# Rang Tang

Rang Tang is a musical that premiered July 12, 1927, on Broadway at the Royale Theater and ran for 119 performances, including a 14-week overrun, during which, the production moved September 12, 1927, to the Majestic – finishing October 24, 1927. It was acclaimed as one of the most successful black musical revues of the latter 1920s, and owed much to a star-laden cast headlined by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles. The book — in 2 acts and 12 scenes (2 scenes added later) — is by Kaj Gynt; the lyrics are by Joseph H. Trent; the music is composed by Ford Dabney, who tailored some of the songs for Mae Barnes and Evelyn Preer; the score and post-production music was published by Leo Feist; all copyrighted in 1927 and copyrights renewed in 1954.

## History

The production premiered 1 month and 22 days after the world's first solo transatlantic flight – from Roosevelt Field, Mineola, Long Island, to Le Bourget Aerodrome, Paris, by Charles Lindbergh. The musical title, Rang Tang, is slang for orangutan.

### Plot

Sam Peck (Miller) and Steve Jenkins (Lyles) are two debt-ridden Jimtown barbers who flee their creditors, steal an airplane, and, in the spirit of Charles Lindbergh, embark on another, further, albeit non-solo, first transatlantic non-stop flight from America to Africa in search of treasure. Toward the end of their destination, however, while in flight, the plane begins to malfunction and the wings fall off. Following a safe emergency splash landing in the sea near Madagascar, they meet (i) the Queen of Sheba (Josephine Hall), (ii) the King of Madagascar (Daniel L. Haynes), and (iii) a Zulu tribe. Peck and Jenkins become involved in series of comedic misadventures with natives and fierce animals in the forests, jungles, and deserts – staged as a mythical, exotic, and, at times, terrifying native land. They find a buried treasure, return to the U.S., and arrive at a Harlem cabaret, where they celebrate in grand style their new status as two of the richest men in the world.

## Book, lyrics, melodies, arrangements

* Book: Kaj Gynt (1885–1956)
* Lyrics: Jo Trent (né Joseph Hannibal Trent; 1892–1954)
* Music: Ford Dabney (1883–1958)
* Orchestrations and vocal arrangements: Russell Wooding (né Alfred Russell Wooding; 1891–1959)

## Premier production

* Choreography: Charles Davis (né C. Columbus Davis; 1894–1963) ‡
* Staging: Flournoy E. Miller (1885–1971)
* Set design: Olle Nordmark (1890–1973)
* Costume design: Olle Nordmark
* Costume execution: Hilarie Mahieu Costumes, Inc. – Hilarie Albert Mahieu (1877–1964)
* Masks, lantern heads, and shields: H. Foster Anderson
* Orchestra direction: Ford Dabney
* Produced by Walker and Kavanagh – Antoinette Walker (maiden; 1874–1970) and husband, Michael Joseph Patrick Kavanagh (1887–1967)

## Opening night cast

* Flournoy E. Miller (1885–1971), as Sam Peck, a barber ‡
* Aubrey Lyles (1884–1932), as Steve Jenkins, a barber ‡
* Josephine Hall (née Josephine Allen; born 1890), as Queen of Sheba and singer
* Evelyn Preer (1896–1932)
* Daniel L. Haynes (1889–1954), as King of Madagascar and chorus member (baritone)
* Inez Draw, singer
* Lillian Westmoreland (maiden; 1906–1935), a so-called "double-voiced" talent – the ability to sing both soprano and alto
    Barnes, Mack, Jones dance trio
* Mae Barnes (1907–1996), dancer
* Lavinia Mack (born about 1908), dancer
* Byron Jones (1889–1934), dancer
    Cast (continued)
* Zaidee Jackson (1898–1970), as Magnolia
* Crawford Jackson
* Joe Willis
* Ralph Bryson, dancer
    Male chorus
* Daniel L. Haynes (1889–1954), bass
* Ambrose Allen
* Howard Brown
* C.H. Gordon
* Gilbert Holland
* Burble Jackson
* Snippy Mason (né Arthur Robinson Mason; 1891–1976), tenor ‡
* Llewellyn Ransom (né Llewellyn Aloysius Ransom; 1901–1972), tenor
* James E. Strange (né James Easton Strange; 1895–1956), as barbershop customer and chorus member, tenor
* Joseph Willis
* Clarence Todd
* Edwin Alexander
* George Battles
* Edward Thompson (né James Edward Thompson; 1898–1960), who, in 1924, married Evelyn Preer
    Ladies of the ensemble
* Le 'Etta' Revells
* Pauline Jackson
* Susie Baker
* Gladyce Bronson
* Doris Colbert
* La Valla Cook
* Inez Draw
* Teddy Garnette
* Alice Hoffman
* Margie Hubbard
* Frances Hubbard
* Evelyn Keyes (1908–1990)
* Marie Mahood (née Marie Hardina Mahood; born 12 May 1904 Queens, NYC), as one of six of wives of Chief Bobo; in 1928, she married Marion W. Griffen (1903–2000)
* Frankye Maxwell
* Thelma McLaughlin
* Marel Miles
* Thula Ortes
* Thelma Rhoton
* Gladys Schell
* Helen Smith
* Norma Smith
* Gomez Boyer
* Mildred Coleman
* Leonore Gadsden
* Isabel Peterson
* Ethelyn Boyd
* Irma Miles
* Marie Simmons
* Anna Humphrey
* Gertrude Williams
    Ford Dabney's Rang Tang Orchestra
    In September 1927, "The Witch Doctor," a new scene by Trent and Dabney was added to the show.
    ‡ Member of the 1921 Shuffle Along cast

## Songs

    Rang Tang; OCLC 498710758, 271523208
* "Rang Tang," fox-trot song; Dabney (music), Trent (words), Frank E. Barry (arrangement); OCLC 76873176
* "Rang Tang," Dabney (melody), Trent (words)
* "Brown;" Dabney (music), Trent (words), OCLC 497289093; Zaidee Jackson, vocalist
* "Come to Africa," Dabney and Trent (words & melody); Josephine Hall, vocalist
* "Ee Yah," hunting song, Dabney (melody), Trent (words)
* "Everybody Shout," Dabney and Trent (words & music)
* "Feelin' Kinda Good," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
* "Harlem," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
* "Jubilee in Monkeyland," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
* "Jungle Rose," Dabney and Trent (words & melody); OCLC 497905707, 911353208; Evelyn Preer, vocalist
* "Jungle Rose," fox trot, Dabney (music), Trent (words)
* "King and Queen," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
* "Pay Me," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
* "Sammy and Topsy," Dabney (melody), Trent (words)
* "Sammy's Banjo," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
* "Six Little Wives" (of Chief Bobo), Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
* "Someday," Dabney (melody), Trent (words); Josephine Hall, vocalist
* "Sweet Evening Breeze," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
* "Voodoo," Dabney (melody), Trent (words)
* "Zulu Fifth Avenue," Dabney and Trent (words & melody)
    Not listed in Catalogue of Copyright Entries:
* "Summer Nights," Josephine Hall, vocalist
* "Tramps of the Desert"

## Post Broadway performances

After closing on Broadway, Rang Tang opened in
* Brooklyn: Werba's Theater
* Baltimore: Ford's Theatre – opened October 24, 1927, for a 1-week engagement
* Boston: Tremont Theatre – November 28, 1927
* New Haven, Connecticut: Shubert Theatre – opened December 29, 1927
* Jamaica, Queens, New York City: Cort Theater – January 1928; John Cort's theater, on 175th Street at Jamaica Avenue; opened August 22, 1927, with the American stage premier of Mr. What's His Name; the structure was designed by Eugene DeRosa
* Harlem: Lafayette Theatre – opened February 13, 1928

## Other productions

* Staged and produced by Edward E. Daley (1884–1933), starring Billy Higgins (1888–1937) and Joe Byrd (né Joseph Byrd; 1886–1946)
** Chicago: Woods Theatre – opened June 20, 1928, close July 14, 1928
** Detroit (Paradise Valley): Koppin Theater – opened July 28, 1928; note: the Koppin Theater, owned by Henry Koppin (né Henry Emil Koppin; 1900–1961), opened August 27, 1927, and closed in 1929, after the Wall Street Crash of 1929

## Legacy as employer of African Americans in Broadway theater

In an informal survey of integrated casts in the 1927 Broadway season, Pittsburgh Courier reporter Floyd J. Calvin (1902–1939) wrote:
   Among the white shows that have taken in colored actors are Oscar Hammerstein's Golden Dawn (1927), about 30, with William C. Elkins (né William Calvin Elkins; 1872–1954) in charge of the chorus; Florenz Ziegfeld's Show Boat, about 45, with Jules Bledsoe in the lead; David Belasco's Lulu Belle (1926), about 60 with Edna Thomas and others; In Abraham's Bosom (1926), about 18; Sidewalks of New York (1927), about 8; Porgy (1927), 52; Rang Tang, 80.

## Gallery

* 1938 Daniel L. Haynes in a 1938 stage presentation of Androcles and the Lion at the Lafayette Theatre, Harlem
* 1923 Evelyn Preer (publicity photo)