Staging Race: Black Performers in Turn of the Century AmericaStaging Race casts a spotlight on the generation of black artists who came of age between 1890 and World War I in an era of Jim Crow segregation and heightened racial tensions. As public entertainment expanded through vaudeville, minstrel shows, and world's fairs, black performers, like the stage duo of Bert Williams and George Walker, used the conventions of blackface to appear in front of, and appeal to, white audiences. At the same time, they communicated a leitmotif of black cultural humor and political comment to the black audiences segregated in balcony seats. With ingenuity and innovation, they enacted racial stereotypes onstage while hoping to unmask the fictions that upheld them offstage. |
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Staging Race: Black Performers in Turn of the Century America Karen Sotiropoulos Limited preview - 2009 |
Staging Race: Black Performers in Turn of the Century America Karen Sotiropoulos No preview available - 2008 |