November 3 ~ On this day in 1920, Eugene O'Neill's play "Emperor Jones" opened at the Provincetown Theater in New York. Charles S. Gilpin, the dean of America's black dramatic actors, played the tile role. The man who would be hailed as the first "serious" African-American actor got his start on the vaudeville and minstrel circuits. The breadth and depth of Charles Gilpin's acting ability emerged around 1907, when he joined the nation's first legitimate black theater company. Gilpin refined his craft as a founding member of the first stock company in Harlem, the Anita Bush Players (later renamed the Lafayette Players). In 1919, he made his Broadway debut playing the role of the the preacher and former slave Custis in John Drinkwater's "Abraham Lincoln." Though his performance garnered accolades, Gilpin did not create a true sensation until his title role in "Emperor Jones."
By Tiffani Addison
No comments:
Post a Comment