Sherman H. Dudley
Encyclopedia
Sherman Houston Dudley was an African American vaudeville
performer and theatre entrepreneur.
, he became involved in medicine
and minstrel show
s in his youth. By the early 1890s he was a popular performer in troupes such as the Dudley Georgia Minstrels and the McCabe and Young Minstrels. In 1896 he wrote a play, The Smart Set, a title he would later use for some of his traveling shows. Around 1904 he introduced his most famous stage act, in which a mule dressed in overalls would nod his head as Dudley spoke, giving the impression that the mule understood what he was saying.
By about 1910 he was based in Washington D.C., where he served as general manager and treasurer of the Colored Actors' Union. In 1911 he set up S. H. Dudley Theatrical Enterprises, and began buying and leasing theatres to develop the first black vaudeville circuit, initially around Washington and Virginia. By 1916 the "Dudley Circuit" had extended into the south and Midwest, enabling black entertainers to secure longer term contracts for an extended season. His circuit provided the basis for the Theater Owners Bookers Association
(T.O.B.A.)
After 1917 Dudley devoted himself to producing black musicals, including updated Smart Set productions. He sold his theatres around 1930, and retired to a farm in Maryland where he bred thoroughbred racehorses.
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
performer and theatre entrepreneur.
Career
Born in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, he became involved in medicine
Medicine show
Medicine shows were traveling horse and wagon teams which peddled "miracle cure" medications and other products between various entertainment acts. Their precise origins unknown, medicine shows were common in the 19th century United States...
and minstrel show
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
s in his youth. By the early 1890s he was a popular performer in troupes such as the Dudley Georgia Minstrels and the McCabe and Young Minstrels. In 1896 he wrote a play, The Smart Set, a title he would later use for some of his traveling shows. Around 1904 he introduced his most famous stage act, in which a mule dressed in overalls would nod his head as Dudley spoke, giving the impression that the mule understood what he was saying.
By about 1910 he was based in Washington D.C., where he served as general manager and treasurer of the Colored Actors' Union. In 1911 he set up S. H. Dudley Theatrical Enterprises, and began buying and leasing theatres to develop the first black vaudeville circuit, initially around Washington and Virginia. By 1916 the "Dudley Circuit" had extended into the south and Midwest, enabling black entertainers to secure longer term contracts for an extended season. His circuit provided the basis for the Theater Owners Bookers Association
Theater Owners Bookers Association
Theater Owners Booking Association, or T.O.B.A., was the vaudeville circuit for African American performers in the 1920s and 1930s. The theaters all had white owners and collaborated in booking jazz, blues, comedians, and other performers for black audiences...
(T.O.B.A.)
After 1917 Dudley devoted himself to producing black musicals, including updated Smart Set productions. He sold his theatres around 1930, and retired to a farm in Maryland where he bred thoroughbred racehorses.