''Tuxedo'' was a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

show with minstrelsy in which the song "

Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" is a vaudeville and music hall song first performed by the 1880s. It was included in Henry J. Sayers' 1891 revue ''Tuxedo (vaudeville), Tuxedo'' in Boston, Massachusetts. The song became widely known in the 1892 version sung ...

" was interpolated. Actor and songwriter

Edward Marble Edward Stevenson Marble (September 3, 1846 – January 3, 1900) was a 19th-century American actor and songwriter. Among other works, he wrote ''Tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British ...

wrote and produced ''Tuxedo'' for George Thatcher and his minstrel troupe known as Thatcher's Minstrels. The show debuted in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

, Nebraska, on July 23, 1891. Gänzl, Kurt
"Ta-ra-ra-boom-de ... oy? "
Kurt Gänzl's blog, 20 August 2018 It then toured, including to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, beginning on August 24, 1891, and the National Theater in Washington, D.C. ''Tuxedo'' arrived in New York at the Park Theatre (at Broadway and 35th Street) on October 5, 1891. The song "

" was introduced in this show as an interpolated number.

Background

In describing ''Tuxedo'', ''

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 ...

'' wrote:

The work, it is said, makes no pretension to anything like a connected plot, but affords opportunity for the introduction of a large number of 'specialties' which are relied on to keep alive the interest of the audience. The action takes place in
Tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and North American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal ...
, and during its progress an English Lord, a typical 'tough,' and a number of pretty girls are introduced. The Thatcher company include Hughey Dougherty, George Lewis, Andrew Powers, James H. Powers, E. M. E. O'Rourke, and W. H. Frillman, and among the females of the cast are Ida Fitzhugh, Agnes Halleck, Irene Murphy, and Mamie Gilroy. A
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
of '' Faust and Marguerite'' is a feature of the last act."

Just a week later, a ''Times'' critic wrote:

The combination of minstrelsy and farce at the Park Theatre called ''Tuxedo'' has made the hit of the season at that house, which is rapidly becoming established as the chosen home of this light style of entertainment in New-York. George Thatcher and Hughey Dougherty are the two leading people in the entertainment, and to see Hughey in a white face is of itself enough to crowd the house."

The ''Tuxedo'' company toured for years, during which many performers joined and left the company. It returned to New York on March 7, 1892, and again on March 21, 1893, this time at the Columbus Theatre.Brown, p. 560

Notes

References

*Brown, Thomas Allston. ''A History of the New York Stage''. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1903. *Rice, Edward Le Roy. ''Monarchs of Minstrelsy, from "Daddy" Rice to Date: From "Daddy" Rice to Date''. Kenny Publishing Company, 1911. *Tompkins, Eugene and Quincy Kilby, ''The History of the Boston Theatre, 1854-1901''. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1908.

External links

{{Commons category, Tuxedo (musical)
Description of ''Tuxedo'', including short biographies of the cast
1891 musicals Blackface minstrel shows and films Vaudeville