Virginia Minstrels
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The Virginia Minstrels or Virginia Serenaders was a group of 19th Century American entertainers known for helping to invent the entertainment form known as the minstrel show. Led by Dan Emmett, the original lineup consisted of Emmett, Billy Whitlock, Dick Pelham, and Frank Brower.
Shortly after their formation, the group premiered at the old Chatham Square Theatre in New York City on February 17, 1843 with what is generally considered the first full-length blackface minstrel show. Unlike earlier blackface acts, the entire group appeared in blackface and costume, not just a featured singer or dancer; also unlike earlier blackface stage acts, their performance was structured as an entire evening's entertainment.
Among other things, they are credited with the songs "Jimmy Crack Corn" and "Old Dan Tucker", which passed into American folk culture.
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[edit] References
- Lott, Eric. Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-19-507832-2. p. 136 et. seq.
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