Frank Dumont | |
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Born | January 25, 1848 |
Died | March 17, 1919 | (aged 71)
Occupation(s) | Minstrel show performer and manager |
Frank Dumont (January 25, 1848 – March 17, 1919) was an American minstrel show performer and manager. [1] [2] [3]
Dumont was born in Utica, New York, on January 25, 1848. He started performing in minstrel shows as early as 1862, and worked with a number of groups, including Duprez & Benedict's Minstrels from about 1869 to 1881. He eventually founded "Dumont's Minstrels", around 1895/96, after purchasing the Eleventh Street Opera House in Philadelphia. He authored many sketches and songs for the genre. One afterpiece he wrote was later expanded into a successful 1884 play, A Parlor Match.
After the Opera House closed circa 1909, Dumont acquired Dime Museum at Ninth and Arch Streets and renamed it "Dumont's Theatre". [4] He died in the box office of the theatre on March 17, 1919, during the opening number of that afternoon's matinee show. [3] [5] [6] He is interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Dumont's 1899 work "The Witmark amateur minstrel guide and burnt cork encyclopedia" is a valuable resource on the history of American minstrelsy.
Dumont wrote in 1915 that he had been the first to perform two classic 19th century standards, " Silver Threads Among the Gold", and " When You and I Were Young, Maggie". [7]
Pat Chappelle commissioned Dumont in 1900 to write A Rabbit's Foot, a comedy-based show that became a hit and led to the creation of Chappelle's " Rabbit's Foot (Comedy) Company." [8] Chappelle was the first black owner of a vaudeville company with an all-black cast, and utilized upscale performers that helped him dominate the southwest and southeastern areas of the U.S. and also traveled to New Jersey, New York, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. [9] [10]
Frank Dumont | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | January 25, 1848 |
Died | March 17, 1919 | (aged 71)
Occupation(s) | Minstrel show performer and manager |
Frank Dumont (January 25, 1848 – March 17, 1919) was an American minstrel show performer and manager. [1] [2] [3]
Dumont was born in Utica, New York, on January 25, 1848. He started performing in minstrel shows as early as 1862, and worked with a number of groups, including Duprez & Benedict's Minstrels from about 1869 to 1881. He eventually founded "Dumont's Minstrels", around 1895/96, after purchasing the Eleventh Street Opera House in Philadelphia. He authored many sketches and songs for the genre. One afterpiece he wrote was later expanded into a successful 1884 play, A Parlor Match.
After the Opera House closed circa 1909, Dumont acquired Dime Museum at Ninth and Arch Streets and renamed it "Dumont's Theatre". [4] He died in the box office of the theatre on March 17, 1919, during the opening number of that afternoon's matinee show. [3] [5] [6] He is interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Dumont's 1899 work "The Witmark amateur minstrel guide and burnt cork encyclopedia" is a valuable resource on the history of American minstrelsy.
Dumont wrote in 1915 that he had been the first to perform two classic 19th century standards, " Silver Threads Among the Gold", and " When You and I Were Young, Maggie". [7]
Pat Chappelle commissioned Dumont in 1900 to write A Rabbit's Foot, a comedy-based show that became a hit and led to the creation of Chappelle's " Rabbit's Foot (Comedy) Company." [8] Chappelle was the first black owner of a vaudeville company with an all-black cast, and utilized upscale performers that helped him dominate the southwest and southeastern areas of the U.S. and also traveled to New Jersey, New York, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. [9] [10]