Rang Tang

Rang Tang is a musical[1] that premiered July 12, 1927, on Broadway at the Royale Theater and ran for 119 performances, including a 14-week overrun, during which, the production moved September 12, 1927, to the Majestic – finishing October 24, 1927. It was acclaimed as one of the most successful black musical revues of the latter 1920s, and owed much to a star-laden cast headlined by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles.[2] The book — in 2 acts and 12 scenes (2 scenes added later) — is by Kaj Gynt; the lyrics are by Joseph H. Trent; the music is composed by Ford Dabney, who tailored some of the songs for Mae Barnes and Evelyn Preer; the score and post-production music was published by Leo Feist; all copyrighted in 1927 and copyrights renewed in 1954.[lower-roman 1][lower-alpha 1][upper-roman 1][upper-roman 2]

Rang Tang
MusicFord Dabney
LyricsJoseph H. Trent
BookKaj Gynt
PremiereJuly 12, 1927: Royale Theater, Broadway – 119 performances (finished at the Majestic Theatre)

History

The production premiered 1 month and 22 days after the world's first solo transatlantic flight – from Roosevelt Field, Mineola, Long Island, to Le Bourget Aerodrome, Paris, by Charles Lindbergh.[3][4] The musical title, Rang Tang, is slang for orangutan.

Plot

Sam Peck (Miller) and Steve Jenkins (Lyles) are two debt-ridden Jimtown[Note 1] barbers who flee their creditors, steal an airplane, and, in the spirit of Charles Lindbergh, embark on another, further, albeit non-solo, first transatlantic non-stop flight from America to Africa in search of treasure. Toward the end of their destination, however, while in flight, the plane begins to malfunction and the wings fall off. Following a safe emergency splash landing in the sea near Madagascar, they meet (i) the Queen of Sheba (Josephine Hall), (ii) the King of Madagascar (Daniel L. Haynes), and (iii) a Zulu tribe. Peck and Jenkins become involved in series of comedic misadventures with natives and fierce animals in the forests, jungles, and deserts – staged as a mythical, exotic, and, at times, terrifying native land. They find a buried treasure, return to the U.S., and arrive at a Harlem cabaret, where they celebrate in grand style their new status as two of the richest men in the world.[5][upper-alpha 1][6]

Book, lyrics, melodies, arrangements
  1. Book: Kaj Gynt (1885–1956)[upper-alpha 2]
  2. Lyrics: Jo Trent (né Joseph Hannibal Trent; 1892–1954)
  3. Music: Ford Dabney (1883–1958)
  4. Orchestrations and vocal arrangements: Russell Wooding (né Alfred Russell Wooding; 1891–1959)

Premier production
  1. Choreography: Charles Davis (né C. Columbus Davis; 1894–1963) ‡ [Note 2][7]
  2. Staging: Flournoy E. Miller (1885–1971)
  3. Set design: Olle Nordmark (1890–1973)
  4. Costume design: Olle Nordmark
  5. Costume execution: Hilarie Mahieu Costumes, Inc. – Hilarie Albert Mahieu (1877–1964)
  6. Masks, lantern heads, and shields: H. Foster Anderson
  7. Orchestra direction: Ford Dabney
  8. Produced by Walker and Kavanagh – Antoinette Walker (maiden; 1874–1970) and husband, Michael Joseph Patrick Kavanagh (1887–1967)

Opening night cast
  1. Flournoy E. Miller (1885–1971), as Sam Peck, a barber ‡
  2. Aubrey Lyles (1884–1932), as Steve Jenkins, a barber ‡
  3. Josephine Hall (née Josephine Allen; born 1890),[Note 3] as Queen of Sheba and singer
  4. Evelyn Preer (1896–1932)
  5. Daniel L. Haynes (1889–1954), as King of Madagascar and chorus member (baritone)
  6. Inez Draw, singer
  7. Lillian Westmoreland (maiden; 1906–1935), a so-called "double-voiced" talent – the ability to sing both soprano and alto
Barnes, Mack, Jones dance trio
  1. Mae Barnes (1907–1996), dancer
  2. Lavinia Mack (born about 1908), dancer
  3. Byron Jones (1889–1934), dancer[Note 4][Genealogy 1][upper-alpha 3]
Cast (continued)
  1. Zaidee Jackson (1898–1970), as Magnolia
  2. Crawford Jackson
  3. Joe Willis
  4. Ralph Bryson, dancer
Male chorus
  1. Daniel L. Haynes (1889–1954), bass
  2. Ambrose Allen
  3. Howard Brown
  4. C.H. Gordon
  5. Gilbert Holland
  6. Burble Jackson
  7. Snippy Mason (né Arthur Robinson Mason; 1891–1976), tenor ‡
  8. Llewellyn Ransom (né Llewellyn Aloysius Ransom; 1901–1972), tenor
  9. James E. Strange (né James Easton Strange; 1895–1956), as barbershop customer and chorus member, tenor
  10. Joseph Willis
  11. Clarence Todd
  12. Edwin Alexander
  13. George Battles
  14. Edward Thompson (né James Edward Thompson; 1898–1960), who, in 1924, married Evelyn Preer
Ladies of the ensemble
  1. Le 'Etta' Revells
  2. Pauline Jackson
  3. Susie Baker
  4. Gladyce Bronson
  5. Doris Colbert
  6. La Valla Cook
  7. Inez Draw
  8. Teddy Garnette
  9. Alice Hoffman
  10. Margie Hubbard
  11. Frances Hubbard
  12. Evelyn Keyes (1908–1990)[Note 4][Genealogy 1][upper-alpha 3]
  13. Marie Mahood (née Marie Hardina Mahood; born 12 May 1904 Queens, NYC), as one of six of wives of Chief Bobo; in 1928, she married Marion W. Griffen (1903–2000)
  14. Frankye Maxwell
  15. Thelma McLaughlin
  16. Marel Miles
  17. Thula Ortes
  18. Thelma Rhoton
  19. Gladys Schell
  20. Helen Smith
  21. Norma Smith
  22. Gomez Boyer
  23. Mildred Coleman
  24. Leonore Gadsden
  25. Isabel Peterson
  26. Ethelyn Boyd
  27. Irma Miles
  28. Marie Simmons
  29. Anna Humphrey
  30. Gertrude Williams[upper-alpha 4]
Ford Dabney's Rang Tang Orchestra
In September 1927, "The Witch Doctor," a new scene by Trent and Dabney was added to the show.
‡ Member of the 1921 Shuffle Along cast

Songs
Rang Tang; OCLC 498710758, 271523208
  1. "Rang Tang," fox-trot song; Dabney (music), Trent (words), Frank E. Barry (arrangement); OCLC 76873176
  2. "Rang Tang," Dabney (melody), Trent (words)
  3. "Brown;" Dabney (music), Trent (words), OCLC 497289093; Zaidee Jackson, vocalist
  4. "Come to Africa," Dabney and Trent (words & melody); Josephine Hall, vocalist
  5. "Ee Yah," hunting song, Dabney (melody), Trent (words)
  6. "Everybody Shout," Dabney and Trent (words & music)
  7. "Feelin' Kinda Good," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
  8. "Harlem," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
  9. "Jubilee in Monkeyland," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
  10. "Jungle Rose," Dabney and Trent (words & melody); OCLC 497905707, 911353208; Evelyn Preer, vocalist
  11. "Jungle Rose," fox trot, Dabney (music), Trent (words)
  12. "King and Queen," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
  13. "Pay Me," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
  14. "Sammy and Topsy," Dabney (melody), Trent (words)
  15. "Sammy's Banjo," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
  16. "Six Little Wives" (of Chief Bobo), Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
  17. "Someday," Dabney (melody), Trent (words); Josephine Hall, vocalist
  18. "Sweet Evening Breeze," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
  19. "Voodoo," Dabney (melody), Trent (words)
  20. "Zulu Fifth Avenue," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
Not listed in Catalogue of Copyright Entries:
  1. "Summer Nights," Josephine Hall, vocalist[8]
  2. "Tramps of the Desert"

Post Broadway performances

After closing on Broadway, Rang Tang opened in

Other productions
  • Staged and produced by Edward E. Daley (1884–1933), starring Billy Higgins (1888–1937) and Joe Byrd (né Joseph Byrd; 1886–1946)

Legacy as employer of African Americans in Broadway theater

In an informal survey of integrated casts in the 1927 Broadway season, Pittsburgh Courier reporter Floyd J. Calvin (1902–1939) wrote:

Among the white shows that have taken in colored actors are Oscar Hammerstein's Golden Dawn (1927), about 30, with William C. Elkins (né William Calvin Elkins; 1872–1954)[upper-alpha 5] in charge of the chorus; Florenz Ziegfeld's Show Boat, about 45, with Jules Bledsoe in the lead; David Belasco's Lulu Belle (1926), about 60 with Edna Thomas and others; In Abraham's Bosom (1926), about 18; Sidewalks of New York (1927), about 8; Porgy (1927), 52; Rang Tang, 80.

— Floyd J. Calvin, 1927[upper-alpha 6][9]


See also

Notes, copyrights, references

Notes
  1. Jimtown, slang for Jamestown, is a mythical, happy small town in the South – a favorite locale. Jimtown is also the scene in Shuffle Along (1921), Runnin' Wild (1923), Liza (1922), and – according to author Dan Dietz in his 2019 book, The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals (p. 450) – "close in spirit to Bamville, the locale of The Chocolate Dandies" (1924).
  2. Charles Davis aka C. Columbus Davis (1894–1963), when he died, was living in Englewood, New Jersey, at 111 Reis Avenue. His big break came as a principal dancer in Shuffle Along, after which, he rapidly rose to notability as a choreographer at the Apollo and Lafayette Theatres in Harlem. He and his wife, Cecile (1898–1975), had two daughters, Meta J. Davis (1919–2012) and Anna L. Davis (1921–2016) (Duke Ellington's Music for the Theatre, by John Childs Franceschina, McFarland & Company, 2000, p. 14; OCLC 469316674)
  3. Josephine Hall (née Josephine Allen; born January 1890 Denver – DOD not known) was a mezzo-soprano. On June 15, 1918, she married Efbert E. Hall (1893–1932), a trombonist and former sideman with (i) Charles Elgar's Creole Orchestra and (ii) the Ringling Circus Band, under the direction of Roy Pope. Bert was an active member in the New York City Musicians' Union, Local 802. He also founded, in 1927, the Rhythm Club in Manhattan, which flourished when the Clef Club was in decline. Josephine Hall remarried on June 17, 1937, in Manhattan to Charles Rufus Smith. In addition to performing in Rang Tang, she was a frequent star of the Cotton Club and was in the casts of Keep Shufflin' (1928) as Ruth; Music Hath Charms (1934) in an ensemble; and The Hot Mikado (1939) as singer. Beginning around 1929, she was a frequent vocalist on the radio, which included performances with Duke Ellington.
  4. Byron Jones (né Henry Byron Jones; 1889–1934) and Evelyn Keyes (née Evelyn Blanche Keyes; 1908–1990), both dancers, married March 24, 1928, in Manhattan. Their romance began during their participation in Rang Tang. Byron Jones died in Barcelona. Evelyn re-married choreographer Henry LeTang (1915–1907).

Copyrights
  • Original copyrights
  1. Vol.    1; February 1928, No. 2 (1928)
    1. Rang Tang, a musical play, © 1 c. 4 February 1928; D82826, p. 44
  1. Vol.  22; July–December 1927, Nos. 7–12 (1927)
    1. "Brown," © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670045, p. 700
    2. "Come to Africa," © 1 c. 12 July 1927; E672192, p. 705
    3. "Ee Yah," hunting song, © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670039, p. 712
    4. "Everybody Shout," © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670034, p. 713
    5. "Feelin' Kinda Good," © 1 c. 12 July 1927; E672191, p. 714
    6. "Harlem," © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670040, p. 722
    7. "Jubilee in Monkeyland," © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670041, p. 738
    8. "Jungle Rose," fox trot; © 18 July 1927; 2 c. 20 July 1927; E672315, p. 738
    9. "Jungle Rose," © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670036, p. 738
    10. "King and Queen," © 1 c. 12 July 1927; E782190, p. 740
    11. "Pay Me," © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670035, p. 766
    12. "Rang Tang," fox trot; © 18 July 1927; 2 c. 20 July 1927; E672314, p. 771
    13. "Rang Tang," © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670044, p. 771
    14. "Sammy and Topsy © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670046, p. 775
    15. "Sammy's Banjo," © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670037, p. 775
    16. "Six Little Wives," © 1 c. 27 June 1927; E670049, p. 780
    17. "Someday," © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670038, p. 782
    18. "Sweet Evening Breeze," © 1 c. 12 July 1927; E672189, p. 787
    19. "Voodoo," © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670043, p. 796
    20. "Zulu Fifth Avenue," © 1 c. 15 June 1927; E670042, p. 805
    21. "Brown," fox trot, © 6 Aug 1927; 2 c. 9 August 1927; E672870, p. 836
    22. "Brown," fox trot, Frank Edward Barry (1883–1937) orchestra arrangement (4to), © 6 August 1927; 2 c. 7 September 1927; E671250, p. 956
    23. "Rang Tang," fox trot, Frank Edward Barry (1883–1937) orchestra arrangement (4to), © 6 September 1927; 2 c. 7 September 1927; E671249, p. 1008
    24. Rang Tang, notice received, 18 October 1927; recorded Vol. 7, p. 150, p. 1170
  • Renewals

Genealogical records
  1. "New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829–1940" (database), FamilySearch (re: marriage of Henry Byron Jones and Evelyn Blanche Keyes, March 24, 1928, Manhattan, New York), New York City Municipal Archives; FHL microfilm 1653344, cn 13288

Further reading
  1. The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary (3rd ed.), American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (1966)
  2. Biographical Dictionary of American Music, by Charles Eugene Claghorn (1911–2005), West Nyack: Parker Publishing Company, Inc. (1973)
  3. The Oxford Companion to Popular Music, by Peter Gammond (1925–2019), Oxford Companions, Oxford University Press (1991)
  4. Biography Index, A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines, Vol. 14, September 1984 – August 1986, H.W. Wilson Co. (1986)
  5. Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People, 1816–1960, by Bernard L. Peterson, Jr., Greenwood Press (2001)
  6. Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians, by Eileen Jackson Southern (1920–2002), Greenwood Press (1982) (borrowable online via Internet Archive)
  7. In Black and White, A guide to magazine articles, newspaper articles, and books concerning black individuals and groups (3rd ed.; Vol. 1 of 2), Mary Mace Spradling (née Mary Elizabeth Mace; 1911–2009) (ed.), Gale Research (1980); OCLC 631458944
  8. In Black and White (3rd ed.; supplement), Mary Mace Spradling (née Mary Elizabeth Mace; 1911–2009) (ed.), Gale Research (1985); OCLC 849767637

Inline
  1. Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance, Marshall Stearns and Jean Stearns, Chapter 20 – "Broadway: The Late Twenties," p. 151 (1994 ed.)
    1. Collier-Macmillan (1968); OCLC 655466715
    2. Macmillan (1971); OCLC 900269
    3. Schirmer (1979); OCLC 720681903, 1069868504; ISBNs 0-0287-2510-7, 978-0-0287-2510-9
    4. Da Capo Press (paperback) (1994); OCLC 610972997; ISBNs 0-3068-0553-7, 978-0-3068-0553-0
  2. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919, by Tim Brooks, Richard Keith Spottswood, University of Illinois Press (2004; paperback 2005), p. 395 OCLC 909117556; ISBN 0-252-07307-X; ISBN 0-252-02850-3; ISBN 978-0-2520-7307-6
  3. American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle, by Gerald Bordman, Oxford University Press (1992)
  4. Inside the Minstrel Mask: Readings in Nineteenth-Century Blackface Minstrelsy, Annemarie Bean, James V. Hatch, Brooks McNamara (1937–2009), Wesleyan University Press (1996), p. 241; OCLC 493463961
  5. A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage, By, About, or Involving African Americans "Rang Tang," p. 287, by Bernard L. Peterson, Jr., Greenwood Press (1993)
  6. Dictionary of the Black Theatre: Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Selected Harlem Theatre (re: "Rang Tang"), by Allen L. Woll, Greenwood Press (1983), p. 133 (borrowable online via Internet Archive)
  7. "Obituary: Charlie Davis," New York Daily News, September 24, 1963, p. 40, col. 3 (accessible via Newspapers.com; subscription required)
  8. Who Sang What on Broadway, 1866-1996: The Singers (Vol. 1 of 2; A–L), by Ruth Benjamin, Arthur Rosenblatt, McFarland & Company (2006); ISBNs 0-7864-2189-4, 978-0-7864-2189-3
  9. "Race and Gender in the Broadway Chorus" (PhD dissertation), by Kellee Rene Van Aken, University of Pittsburgh (2006); OCLC 379795772, 775370312, 694094819

Historic newspapers, magazines, and journals
  1. Rang Tang (official program), Majestic Theatre, New York Magazine Program, for the week beginning September 19, 1927
  2. "Svensk Negerrevy På Broadway – ett litet Amerikabrev från en svensk skådespelerska" (Kaj Gynt, cover photo), by Rosa Tillman, Scenen, Tidskrift för teater, musik och film (official publication of the Swedish Theater Association) , Issue N° 1, January 1928, cover & p. 15 (courtesy of Project Runeberg); OCLC 236088058, 1084249228. Note: The author, Rosa Tillman (sv) (1895–1975), was a Swedish actress.
  3. "Dancers to Wed," New York Daily News, Vol. 9, No. 230, March 20, 1928, p. 27 (accessible via Newspapers.com; subscription required)
  4. "Rang Tang," Billboard, August 13, 1927, p. 96 (accessible via Fultonhistory.com; article link)
  5. Who's Who in Colored America (1941 to 1944; Vol. 6) (re: "Elkins, William Cuthbert"), Brooklyn: Thomas Yenser, editor and publisher (1942), p. 597
  6. "Survey of Theatrical Field Reveals Actors Are Making Money, but Producers Aren't," by Floyd J. Calvin (né Floyd Joseph Calvin; 1902-1939), Pittsburgh Courier, Vol. 18, No. 48, November 26, 1927, sect. 2, p. 2 (accessible via Fultonhistory.com; article link)
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