On December 13, 1907, in the Lykens Standard, an ad appeared for a performance of “The Hottest Coon in Dixey [sic],” to be held at the Lykens Opera House, Wednesday, December 18, 1907. The ad indicated that this was a new version of “The Sparkling Scintillating Musical Comedy,” described as a “Coon Show with a Fascinating Story and Ingenious Plot full of Action and Humor,” with “Remarkable Singing, Phenomenal Dancing, Bright and Snappy Specialties, Tuneful and Witty Dialogue.” There was a “Band Parade and Concert at Noon!” and ticket prices were 25c, 35c and 50c.
A “press release” was also included in the same newspaper:
AT THE OPERA HOUSE
One of the best colored companies that has ever appeared on the road, will be seen here at the opera house on Wednesday evening, December 18th [1907]. in a clever musical comedy entitled. “The Hottest Coon in Dixie.” The comedy is a splendid organization and gives a clever performance that will keep an audience in continual roar of laughter. Not a dull moment is allowed to “butt in” on this merry carnival of fun, music and specialties. A critic in speaking of the performance said that he considered a performance of “The Hottest Coon in Dixie” to be nature’s own cure for the blues, and, judging by the happy countenances that come out of the theatre after witnessing the performance, we think the critic was right. The company carry a fine band of music, which will parade the principal streets, and give a concert at 4 p. m., and also in from of the theatre in evening.
Not much is known about the particular cast of Black performers who appeared in Lykens in December 1907.
The title song of the production had been recorded by popular Black artists Bert Williams and George Walker, as noted on the cover of the sheet music – but there is no evidence that either of these men took part in the Lykens production.
A review of the production was found in the St. Joseph Gazette, St. Joseph, Missouri, October 1, 1899.
HOTTEST COON IN DIXIE
“The Hottest Coon in Dixie.” This company is composed of 35 of the leading colored entertainers of the American stage and had nothing in common with what has heretofore been seen in this line – it has no rivals. The piece is a lively farce-comedy and travesty in two acts and three scenes, made up of all the most popular features of farce, vaudeville and opera and that numerous class of theater-goers who revel in hearing the latest “rag-time” song hits of the day and the catchiest kind of “coon” melodies have a treat in store for them. The chorus, especially, is a feature, being the entire famous singing corps of the original “Clorindy” that ran for sixteen weeks at the New York Casino Roof Garden, and the costuming is said to be equally as pretentious as is usually seen in the largest extravaganza and operas. The fun of “The Hottest Coon in Dixie” is of the hilarious order.
The above review pertains to one of the early performances of the musical; there is no guarantee that no significant changes were made to the production by the time it got to Lykens. However, it has to be presumed that the performers in Lykens were all Black (referred to as “colored” in the Lykens ad). Or to put it another way, there were no white performers in black-face.
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