The First Black Actors on the Great White Way - Softcover

"Curtis has made a major contribution to our understanding of theater history.... The resulting text is an excellent example of how history, theater, and cultural studies can be brought together to offer a fascinating story of people whose contribution is now being given the credit it deserves." - Library Journal "This is a stylishly written, popularly accessible, and deeply thoughtful study of an important episode in the cultural history of the United States." - David Roediger "An invaluable cultural resource to those curious about the rise of blacks on the Broadway stage." - Black Issues Book Review "This is an important study, not only of blacks in U.S. drama, but of the complex cross-cultural collaborations and racial politics behind one of the most important theater events of the early 20th century: the April 5, 1917, Broadway opening of three one-act plays by the American playwright Ridgely Torrence, with an all-black cast.... Highly recommended." - Choice"

Set against the backdrop of transforming theatre conventions in the early 1900s and US entry into World War I in 1917, this book relates the stories of the actors, stage artists, critics and many others - black and white - involved in the groundbreaking production of "Three Plays for a Negro Theatre". Curtis explores in great depth both the progress in race relations that led to this production and the multi-faceted reasons for its quick demise. She also investigates the heightened national self-consciousness that followed the United States' entry into the war. By focusing on a single event at a critical moment in history, "The First Black Actors on the Great White Way" offers a glimpse into race relations in early 20th-century American society.