Minstrel Show Audiences

[Spinster]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

I went to the 8:00pm show and had a great time. The Tarven after dark had great Refreshments , the Minstrel show was awesome, Iam still wondering were I can find some powdered mummy and the dancer at the bank made the trip to Perryville worth wild. I would like to thank all the civilians for all their hard work putting on and setting up the village of Perryville.

Thank you so much Brian. Beverly Simpson did a fantastic job of putting that Village of Perryville together, and all the civilian participants enjoyed it.

I AM looking for the tar and feathers for that handful of nasty drunks(they showed up in town that way) who disrupted portions of the 8:00 pm show; insulted several women including my own Darling Daughter; busted up some valuable equipment, including some original items; and curtailed the fine educational shows of the Beautiful Princesses at the Bank building--you think researching uniforms is hard, try finding period belly dancing clothing.

We learned a lot running that Tavern, and when I've composed my thoughts some, I'll write about it.

[Dan Hadley]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

I must have mispoken. I meant, of course, reeanctors singing the songs that might have been sung at either a minstrel or variety show. You know, like Steven Foster songs. :wink_smil

I was looking for a period reaction to the songs. My current favorite reaction to a tableau is what might have been shouted out between 2 gentlemen separated by a full house in the theater upon seeing the unveiling of a greek slave princess:
"Did you see that, Higg?"
"I saw it!"

Deborah,

Thanks very much for helping get Hig & me into the 11:00 show, and especially for getting me a spot closer up to the front! It was absolutely splendid. I will blame my behavior on sleep deprivation during the 10hr. drive down coupled with ample consumption of spirits Saturday evening. Hig and I were just having fun- when a patron behind me hollered for me to sit down, I cheerfully complied. = )

I saw Mlle. Silvana briefly the next day. She addressed me as the "hooligan" who was hollering during the show! I apologized, and acknowledged that yes, I am a hooligan, I suppose. I'm glad you got a kick out of it though, and hope you don't regret your generosity.

Hope to see you again down the road somewhere-

Dan Hadley

[Jim of The SRR]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

There is a picture of the show posted at:

http://www.geocities.com/saltriverrifles/PerryvillePics.html

Jim Butler

[Deborah Hyland]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

Actually Mr. Hadley, your reaction was a true magic moment for me. You seemed so filled with awe at the sight of the greek slave that you couldn't help but call out to your comrade from whom you'd been separated. Plus, you did so in a period manner, unlike the true hooligans in the 8:00 show. The whole show was great, but I really was struck in that moment by your spontaneous reaction.

[Drygoods]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

Every year we host a period Christmas party and one year we hired a minstrel group to perform a blackface minstrel show. When the performance started the guests were not sure at first how to react, most shyly smiled, a little nervous laughter at the jokes. However, by the end of the performance the whole audience was in full voice singing along, broad smiles all round, and clapping and stomping their feet! I found it remarkable how many people knew the tunes of DD Emmett, and S Foster. Mind you, only a few of them were CW reenactors!!! :D

[Silvana Siddali]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

Aw, my dear Dan, I meant that in the nicest possible way! You remained a true gentleman the entire time, especially since you only asked Higg whether he "saw it," without referring specifically to what "it" might possibly be!

The show was lots of fun. I liked the fact that the AM's brought in other performers and I have to say that the entire evening was one long period moment for me. When the fellows put out the candles and the tent was pitched into darkness, Miss Anna and I really began to wonder whether we would indeed be safe in such rough company, since the ladies were outnumbered about four thousand to one, it seemed. But the sojers' attention was riveted to the stage where certain scandalous displays were on view. Fortunately Mr. Dan was sitting in front of Anna and me, so we were spared the mortification of gazing at a scantily-clad Greek Slave.

I also liked the way the audience sang along. I know what Deborah means -- you do sort of wonder how popular these songs were in the day, and whether everyone would have known them -- I suspect so. It was a grand evening.

ETA: Silvana Siddali.
Now that I'm back on the board I have to remember to redo my signature!

[Dan Hadley]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

well Silvana, I s'pose I was caught up in the moment as well. I had never seen such a sight before! I wheeled about whilst sitting there and quickly acknowledged Mlle. Anna, but not you- my apologies- bad form, but I didn't want to be the cause of additional interruptions.

Folks who were around working slaves on a daily basis were no doubt familiar with a variety of plantation songs, but it seems that when the minstrels appropriated them for the stage, sheet music, etc., it exposed them to a much broader audience.

A modern day comparison that comes to mind is the influence of traditional blues music on British rock bands in the '60's & '70's. It was years before I realized that the tune "Crossroads" was recorded by Robert Johnson. I had first heard the version by Cream as a youngster, and had no idea of its Delta roots.

Likewise, I would wager there were folks in minstrel audiences, maybe up 'nawth', who had never heard "Jenny Get Your Hoecake Done" sung out in the fields, but delighted to it being performed in front of the footlights.

And those footlights sure did create an eerie magical glow upon those ebony performers, no?

Dan Hadley

[Hank Trent]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

Likewise, I would wager there were folks in minstrel audiences, maybe up 'nawth', who had never heard "Jenny Get Your Hoecake Done" sung out in the fields, but delighted to it being performed in front of the footlights.

I've read the argument, that while most white audience believed minstrel songs were indeed true slave folk songs, the songs that slaves themselves sung, originally at least, had little overlap. White songwriters wrote minstrel songs which resembled what white people thought slaves sang. And there was a resemblance, in the nonsense humor and such, but typically the songs weren't lifted directly from black folk music. The minstrel stage featured songs written by white people (or black writers imitating white writers) for a white audience.

Ironically, though, even the true "folk" songs sung by slaves on plantations were influenced by the musical tradition of their owners. Fanny Kemble noted, "That which I have heard these people [sing] is often plaintive and pretty, but almost always has some resemblance to tunes with which they must have become acquainted through the instrumentality of white men; their overseers or masters whistling Scotch or Irish airs... the tune with which Mr. [Butler's] rowers started him down the Altamaha, as I stood at the steps to see him off, was a very distinct descendant of 'Coming Through the Rye.' The words, however, were astonishingly primitive."

After a point, though, slaves themselves picked up the minstrel songs and did sing them. I mean, how many times is a white guy going to ask you to sing "Lucy Long," or whatever, and be surprised you don't know it, until you decide it's time to learn it?

So it was a strange cross-sharing of culture, each side using the other side for their own advantage. After all, which would you rather do, be singing Lucy Long to entertain the master or go back to the kitchen and work? And if propriety prevented you from dressing up in women's clothes and cawing like a crow as a respected southern planter, well, by pretending to be a negro you could get away with most anything.

To sort of address the original question, I'd say that most middle to lower class people were familiar with the popular minstrel songs as they came out, with perhaps only the "highbrow" segment of the population left out. You can see examples from songs showing up as common reference points in unconnected writing, such as references to not having hair in "the place where the wool ought to grow" and that sort of thing, showing that the words of the songs had seeped into the public consciousness.

So I'd guess that the only songs an audience wouldn't be familiar with would be the newer ones just being introduced, which would change year by year, and possibly some of the less popular, less often performed ones even after they'd been introduced a while.

I've only barely skimmed the surface in reading about the whole minstrel show phenomenon, so I'll leave it to those who really know their stuff to correct any or all of the above. It's a fascinating topic.

Some articles online are:

http://www.bookrags.com/Minstrel_show which includes the point, "How much influence African American music had on minstrel performance remains a debated topic," with a brief discussion on the subject.

Another article, with lots of links and worldwide context, is http://experts.about.com/e/b/bl/Blackface.htm

Allen's Slave Songs of the United States, 1867, considered one of the earliest serious collections of actual slave songs, is online at http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/allen/menu.html

I saw the Shaker Village show also, and really enjoyed seeing both the "white face" and black face versions for comparison. Some of the songs made so much more sense--actually I'm not sure "sense" is the right word :D --in blackface. And I was amazed at how the Melodeons could take sterile sheet music from the period and turn it into how it was surely meant to come alive. Just reading the words and notes on the Levy sheet music site doesn't begin to capture what you would have been seeing and hearing.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[PogueMahone]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

I have to say, one of the things that I really appreciated was how the crowd would sit quietly listening to the barker announce the next act, listen whilst the act proceeded and then applauded wildly. With no modern amplifiers, one is forced to actually listen to the program to catch it all or miss something.

I actually get irritated when folks start clapping LOUDLY with the music, to the degree where one can't hear the song, only the clapping. Clap along quietly, please.

Listening to some of the hecklers at one of the shows, it occurred to me that perhaps they thought they were supposed to do that, a la "Tombstone".

Hey, Rick, maybe you could see a minstrel show if they hung up one of those big, fancy mirrors in the Opera Hall. One that reflects back on the stage.

enjoyed it immensely,

[Amtmann]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

Hey, Rick, maybe you could see a minstrel show if they hung up one of those big, fancy mirrors in the Opera Hall. One that reflects back on the stage.

enjoyed it immensely,

I have no idea what you are talking about Joe. :D

Glad everyone had a good time.

[SparksBird]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

I will have to chime in here and agree with the points that Hank made. Even though the topic of the songs was of a rural nature and it was sung in dialect doesn't necessarily mean these are the same songs sung by slaves. Like Hank said, these songs were quite often written by whites for a white audience. The addition of some Stephen Foster songs would have definitely presented you the opportunity to hear some popular songs as well. Plus, some of the songs performed were actually from the late 1840s and early 1850s. So, they would have been old hat by the civil war, but still favorites none-the-less. Mr. Bailey, let me know when this group performs again, as I would very much like to see them.



Rick Musselman
Professor of Bonesology

[Amtmann]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

Mr. Bailey, let me know when this group performs again, as I would very much like to see them.



Rick Musselman
Professor of Bonesology

I'd like to know myself.

[LindaTrent]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

I'd like to know myself.

Alright, so we can help the Ricks see a minstrel show , can anyone post a schedule as to where and when the AM will be performing?

Thanks,

Linda.

[Emily Burns]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

Do you mean where they will 'not' be performing? As near as I can tell, they may be the most non-performing group of musicians that I've never seen.

Emily Burns

[Danny]

Re: Minstrel Show Audiences

Thanks immensely for the show at Perryville. We went to the 11 pm show and couldn't have been more entertained -- even with those rebs shouting for more of the Italian Girl and ogling the singing milkmaids - probably the same ages as their own daughters. But thats Rebs for you. You will have noticed how we Yanks conducted ourselves properly.

What made the performance special was, of course, the strict adherence to period decor and decorum. Our unit drummer and I, the unit's banjo player, know a good thing when we see it.

Dan Wykes