Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2011 "Baby, dream your dream": Pearl Bailey, Hello, Dolly!, and the negotiation of race in commerical American musical theatre Charles Eliot Mehler Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Mehler, Charles Eliot, ""Baby, dream your dream": Pearl Bailey, Hello, Dolly!, and the negotiation of race in commerical American musical theatre" (2011). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 4007. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/4007 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. ―BABY, DREAM YOUR DREAM:‖ PEARL BAILEY, HELLO, DOLLY!, AND THE NEGOTIATION OF RACE IN COMMERCIAL AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Theatre School of Music and Dramatic Arts by Charles Eliot Mehler B.A., Northwestern University, 1979 B.A. in Ed., Western Washington University, 1983 M.S., University of Colorado, 1987 M.A., Kansas State University, 2004 December, 2011 DEDICATION This study is dedicated to the small number of people who devote their lives to seeking a middle ground without compromising essential principle. This is substantially more difficult than existing at an extreme, and much more difficult than it appears. ii ACKOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend the most heartfelt thanks to all the people and associated institutions with whom it has been a pleasure to be acquainted: ACADEMIC/PROFESSIONAL: Les Wade (Ph.D. advisor), Femi Euba, Bill Grimes, Kristin Sosnowsky, Michael Tick, Jennifer Jones Cavenaugh, Leigh Clemons, John Fletcher, Mark Gasiorowski, Andreas Gieger, Allison McFarland, Sally Bailey, Dan Davy, Kate Anderson, Charlotte MacFarland, Lou Shelton, John Uthoff, Janice Stein, Barbara Napoli, Emily Kosh, Michael Dreznick, Elfi Sanderson, Cindy Cho, Roxanne Greenburger, Randee Blair, Bernie Beck, Sam Todes (dec.), Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe, Patrick Murphree, Miles Kreuger, Marty Jacobs and the staff at the Museum of the City of New York, the Lincoln Center Library, Tougaloo College (Jackson, Mississippi), State of Mississippi Archives, Alex Benjamin, Ben Medina, Hampton Williams (dec.?), Harold Sachs (dec.), Ellen Zuckerman Brandt, Marty Bass, Ervin Hart, and Francine Trombino. PERSONAL: Scott Wiersema, Elaine and David (dec.) Mehler, Evelyn and Bernie Seckler, Joseph Yichel (dec.) and Myrna Mehler, Steve London (dec.), Jeffrey and Blossom Mehler (and all of Blossom‘s ―sisters, cousins, and aunts‖ – and a special greeting to my brother and sister-in- law – I‘m handing in the draft of my dissertation on June 20, 2011, their 40th wedding anniversary), Max and Ruth Schlam (both dec.), Andrew and Ali Mehler, Lauren (Mehler) and Mark Strien (and little Kaitlyn Isabella, my newly arrived (7/31/10) great-niece), Eva Leskovac, Seymour and Jill Hirsh, Roseline Insdorf Horowitz, Patty Bugland, Jessica Kalish (dec.), Barry Elfant, Ronnie Gravino, Paul Siegel, Barrett Brick (and Antonio), Dean Spielvogel (dec.), Stuart iii Henlis, Michael Carr and Henry Siegel, Ken and Becky Klein, Brad Hennenfent, Alan Sachs, Paul Durfee (dec.), Joel Rose, Anne Larson, Warren and Stacey Silver (and ―Robbie,‖ ―Chip,‖ ―Ernie‖ and ―Dodie‖), Kenneth Hilton (and mama Erma) and Kenton Owens, Greg Nigosian, Barbara Georgans, Georgann Joseph, Steve and Lisa Young, Sean Dunham and Bill ―Woplock‖ Karnes, Sheila Schultz, Linda Kutner, Larry Toothman and Frank Bolick, Harley LeClere, Richard Cleaver, Jeanette and Vern Wiersema, Todd Wiersema, Andrew Wiersema, Ryan Wiersema, Jeff and Tina Wiersema, Bradd (―Bruno‖) Wiersema (dec.), Ed Parks, Tom Kinyon, Wolf Anglemeyer, Robert Krenek and Johnny Smith, Marilyn and Morty (dec.) Etra [Morty, you were right – I suppose based on the material in this dissertation, it was reasonable to describe me as ―some sort of nigger lover‖], Fran and Dave Marcus, Marcia and Murray (dec.) Wiener, Mary Margaret Rollins and Pam Bolton, Robert Olinde, Larry and Sylvia London (both dec.), and Tillie and Leo Mehler (both dec.). P.S.: If I left anyone out, let‘s attribute this to a ―middle aged moment‖ on my part. I love you all. iv PREFACE There are some atrocities for which even the most heartfelt of apologies will not suffice. The enslavement of Africans in the Western Hemisphere. Violence, subjugation, and ―therapy‖ directed at homosexuals. The slaughter of six million Jews in Hitler‘s ovens. Rape and brutality directed cross-culturally against women as they are treated as sexual chattel. The list goes on. David Merrick‘s attempt to rectify previous exclusionary practices against African- Americans attempting to partake in commercial American musical theatre, the Pearl Bailey-led production of Hello, Dolly!, probably does not even qualify as a ―most heartfelt apology.‖ There is no denial that Merrick‘s first motivation was making a buck. It‘s not that Merrick wasn‘t aware or concerned with the underlying issues of social justice involved in the production. The simple, perhaps inconvenient truth is that Merrick was motivated primarily by capitalist greed. David Merrick produced Broadway plays with the intent to make a profit for his investors. That was his job. Anything beyond that is gravy. Having said this, one must realize that it is equally true that the Bailey Dolly! represented a paradigm change in the way that African-American interests were treated in the venue of commercial American musical theatre. Before this production and for the overwhelming most part, the best a black performer could hope for was to land a part as some sort of exotic hot- house plant or to be relegated to servants‘ roles. Never mind the possibility of anything vaguely resembling the real interests of African-Americans being portrayed by black writing talent in commercial American musical theatre. It didn‘t happen. The era that followed the Bailey Dolly! displayed broader horizons for African-American talent in both these arenas. v We can look at the Bailey Dolly! as a feeble attempt to assuage the guilt that will not go away. Or we can look at the Bailey Dolly! as a point of light that showed the way to an era of greater cooperation. Or we can do both. Let us proceed. -- Charles Eliot Mehler Denham Springs, Louisiana July 5, 2011 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iii Preface..............................................................................................................................................v List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................x Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... xi Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Problems Presented ..................................................................................................................3 Review of Scholarship ..............................................................................................................9 Methodology...........................................................................................................................18 Chapter Summaries ................................................................................................................19 Significance of the Study........................................................................................................24 Chapter I – Social Structures .........................................................................................................27 Chapter Introduction ...............................................................................................................27 Vertical Class Structures ........................................................................................................28 White Privilege/White Cooperation/White Condescension ...................................................41 Bucklin Moon and Adult Treatment.......................................................................................47 Fitful Attempts to Break Down Barriers ................................................................................53 Bourgeois Entrée and Imperfect Progress ..............................................................................55 The Case for African-American Bourgeois Assimilation ......................................................63 Chapter Conclusion ................................................................................................................64 Endnotes .................................................................................................................................66