The Desert Song - Publicity Photographs, 1955
Title
The Desert Song - Publicity Photographs, 1955
Date
14 March 1955
Description
Publicity photographs for Nottingham Operatic Society production of The Desert Song.
What's the story?
This item contain images of white performers in blackface. Blackface minstrelsy is a popular entertainment form, originating in the United States in the mid-19th century and continuing in American life and overseas, including the UK, through the 20th century. The form is based around stereotypical and racist portrayals of African Americans, including mocking dialect, parodic lyrics, and the application of Black face paint; all designed to portray African Americans as othered subjects of humour and disrespect. Blackface was a dominant form for theatrical and musical performances for decades, both on stage and in private homes.
The Our Theatre Royal digital archive includes Blackface materials for the benefit of scholars seeking to better understand the role racial performance has had in shaping Western culture. Text courtesy of Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in HTC Collections — Dorothy Judith Berry (dorothy-berry.com)
First performed in 1926, The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, with a romantic story inspired by true events, including those of Lawrence of Arabia, set in the Moroccan desert.
These publicity photographs for Nottingham Operatic Society production of The Desert Song show leading actors Kathleen Beales (Davis) in the role of Margot and Louis Davis as Ali Ben Ali. Kathleen and Louis met whilst performing with Nottingham Operatics and were later married.
As was common for some theatre shows at this time, Louis was “blacked up” for the role of Ali Ben Ali, a process of applying make-up to imitate a black person. Often associated with ‘minstrel’ shows, even Laurence Olivier adopted this approach when playing the title role of Othello at the National Theatre in 1964.
This is a convention that has long since disappeared from the theatre stage and would now be interpreted as extremely offensive.
These photographs form part of a collection of Theatre Royal material that belonged to Kathleen Davis (nee Beales), 1922 to 2014.
During World War Two, Kathleen worked for a company, whose work included developing pictures taken of productions at the Theatre Royal. This sparked an interest in the Theatre Royal and performing in general.
She took singing lessons and joined the Nora Morrison School of Dance, which led her to becoming a member of Nottingham Operatic Society, who regularly performed at the Theatre Royal.
Kathleen became a leading light of the society, which led to offers to sing and perform in London and the possibility of a professional career. However, Kathleen, now having met her husband Louis through NOS, chose to remain in Nottingham.
Kathleen continued to sing locally, performing with other groups at Nottingham’s Co-Op theatre and in Beeston. In the mid-1970s, Kathleen was performing around the Midlands area enjoying singing in working men’s clubs.
We would like to thank Kathleen’s son, Glyn Davis, for loaning and donating the programmes, scrapbooks, photographs and other ephemera from his mother’s collection to the Theatre Royal archive.
We are also grateful to him for sharing some of his own Theatre Royal memories of standing in the wings as a little boy and watching his Mum perform on our stage.
The Our Theatre Royal digital archive includes Blackface materials for the benefit of scholars seeking to better understand the role racial performance has had in shaping Western culture. Text courtesy of Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in HTC Collections — Dorothy Judith Berry (dorothy-berry.com)
First performed in 1926, The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, with a romantic story inspired by true events, including those of Lawrence of Arabia, set in the Moroccan desert.
These publicity photographs for Nottingham Operatic Society production of The Desert Song show leading actors Kathleen Beales (Davis) in the role of Margot and Louis Davis as Ali Ben Ali. Kathleen and Louis met whilst performing with Nottingham Operatics and were later married.
As was common for some theatre shows at this time, Louis was “blacked up” for the role of Ali Ben Ali, a process of applying make-up to imitate a black person. Often associated with ‘minstrel’ shows, even Laurence Olivier adopted this approach when playing the title role of Othello at the National Theatre in 1964.
This is a convention that has long since disappeared from the theatre stage and would now be interpreted as extremely offensive.
These photographs form part of a collection of Theatre Royal material that belonged to Kathleen Davis (nee Beales), 1922 to 2014.
During World War Two, Kathleen worked for a company, whose work included developing pictures taken of productions at the Theatre Royal. This sparked an interest in the Theatre Royal and performing in general.
She took singing lessons and joined the Nora Morrison School of Dance, which led her to becoming a member of Nottingham Operatic Society, who regularly performed at the Theatre Royal.
Kathleen became a leading light of the society, which led to offers to sing and perform in London and the possibility of a professional career. However, Kathleen, now having met her husband Louis through NOS, chose to remain in Nottingham.
Kathleen continued to sing locally, performing with other groups at Nottingham’s Co-Op theatre and in Beeston. In the mid-1970s, Kathleen was performing around the Midlands area enjoying singing in working men’s clubs.
We would like to thank Kathleen’s son, Glyn Davis, for loaning and donating the programmes, scrapbooks, photographs and other ephemera from his mother’s collection to the Theatre Royal archive.
We are also grateful to him for sharing some of his own Theatre Royal memories of standing in the wings as a little boy and watching his Mum perform on our stage.
Type
Photographs
Location of item
Private Collection - Glyn Davis / Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Private Collection - Glyn Davis / Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researcher: David Longford
