The new age., 1906-11-10
ONLY AFRo-AMERICAN THEATRE
IN THE WORLD.
New Pekin Owned BY Robert T. Motts
of Chicago.

American, october ID
Tomorrow night Chicago will have
the only endowed theater in the United
States, but for more than a year it
has had another distinction in the
theatrical world equally unique if not
quite so interesting The only theater
in the country-probably the only reg
ular playhouse in the world-owned,
managed and conducted by colored
people, presenting with stock COM
pany of colored artists, original musi-
cal comedies, farces and plays written
and composed by colored men, is in
this city.
! There may be a score of concert
halls and stages in the back rooms Of
saloons conducted by colored men in
various parts of the country-they do
not count. This Chicago theater-the
New Pekin-is a complete and respect
able theater, with an executive staff
Of eighteen, including everything from
manager to house physician-the lat
ter being an innovation that more pre-
tentions amusement places have not
yet introduced. While the majority of
it's patrons are colored people-it is
located in the heart of that section of
the city where the colored population
predominates-there is seldom a per-
formance that is not witnessed by a
score or more of white people-men
and women who come in automobiles
sit in boxes and applaud the light
hearted singers and dancers.
| Robert T. Motts is responsible for
the establishment and maintenance OF
the only colored peoples theater in the
United States. 1t was his idea and it
was his money that went into the en-
terprise. Now the money has begun
flowing back to him in such steady
stream that he long ago ceased to
worry. Bob" Motifs, as he is known
in South State street, has long been
leader among the colored people in
that part of Chicago. Although he is
a saloon keeper, he has clean rec
ord and has won his way to popular
ity among his race by his care of their
interests in various ways
If Motifs could collect all at once
the halves" and ''bones" and SIS bills
bills that he has passed over his bar
to the needy or slipped through his
side door to colored women whose
little broods of pickaninnies were
/ hungry, he could build a handsome ad-
dition to his theater
! When the craze for "ragtime"
brought to the professional stage
scores of colored singers and dancers
who toured the country year after year
and made wads of money for their
managers, Motifs began to think. He
knew how much talent was latent in
his people, and he was assured that
the Chicago colony held just as much
of it in proportion as the country at
large. He knew by experience that
it was no trick at all to organize a
company of comedians, singers and
dancers and several promising musical
composers had begun to come to the
front among the colored population.
The vogue of ragtime songs gave
them, uragement-they found pub
| fishers eager to purchase and put out
good melodies and ditties and from a
deep consideration of all these facts
Motifs came to conclusion,
A colored peoples theater, manned
on both sides of the footlights by men
and women of his race presenting
the product of colored composers and
librettists!
The idea was novel, but it was good.
How sound it was events have proved.
The start was made in small way in
the hall connected with Motifs place
at Twenty-second and State streets
and "The Pekin" did not attract much
attention outside of it's immediate To-
cality. The performers-singers, dan
GERS and vaudeville actors-were good,
and the coloTed people patronized the
shows. 1t was a more pretentiOuS es-
: tablishment than the average "con-
: cert halI' conducted under similar
conditions and it began to grow in
popularity.
Then Mott grew ambitious. He re-
modelled the place, constructing lit
tie bijou theater, complete in all its
, details. with a balcony, boxes, fire
. exits, red axes and all the other at
tributes Of a regular playhouse. He
organized a stock company Of co1ored
performers, installed a colored orches-
: ira and boldly essayed the production
of an original musical comedy written
and composed by colored men "The
Man from Bam."
He advertised the theater in the
: amusement columns of the newspapers
! ! the only theater in America playing
/. colored artists exclusively"-and peo-
pie began to take notice.
The very first production was sue.
=
= weeded out a little Motifs found he
: had a good stock organization and SO
: did the public. Show followed show
all of them written by colored men
: until now the theater is an establish
! ed success and turns 'em away two
or three nights every week.
: 1t has become quite a fad among
! antomobilists and others ON the South
a Side to run in half an hour or so and
|, watch the shows-which are uniform
4 ly good. Twenty Minutes from State
). Street." musical farce presented last
r week, was written by ]. Ed. Green
|, who rejoices in the title Of Director
q of Amusement" in the executive staff
! and the music Of most of the numbers
!. was by Joe Jordan, director Of the
o orchestra. Between them they got ur
4 most of the little three-act musical
v skits the company essays, and their
o work is well up to the average. Zone
Round of Pleasure" is announced fo1