Tales for taphophiles of permanent residents of Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia and West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cywnyd, Pennsylvania. Often educational, always entertaining.
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Tales for taphophiles of permanent residents of Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia and West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cywnyd, Pennsylvania. Often educational, always entertaining.
Frank Dumont: "Gentlemen Be Seated" - Standardizing Minstrelsy
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories
35 minutes
2 weeks ago
Frank Dumont: "Gentlemen Be Seated" - Standardizing Minstrelsy
Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #051, part 3
Born in 1848 in New York to French immigrant parents, Frank Dumont became a seminal figure in minstrel culture. He began to perform as a boy and joined Christy’s Minstrels by 1862, a troupe that set the enduring standard format for minstrel shows: a semicircle stage arrangement with an interlocutor (emcee) in the center and end men characters Mr. Tambo and Mr. Bones at the sides. The interlocutor opened the show with the phrase, “Gentlemen, be seated,” which became iconic. Dumont later joined other minstrel troupes and eventually settled in Philadelphia around 1880, where he introduced popular songs such as “Silver Threads Among the Gold” and “When You and I Were Young, Maggie,” both significant sentimental ballads of the era. He "died with his boots on," as it were as he sat in the box office for a St. Patrick's Day matinee.
All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories
Tales for taphophiles of permanent residents of Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia and West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cywnyd, Pennsylvania. Often educational, always entertaining.
