Although musicals featuring Black entertainers had been around for a while, In Dahomey was the first to reach a major Broadway theater in 1903. New Federal Theatre commemorates this milestone with a charming production at the cozy Harry de Jur Playhouse. The animated cast is headed by opera diva Shirley Verrett. Will Marion Cook's very listenable original score utilizes the then-popular ragtime melodies with syncopated accompaniment; but apart from the music, this is a substantially updated version.

Director Shauneille Perry has almost completely rewritten the book to conform to today's politically correct standards, replacing the original racial jokes with feminist ones and substantially streamlining the plot. What would have been a large improvised component for the dialogue is also gone. Choreographer Chiquita Ross Glover has added an athletic component to the featured dance made famous in Black musicals, the Cakewalk . Taken on its own terms, the production is entertaining and certainly worth a visit for anyone interested in earlier musicals. A plus for purists is that the soloists sing without amplification.

Perry's plot has Dahomian Prince Akanji (Kim Sullivan) wandering into the Gatorville, Florida, post office lobby where a rehearsal for a musical to benefit the African Preservation Society is in full swing. He is searching for two famous detectives that can accompany him to Africa to get the royal necklace back from his conniving cousin Mutu. Settling for Rareback Pinkerton (Keith Lee Grant) and Shylock Homestead (Brian Chandler), Akanji brings them to just outside his village in Dahomey.

Scared out of their wits, the detective duo is soon found by natives Mandisa (Trina Parks) and her daughter Aduke (Tanya Alexander) along with Henri (Charles Reese), who promptly bring in King Menuki (Cedric D. Cannon) and Queen Ayat (Shirley Verrett). Rareback and Shylock are stupefied at the uncanny resemblance between these people and their friends back in America (naturally played by the same performers). Rareback has no trouble chumming up to Princess Assadou (LaTrice Verrett), a double ringer for Rosetta Lightfoot back home-not that he would want to steal his partner's sweetheart! After some tricky maneuvers, crafty Mutu (again Kim Sullivan) will now have to share Dahomey's throne with Akanji when that time comes. Not a moment too soon, Assadou warns the detectives to clear out.

Back home in Florida they show off their costly reward from the Prince. Shylock is now rich enough to marry Rosetta (again LaTrice Verrett) with the blessing of her parents Hamilton and Cecelia Lightfoot (Cedric D. Cannon and Shirley Verrett). The cast join together for one last Cakewalk.

Apart from the royal couple, Shirley Verrett and Cedric D. Cannon, most in the cast are dancer-singers who put on a good presentation despite less-developed acting skills. Trina Parks shows off a nifty exotic dance for the two American visitors in Act II. That is also when Charles Reese (Henri) and Lucio Fernandez (Singh) come into their own.

The hit song "My Dahomey Queen" is lovingly sung by Menuki to Shirley Verrett's "Ayat." She in turn dignifies no fewer than four feature numbers with burnished tones. Act I "Cecelia's Lament" is particularly moving. As the post office manager, Jim Jacobson is a likeable Irish ham. Playing the Lightfoots' daughter Rosetta and Princess Assadou, LaTrice Verrett tries a bit too hard to be noticed. She is evidently more comfortable as a Gospel belter than in the more restrained turn-of-century singing style. Chiquita Ross Glover's balletic steps in Act I make her look awkward, undoing the effect of Evelyn Nelson's attractive costuming. Robert Joel Schwartz's set works well enough, but Shirley Pendergast's lighting leaves much to be desired.

While it is understandable that Shauneille Perry would want to eliminate dated references to Blacks that we find offensive today, the fact that he rewrote the entire book betrays his lack of trust in the 1903 original. Even in this version, the story line makes the most sense as a farce, but Perry tries effortfully to turn it into a believable plot. His direction of the Act II repartee between detectives Shylock and Rareback lacked punch. Luckily seasoned performers Cannon and Shirley Verrett save the day by lending class to the production.

It should be said that the new text harmonizes well with the song lyrics. Chiquita Ross Glover's take on the Cakewalk does not appear to fit the description of this popular ballroom dance done in a square. At other moments, she slips in jazz and other contemporary styles, taking away period feel. Douglas Kostner phrases the toe-tapping overture with exceptional sensitivity on the piano; he carefully underscores the singers as conductor of the offstage ensemble, whose sound is piped in to the auditorium.

A near-capacity audience enthusiastically greeted the cast at the end of the show.

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© Elyse Sommer, June 1999