Sissieretta Jones: "The Greatest Singer of Her Race," 1868-1933

6: A New Career: The 1896–1897 Theatrical Season

: 95 : 8 6 A New Career THE 1896–1897 THEATRICAL SEASON On New Year’s Day 1896, Sissieretta, who had been quite successful singing at Proctor’s Pleasure Palace in December, made her first appearance at Proctor ’s Theatre on Twenty-Third Street in New York City. Once again she was singing in a vaudeville house rather than on a concert stage. Shortly after Sissieretta ’s opening, Mary Rodman took out ads in the New York Dramatic Mirror that said, “The Black Patti, just [returned] from her European triumphs, is available for a limited number of concert engagements, alone or with her Grand Concert Co.” The advertisement, which had the word vaudeville twice at the top, said Sissieretta was “the largest drawing card in the country.” No information was given about the other members of the Grand Concert Company.1 Sissieretta continued to sing at Proctor’s lavish Pleasure Palace and Proctor ’s Theatre until mid-February while Rodman tried to book more concert engagements for her. Apparently she continued to appear more and more in vaudeville shows during the first part of the year. It is likely these kinds of venues were more available to her than concert opportunities, and these engagements probably paid better. American vaudeville, which arrived on the entertainment scene in the 1890s as minstrelsy was declining, was a descendant of variety shows. It differed, however, from variety shows, which tended to be coarse, rough, and risqué. Vaudeville was an inexpensive and popular form of entertainment that was clean, respectable, and suitable for the whole family. Usually there were eight acts, which might include an opening animal act, a comic or comedy sketch, a juggler, a magician, one or two acrobats, a dancing couple, a singer, and frequently a one-act play. All the acts had to avoid any off-color language. Vaudeville provided entertainment to the growing middle class, including women and children, up until the late 1920s and early 1930s.2 96 : Sissieretta Jones Rodman claimed Sissieretta’s “great success” at Proctor’s vaudeville houses had prompted contacts from vaudeville managers all over the country who were interested in having her perform. Rodman booked Sissieretta in places as far west as Kansas City and as far south as Atlanta.3 Sissieretta sang in a variety of settings, such as a resort hotel in New Jersey and a social club in Chicago. She sang a benefit concert on 28 February at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia for the Frederick Douglass Hospital and Training School. At the end of the concert, she received many floral arrangements, but none as notable as the three-foot floral star given by Flora Batson and her husband, John Bergen. In presenting the arrangement to Sissieretta, the announcer said, “Ladies and gentlemen, above all the beautiful selections we have heard tonight and properly appreciated there is one little incident that will appeal to you greater than all else, and that is a tribute of one great artist to another. I hold in my hand a floral star; the gift of Flora Batson, Queen of Song, to Sissieretta Jones, the Black Patti.” The audience showed its approval with “deafening” applause.4 Apparently Batson and Bergen had mended their strained relationship with Sissieretta and her husband. Bergen had become upset with the Joneses in 1892 when David Jones was able to get Sissieretta a leading part in the “Grand Negro Jubilee” at Madison Square Garden. Although Sissieretta preferred the concert stage to vaudeville, her future appeared to be in vaudeville rather than achieving new milestones in the concert or operatic world. She had to support her husband, who had no job of his own and was reportedly a big spender, gambler, and drinker. She also likely helped her mother financially. The singer found she was able to earn a good living (about three hundred dollars a week)5 doing two vaudeville shows a day. Moreover concert and opera opportunities were becoming much more limited for African American concert singers (including Batson, Nellie Brown Mitchell, and Marie Selika as well as Sissieretta) near the end of the nineteenth century. Such vocalists were no longer a “curiosity” to white patrons, as music historian Eileen Southern explained in her 1983 book, The Music of Black Americans: A History. “The fickle public soon tired of black prima donnas . Although the singers were gifted, well trained, and fortunate in obtaining good management, their careers on the concert stage were relatively short, ranging from three to four...