African-American musical theater includes late 19th- and early 20th-century musical theater productions by African Americans in New York City and Chicago. Actors from troupes such as the Lafayette Pla
Program from a Pat Chappelle production
George Walker, Adah Overton Walker and Bert Williams dance the cakewalk in the first Broadway musical written and performed by African Americans, In Dahomey (1903)
Blackbirds of 1926 – Florence Mills, Johnny Hudgins and chorus girls rehearse on roof of the London Pavilion in September 1926
Balcony scene West Side Story
In Dahomey
Videos
In Dahomey: A Negro Musical Comedy is a landmark 1903 American musical comedy described by theatre historian Gerald Bordman as "the first full-length musical written and played by blacks to be perform
Original program from In Dahomey's debut tour.
The poster announcing the London premiere of In Dahomey at the Shaftesbury Theatre, 1903. The poster features the famous cake walk with Bert Williams, acclaimed comedian, at the top of the cake.
Vaudeville performers Bert Williams (left) and George Walker in blackface and comic outfits.