Courted Into Court is an 1896 play by John J. McNally. It was produced by Charles T. Rich and William Harris for a 140 performance run at the Bijou Theatre on Broadway starting on December 29, 1896.The Best Plays of 1894-99, p. 189 (1955)(30 December 1896). Mary Irwin in a New Farcical Vaudeville Play, The Sun
Prior to its Broadway debut, it played first on any stage in Omaha, Nebraska, on December 4, 1896,(30 November 1896). Amusements, Omaha Daily BeeAmusements, Omaha Daily Bee(6 December 1896). Amusements, Omaha Daily Bee (review of play) and then moved to Kansas City.(12 December 1896). Music and the Drama, Kansas City Daily Journal and Chicago.(30 December 1896). Notes of the Stage, Indianapolis Journal
Star May Irwin sang and helped popularize (the now notorious example) coon song "All Coons Look Alike to Me" by Ernest Hogan in the play, which had an all-white cast.Lee, Mauren D. Sissieretta Jones: "The Greatest Singer of Her Race," 1868-1933, p. 158 (2012) She also sang the coon song, "Mr. Johnson, Turn Me Loose" in the play, a song later remembered in all of Irwin's major obituaries.Ammen, Sharon. May Irwin: Singing, Shouting, and the Shadow of Minstrelsy, p. 100 (2017)
Cast May Irwin at Dottie Dimple John C. Rice as Worthington Best, Sr. Raymond Hitchcock as Worthington Best, Jr. Clara Palmer as Mrs. Worthington Best, Sr. Hattie Williams as Helen Best Ada Lewis as Mademoiselle Nocodi George W. Barnum as Gen. Baron Vladimir Vladistoff Joseph M. Sparks as Judge Jeremiah Geoghan Jacques Kruger as Pop Dooley Sally Cohen as Sylvia Rosebud Roland Carter as Mortimer Morton and Sharp Lawyer Eva Gilroy as Gertie(6 February 1897). "Courted Into Court", The Illustrated American, p. 204
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