Abbie Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Abriea "Abbie" Mitchell also billed as Abbey Mitchell, was an American
soprano
opera singer who sang the role of "Clara" in the premier production of George Gershwin
's Porgy and Bess
in 1935.
Mitchell was the daughter of an African-American mother and a Jewish-German
father from New York City's Lower East Side
. She was reared by a maternal aunt, Alice Payne, in Baltimore, Maryland, where she attended a convent school.
After finishing her school education in Baltimore, she started studying voice in New York in 1897. The next year composer Will Marion Cook
and lyricist Paul L. Dunbar cast her in their musical comedy Clorindy; or, the Origin of the Cakewalk. It was so successful that it ran for the whole season at the Casino Roof Garden. She married Cook a year later, and appeared in the lead role in his Jes Lak White Folks (1899). She also appeared in his production The Southerners (1904).
Cook and Mitchell had a daughter, Marion Abigail Cook, in 1900, and a son, Will Mercer Cook, in 1903. Their daughter, raised by family members as had been Mitchell herself, married dancer Louis Douglas
. Their son became a professor at Howard University
and United States Ambassador to Niger
and Senegal
.
In London she premiered the principal role in the 1903 musical In Dahomey
, produced by the team of George Walker
and Bert Williams
, with music composed by her husband Cook. The cakewalk
, considered old fashioned by the cast, was almost cut from the show, but proved popular with audiences and became a fad in the United Kingdom. Mitchell received international acclaim for her performance, and was invited to appear at a command performance for King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at Buckingham Palace
.
Mitchell later performed with the Black Patti's Troubadours
, and in the operetta The Red Moon (1908) by Bob Cole
and J. Rosamond Johnson
. In 1919, Mitchell went to Europe with Cook's Southern Syncopated Orchestra. In New York, she appeared on the concert stage and in opera.
Mitchell's 1935 appearance in Porgy and Bess was her last musical role on the stage, after which "she taught and coached many singers in New York and appeared in many 'spoken' dramatic roles on the stage." She performed in New York
and taught at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama
.
Lee De Forest
made a short film Songs of Yesteryear (1922) of Mitchell singing, using his DeForest Phonofilm
sound-on-film
process. This film is preserved in the Maurice Zouary film collection at the Library of Congress
.
Mitchell died in New York on 16 March 1960.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
opera singer who sang the role of "Clara" in the premier production of George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
in 1935.
Mitchell was the daughter of an African-American mother and a Jewish-German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
father from New York City's Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
. She was reared by a maternal aunt, Alice Payne, in Baltimore, Maryland, where she attended a convent school.
After finishing her school education in Baltimore, she started studying voice in New York in 1897. The next year composer Will Marion Cook
Will Marion Cook
William Mercer Cook , better known as Will Marion Cook, was an African American composer and violinist from the United States. Cook was a student of Antonín Dvořák and performed for King George V among others...
and lyricist Paul L. Dunbar cast her in their musical comedy Clorindy; or, the Origin of the Cakewalk. It was so successful that it ran for the whole season at the Casino Roof Garden. She married Cook a year later, and appeared in the lead role in his Jes Lak White Folks (1899). She also appeared in his production The Southerners (1904).
Cook and Mitchell had a daughter, Marion Abigail Cook, in 1900, and a son, Will Mercer Cook, in 1903. Their daughter, raised by family members as had been Mitchell herself, married dancer Louis Douglas
Louis Douglas
Louis Winston Douglas, sometimes misspelled Douglass was an American dancer, choreographer, and music businessman....
. Their son became a professor at Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
and United States Ambassador to Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
and Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
.
In London she premiered the principal role in the 1903 musical In Dahomey
In Dahomey
In Dahomey was a landmark American musical comedy, in that it was "the first full-length musical written and played by blacks to be performed at a major Broadway house." It featured music by Will Marion Cook, book by Jesse A. Shipp, and lyrics by Paul Laurence Dunbar...
, produced by the team of George Walker
George Walker (vaudeville)
George Walker was an African American vaudevillian. In 1893, in San Francisco, Walker met Bert Williams, who became his performing partner. Walker and Williams appeared in The Gold Bug , Clorindy , The Policy Player , Sons of Ham , In Dahomey , Abyssinia , and Bandanna Land...
and Bert Williams
Bert Williams
Egbert Austin "Bert" Williams was one of the preeminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He was by far the best-selling black recording artist before 1920...
, with music composed by her husband Cook. The cakewalk
Cakewalk
The Cakewalk dance was developed from a "Prize Walk" done in the days of slavery, generally at get-togethers on plantations in the Southern United States. Alternative names for the original form of the dance were "chalkline-walk", and the "walk-around"...
, considered old fashioned by the cast, was almost cut from the show, but proved popular with audiences and became a fad in the United Kingdom. Mitchell received international acclaim for her performance, and was invited to appear at a command performance for King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
.
Mitchell later performed with the Black Patti's Troubadours
Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones
Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones, known as Sissieretta Jones, was an African-American soprano. She sometimes was called "The Black Patti" in reference to Italian opera singer Adelina Patti...
, and in the operetta The Red Moon (1908) by Bob Cole
Bob Cole (composer)
Robert Allen "Bob" Cole was an American composer, actor, playwright, and stage producer and director.In collaboration with Billy Johnson, he wrote and produced A Trip to Coontown , the first musical entirely created and owned by black showmen. The popular song La Hoola Boola was also a result of...
and J. Rosamond Johnson
J. Rosamond Johnson
John Rosamond Johnson , most often referred to as J. Rosamond Johnson, was an American composer and singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Johnson is most notable as the composer of Lift Every Voice and Sing which has come to be known in the United States as the "Black National Anthem"...
. In 1919, Mitchell went to Europe with Cook's Southern Syncopated Orchestra. In New York, she appeared on the concert stage and in opera.
Mitchell's 1935 appearance in Porgy and Bess was her last musical role on the stage, after which "she taught and coached many singers in New York and appeared in many 'spoken' dramatic roles on the stage." She performed in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and taught at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
Lee De Forest
Lee De Forest
Lee De Forest was an American inventor with over 180 patents to his credit. De Forest invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that takes relatively weak electrical signals and amplifies them. De Forest is one of the fathers of the "electronic age", as the Audion helped to usher in the widespread use...
made a short film Songs of Yesteryear (1922) of Mitchell singing, using his DeForest Phonofilm
Phonofilm
In 1919, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patent on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofilm, which recorded sound directly onto film as parallel lines. These parallel lines photographically recorded electrical waveforms from a microphone, which were translated back...
sound-on-film
Sound-on-film
Sound-on-film refers to a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying picture is physically recorded onto photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog sound track or digital sound track,...
process. This film is preserved in the Maurice Zouary film collection at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.
Mitchell died in New York on 16 March 1960.