Charles Hicks
Charles Barney Hicks (? – 1902) was an American
Career
Hicks's first major accomplishment was the key role he played in 1865 to form Brooker and Clayton's Georgia Minstrels. He served as the manager and probably performed with them during a tour through the Northeastern United States in 1865-6. Hicks and company became the first black minstrel troupe to have a successful season.
Hicks left Brooker and Clayton's in 1866 to try his hand at owning and managing a company of his own, becoming the first black man to do both simultaneously. Over the next four years, Hicks started and disbanded a number of unsuccessful groups. He played up his black minstrels' connection to legitimate black culture with names like the Slave Troupe or the Georgia Slave Brothers, and evidence suggests that Hicks's companies did draw significant numbers of black viewers. In early 1869, a
Hicks left mid-tour to star with Sam Hague's Slave Troupe of Georgia Minstrels. He also became a correspondent for the New York entertainment journal, The Clipper, a position he used to tout his accomplishments abroad. Upon their return to the United States in 1872, the troupe was bought by Charles Callender, and Hicks stayed on until 1873 as business manager. He next managed two more ill-fated troupes, Charles Hick's [sic] African Minstrels and Charles Hick's [sic] Georgia Minstrels. His next job was as manager of Sprague and Blodgett's Georgia Minstrels in 1876.
In 1877, Hicks lured a company away from promoter J. H. Haverly and Tom Maguire and called them Hick's [sic] Georgia Minstrels. Within a few months, Hicks led them to a tour in Australia. They played there for three years, during which Hicks wrote again for The Clipper. Hicks also perfected his flair for promotion in Australia. Ads raved, "PIRATES BEWARE! WE ARE STILL ON THE WAR PATH" and "THE HEROES OF MONTREAL, SARATOGA, CHICAGO, SAN FRANCISCO AND NOW AUSTRALIA STILL LIVE!"[4] He advertised his return to U.S. soil in July 1880 with an ad that read, "MISSING MAN TURNS UP HOME AGAIN."[5] Over the next few years, he managed and performed with a number of troupes owned by others.
In late 1881 or early 1882, Hicks persuaded Callender's current black troupe to join him in western
In 1885, Hicks managed
Notes
- ^ Simond (1892). Old Slack's Reminiscence, and Pocket History of the Colored Profession from 1865 to 1891. Chicago. Quoted in Toll, 212.
- ^ Leavitt, M. B. (1912). Fifty Years of Theatrical Management, p. 273. Quoted in Toll, 214.
- ^ Quoted in Watkins 125.
- ^ Advertisements quoted in Toll, 213.
- ^ Advertisement quoted in Toll, 214.
References
- Toll, Robert C. (1974). Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth-century America. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Watkins, Mel (1994). On the Real Side: Laughing, Lying, and Signifying—The Underground Tradition of African-American Humor that Transformed American Culture, from Slavery to Richard Pryor. New York: Simon & Schuster.