Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 425 – Thomas G. Moses’ design for “In Dahomey”

Part 425: Thomas G. Moses’ design for “In Dahomey”

In 1901, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “We started with Hurtig and Seamons, which proved to be good in quantity and quality.” He was referring to the theatrical management team who was made up of Benjamin F. Hurtig, Jules Hurtig and Harry J. Seamon. Benjamin and Jules were brothers. Their offices located at 1435 Broadway.

In 1901, Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide advertised that the firm ran the Harlem Music Theatre (a variety venue in New York), the Bowery Burlesquers Co. and The Social Maid’s Burlesque Co.; they were well-known as “New York amusement caters.” By 1909 when Benjamin Hurtig passed away, the firm controlled five playhouses in New York, two in Brooklyn, two in Chicago, one in Syracuse, one in Rochester, and the Lyric in Dayton, Ohio. They also owned and controlled nine companies on the road. Hurtig & Seamon were members of the Columbia Amusement Company, which controlled the operation of forty-five burlesque houses; of which Jules Hurtig was vice-president.

Moses & Hamilton painted the scenery for a few of Hurtig & Seamon shows, including “The Sons of Ham,” a show that featured the African American performers Egbert Austin “Bert” Williams and George Walker. This production rejected the stereotypical black roles, with Williams portraying a man who was simply down and out. The production boasted a company of fifty people with “special scenery and electrical effects” (Davenport Morning Star 15 February 1901, page 5).

The same year that Moses & Hamilton began working for Hurtig & Seamon, the theatrical managers were in the midst of planning the construction of two new theatres in New York, both on 125^th Street (The Evening World, NY, NY, 28 June 1901, page 9). One was to be erected on 125^th Street between 7^th and 8^th Avenues, while the other was to be erected near Lexington Avenue. The first structure would contain a music hall, theatre and big roof garden. During the planning and construction, Hurtig & Seamon primarily occupied the old Harlem Opera House (est. in 1889 by Oscar Hammerstein) that was just down the block at 211 West 125^th Street.

In 1902, Moses recorded that he designed “In Dahomey” for Hurtig & Seamon. He wrote, “Williams and Walker were starred, and the show was taken to England, where they were commanded to appear before King Edward VII.” The show starred Bert Williams (as Shylock Homestead) and George Walker (as Rareback Pinkerton). The cast was invited to give a command performance in the garden of Buckingham Palace on June 23rd for the young Prince of Wales’ birthday celebrations (the future King Edward VIII).  In England a cakewalk scene was added to the finale of the show.

“In Dahomey” was advertised as “a negro musical comedy,” based on the book by Jesse A. Shipp, with music by Will Marion Cook and lyrics by poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. It was the first full-length musical written and performed by all African Americans that opened at a major Broadway house. The three-act musical production opened at the New York Theatre on February 18, 1903, and closed after 53 performances on April 4. The show with almost fifty performers, was then transported to England where it opened on April 28, 1903, at the Shaftesbury Theatre and completed a provincial tour throughout the United Kingdom. In 1904, the musical returned to Broadway and ran from August 27 until September 10, at the Grand Opera House. This seventeen-show run was followed by a major 40-week tour across the United States.

While on tour in the United Kingdom, Williams and Walker were both initiated into Waverly Lodge No. 597 of Edinburgh, Scotland, along with nine others from the Williams and Walker Colored Minstrels troupe. In 1922, when Williams died, the Edinburgh Lodge requested that he be buried with Masonic honors, a courtesy performed by St. Cecile Lodge No. 568 of New York City (William L. Fox, “Lodge of the Double-headed Eagle,” page 225).

Here is the Story of “In Dahomey,” as it was printed in the original program:

“An old Southern negro, ‘Lightfoot’ by name, president of the Dahomey Colonization Society, loses a silver casket, which, to use his language, has a cat scratched on the back. He sends to Boston for detectives to search for the missing treasure. Shylock Homestead and Rareback Pinkerton (Williams and Walker), the detectives on the case, failing to find the casket in Gatorville, Fla., ‘Lightfoot’s’ home, accompany the colonists to Dahomey. Previous to leaving Boston on their perilous mission, the detectives join a syndicate. In Dahomey, rum of any kind, when given as a present, is a sign of appreciation. Shylock and Rareback, having free access to the syndicate’s stock of whiskey, present the King of Dahomey with three barrels of appreciation and in return are made Caboceers (Governors of a Province). In the meantime the colonists having had a misunderstanding with the King and are made prisoners. Prisoners and criminals are executed on festival days, known in Dahomey as Customs Day. The new Caboceers, after supplying the King with his third barrel of appreciation (whiskey), secure his consent to liberate the colonists after which an honor is conferred on Rareback and Shylock, which causes them to decide ‘There’s No Place Like Home.’”

The settings for “In Dahomey” included:

Act I – scene 1 – Public square in Boston

Act II – scene 1 – Exterior of Lightfoot’s home, Gatorville, Florida; scene 2 – Road, one-and-a-half miles from Gatorville; scene 3 – Interior of the Lightfoot home

Act III – scene 1 – Swamp in Dahomey; scene 2 – Garden of the Caboceer (Governor of the Providence). Execution tower in the distance.

Although Bejamin Hurtig would pass away in 1909, his brother Jules Hurtig & Seamon would obtain a thirty-year lease on the newly constructed neo-classical theatre in Harlem, New York, during 1914. This theater opened as “Hurtig and Seamon’s New Burlesque Theatre,” but the venue would be renamed in 1934 as the Apollo Theatre.

To be continued…