) was a French-born American actress, singer, and violinist. She began her career as a violinist on the vaudeville stage in Paris at 14. She expanded in ...

making up the London-based half of the show.Cullen, Frank; Florence Hackman, Donald McNeilly (2007)
Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America'', pp. 146, 482, 765, 861. Psychology Press, ISBN 0415938538, 9780415938532.
''Google Books''. Retrieved 17 December 2022.

''Dixie to Broadway'' (1924-25)

Following a shake-out tour, ''Dixie to Broadway'' ran for 77 performances at the

Broadhurst Theatre The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for the Shubert brothers. The Bro ...

, in

, starting 29 October 1924, before touring the USA again. It featured Hamtree Harrington and

Cora Green Cora Green (December 10, 1895 – died after 1949) was an American actress, singer, and dancer, billed as "The Famous Creole Singer". Early life Cora Chambers was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1895, the daughter of Alexander Chambers and El ...

Will Vodery Will Vodery (October 8, 1885 – November 18, 1951) was an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and arranger, and one of the few black Americans of his time to make a name for himself as a composer on Broadway, working largely for Florenz ...

, as musical director, and his Orchestra, tap dancers

Willie Covan William McKinley Covan (March 4, 1898 – May 7, 1989) was an American tap dancer, actor, vaudeville performer best known for being a member of the tap quartet The Four Covans and a choreographer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Willie Covan was born on ...

Ulysses "Slow Kid" Thompson Ulysses "Slow Kid" Thompson (August 28, 1888 – March 17, 1990) was a comedian, singer, tap and acrobatic dancer whose nickname was inspired by his ability to perform a comical, and incredibly slow, dance routine. His career included work in cir ...

, whom ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' described as "Effortless steppers who mix some light trick stuff in with soft-shoe rhythmatics".Seibert, Brian (2015)
''What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing'', pp. 154, 180, 181. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 1429947616, 9781429947619.
''Google Books''. Retrieved 17 December 2022. Johnnie Nit,

Aida Ward Aida Ward (February 11, 1900 – June 23, 1984) was an American jazz singer. Born in Washington, D.C., Ward rose to fame in the 1920s and 1930s in New York, on Broadway and at Harlem's Cotton Club. She appeared alongside Adelaide Hall and Bill "B ...

, and

Eddie Rector Eddie Rector (December 25, 1890 – January 7, 1963) was an American tap dance artist and master of ceremonies. His career spanned the 1920s-40s as he danced in Harlem, across the US, and in Europe. He is known as a “soft shoe expert,” an ...

. With Florence Mills, as usual as the star attraction, ''Dixie to Broadway'' featured her singing "I'm a Little Blackbird Looking for a Bluebird", with lyrics by

Grant Clarke Grant Clarke (May 14, 1891, Akron, Ohio – May 16, 1931, California) was an American songwriter. Clarke moved to New York City early in his career, where he worked as an actor and a staff writer for comedians. He began working on Tin Pan Alley, ...

and

Roy Turk Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise t ...

, and music by

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

songwriter

George W. Meyer George William Meyer (January 1, 1884– August 28, 1959) was an American Tin Pan Alley songwriter. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1884. He graduated from Roxbury High School, and began working in accountancy for Boston department stor ...

,"OKeh matrix S-73027. I'm a little blackbird looking for a bluebird / Clarence Williams’ Blue Five; Eva Taylor".
''Discography of American Historical Recordings'', UC Santa Barbara Library. ''Google Books''. Retrieved 17 December 2022. and Arthur Johnston. which, a couple of months later (17 December 1924), would first be recorded for the

OKeh Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

label by

Eva Taylor Eva Taylor (January 22, 1895 — October 31, 1977) was an American blues singer and stage actress. Life and career Born Irene Joy Gibbons in St. Louis, Missouri, as one of twelve children. On stage from the age of three, Taylor toured New Z ...

, accompanied by Clarence Williams’ Blue Five ( Clarence Williams (piano); Louis Armstrong (cornet); Charlie Irvis (trombone);

Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important Solo (music), soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His ...

(soprano saxophone), and Buddy Christian (banjo).

References

{{reflist Revues Broadway theatre

''Plantation Revue''

''Dover Street to Dixie'' (1923)

''Dixie to Broadway'' (1924-25)

See also

References