The Morton Theatre

The most visible enterprise located in the Morton Building was the Morton Theatre, which opened on the evening of May 18, 1910, with a classical piano concert by Alice Carter Simmons of the Oberlin, Ohio Conservatory, attended by both black and white patrons.

Very few copies of local black newspapers of the period makes it difficult to document with any continuity the performances which took place in the Morton. An occasional article or ad in the white press provides sporadic and fragmental information about particular performance.

There is inconclusive evidence that such greats as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Jimmy Lunceford and Bessie Smith performed in the Morton. The evidence is primarily in the form of ticket stubs found in the theatre, but since they show only the event, and not the date and location, they may be misleading.

Time has faded the memory of many who could recall events which took place in the Morton. Possible social stigma attached to the type of activity will not allow others to relate zany vaudeville performances.

Documented performances in the Morton include: New York Follies,1914, and the `annual' appearance of The Black Patti Musical Comedy Company on November 2,1914.

Also appearing at the Morton in November, 1914, were Shark's Smart Set Company and Tolliver's Smart Set Company, "with a thirty all-star cast-carrying the best lines of singers, dancers and novelty acts of any company on the road."

A handbill from 1927 advertising the Butterbeans and Susie Review featuring Roscoe Mackey's Rhythm Band and 12 Dancing Creole Dolls indicates that the act was "direct from the Cotton Club." A headline act for forty years, Georgia-born Jodie Edwards and his wife Susie were perhaps the most popular husband and wife act in the business and toured for many years on the TOBA circuit. ln all probability, many of the acts which appeared in the Morton would have been booked through the Theatre Owners Booking Agency (TOBA), although this has not been documented. Local and regional blues performers such as Blind Willie McTell, Curley Weaver and Roy Dunn are known to have performed in the Morton Theatre -- the list is far from complete; it may never be complete.

The history of the Morton Theatre is the history of many obscure, unassuming men and women who performed there as well as the history of those whose names became household words. Of many of the performers, nothing remains as evidence of their skill and their talent except a faded photograph or a few brief minutes of a scratchy phonograph recording made fifty years ago.

The most vivid documentation of performers who visited the Morton is found in the graffiti scrawled on backstage dressing room walls. In chalk, Bob White's Dark Town Swells recorded their appearance in the Morton, April 1 I-29, 1919; in paint, Charles "Fats" Hayden left a lasting record of his 1923 appearance. Joe Johnson's Brown Babies apparently got an extension of their engagement in June, 1931 - - their appearance recorded in pencil on the back of a dressing room door with "3 nights" scratched through and changed to "6 nights." M. B. Morton, Jr. recorded his position as "switchboard operator" in now-faded paint on a backstage wall. Other undated names found painted on backstage walls include: Rags Honey Troupe, Nora B. Johnson, and Eva Reese as well as a very graphic statement concerning smoking regulations.