Anita Bush

Anita Bush (September 1, 1883 – February 16, 1974) was an African American stage actress and playwright. She founded the Anita Bush All-Colored Dramatic Stock Company in 1915, a pioneering black repertory theatre company that helped launch the careers of Charles Gilpin, Dooley Wilson, Evelyn Preer and others.[1]

Anita Bush
Poster for The Crimson Skull (1921) with Lawrence Chenault and Anita Bush
Born(1883-09-01)September 1, 1883
Washington, DC, United States
DiedFebruary 16, 1974(1974-02-16) (aged 90)
Bronx, NY, United States
OccupationTheatre producer, Dancer, Actor
Years active1899–?

Biography

Anita Bush was born on September 1, 1883, in Washington, DC. When she was three years old, she was brought to Brooklyn, New York, by her father, master tailor Chapman Bush, “a theatrical costumer whose clients included many New York actors and performers”.[2] She grew up spending many hours working alongside her father, and delivered costumes to the theaters. She was exposed to legitimate shows in theaters where blacks were not allowed, and to many white theater actors and actresses. While working with her father, she also she acted alongside her sister in Antony and Cleopatra, which inspired her to pursue a career in the theater.

While working with her father at the Bijou Theater, she saw the company of Bert Williams and George Walker performing In Dahomey. It was during this time that she asked her father for permission to audition for the group, in hopes to gain a career in acting. At the age of 17, she was cast with the company and it allowed her to tour the world and pave a way for her to form her own companies. With the Bijou Theater Company, she “traveled to England with the musical and later performed in the Chorus of four other Williams and Walker shows”.[3]

After performing in her final play titled, Mr. Lode of Koal with the troop, she went on to form her own dance group. The dance group was called the “Anita Bush and her 8 Shimmy Babies”.[2] Unfortunately, at the break of her career she had to stop dancing due to a back injury, which then inspired her to pursue a full-time career in theater drama.[3]

Career

In the early part of the 20th century, Bush worked extensively as a dancer in musical theatre and vaudeville performing with the likes of Williams and Walker Co..[1] While working with Maria C. Downs she put on vaudeville acts and plays. With a signed contract with Elmore, Bush went to Billie Burke, a Harlem-based white director/playwright to stage his play, The Girl at the Fort, a light comedy with five characters. Bush then assembled the cast which included Carlotta Freeman, Dooley Wilson and Andrew Bishop. The play opened at the Lincoln Theatre in November 1915.[4] For the next six weeks, Bush's company presented a different play every two weeks to much success. The Anita Bush Stock Company presented a one-act play titled The Girl at the Fort.

The success of Maria C. Downs and Bush's team allowed them to generate more revenue and popularity. At this point, Maria C. Downs asked Bush to change the name of her company from the Anita Bush Stock Company to the Lincoln Players. However, when Maria C. Downs, the owner of the theatre, insisted that the name of her company be changed to the Lincoln Players. Bush's response to the request was, “…[she] moved her company to the Lafayette Theater to open with a sketch entitled Over the Footlights”.[3]

Anita Bush and The Lafayette Players

The Lafayette Players Stock Company was owned by Anita Bush in the early 1900s. In 1915, she presented the idea of launching a dramatic stock company to Eugene "Frenchy" Elmore, the assistant manager of the Lincoln Theatre, an established vaudeville house in the Harlem section of New York City. Although her company had not yet been established, she convinced Elmore that she could mount a production in just two weeks.[4] In March 1916, the Lafayette Theatre purchased the rights to her company and changed the name to the Lafayette Players. Bush then organized four additional companies of the Lafayette Players which toured throughout the United States.

At the Lafayette Theatre, the Anita Bush Stock Company would mount a new play on a weekly basis. Throughout the Lafayette Players lifetime with Bush, she reached a point where she could no longer afford the group and sold her right to her “comanager”.[2] Lester Walton. Even though she no longer managed the Players, she is credited with the responsibility of their reputation. As a faithful member she remained with them until 1920.[5] During this year she left the company to pursue a career in motion pictures.[4]

In 1921, she appeared in The Bull-Dogger, the first of two Norman Film Company productions starring Bill Pickett. The following year she was featured in The Crimson Skull.

Anita Bush died in her Bronx, NY home on February 16, 1974, at the age of 90.

Works
  • In Dahomey, 1903[3]
  • Antony and Cleopatra, 1914[3]
  • Across the Footlights, 1915[5]
  • Within the Law, 1915-1916[5]
  • Madame X, 1916-1917[5]
  • Very Good Eddie, 1917-1918[5]
  • Goethe’s Faust, 1917-1918[5]
  • The Bull-Dogger, 1921
  • The Crimson Skull, 1922

References
  1. Johnson, John H., ed. (April 1973). "Black women 'star' behind scenes in New York drama". Ebony. Chicago, Illinois: Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. 28 (6): 106–107.
  2. McCann, Bob (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. pp. 60–61.
  3. Hill, Errol; Hatch, James V. (2003). "The Struggle Continues". A History of African American Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 202–203.
  4. "Anita Bush Players". Seattle, Washington: BlackPast.org. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
  5. Finkelman, Paul; Wintz, Cary D. (2004). "Lafayette Players". Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. New York: Routledge. pp. 676–677.
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