The_Harlem_Renaissance_And_Black_Theatre

The Harlem Renaissance And Black Theatre Introduction Beginning in the early 1900’s, African-American literature, art, music, drama and social commentary began to flourish in Harlem. The period that is commonly referred to today as the Harlem Renaissance is generally agreed to span from the end of World War I through the middle of the1930’s depression. Originally called the “New Negro Movement”, the black cultural production of the period was not solely located in Harlem, the celebration of African-American Heritage spread across the nation, encouraging a talented pool of African-American artists, and activists. During this same period, leading up to the 1930’s, black musical theater was one of the few ways to be successful and upwardly mobile in a white society. The route to success in show business for blacks during this period was almost exclusively through black musical theatre. With the debut of Shuffle Along during the early period of the Harlem Renaissance, the face of black theatre was forever changed. Numerous pioneers (that are often forgotten) paved the theatrical road to the Harlem Renaissance. From A Trip to Coontown to Harlem’s Lafayette Theatre, “…black performed play, an oddity in the nineteenth century, became the rage in the harlem, renaissance, black, along, shuffle, theater, musical, theatre, show, production, period, coontown, trip, play, new, white, together, sissle, early, during, broadway, blacks, audiences, after, york, theatrical, produced, noble, debut, city, blake, been, artists, african-american, years