Request Checked Items
University of Texas at Austin

The Black Crook:

A Preliminary Inventory of the Collection at the Harry Ransom Center

Creator: Harry Ransom Center
Title: The Black Crook Collection
Dates: 1853-1929, undated
Extent: 1 document box, 1 oversize box (osb), 1 framed item (2.5 linear feet)
Abstract: From its first performance on September 12, 1866, at Niblo’s Theatre in New York, The Black Crook drew in audiences to become one of the first successful musical spectacles in the United States.
Call Number: Performing Arts Collection PA-00113
Language: English
Access: Open for research
 Loading...

Acquisition: Gift, 1956
Processed by: Erin Lawrimore, 2001; Chelsea Weathers, 2013; Grace Hansen, 2016
Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin


From its first performance on September 12, 1866, at Niblo’s Theatre in New York, The Black Crook drew in audiences to become one of the first successful musical spectacles in the United States. The script from a Faustian melodrama, several songs by assorted composers, and the services of a stranded Parisian ballet troupe were combined with elaborate sets and costumes to create a spectacle that spawned 15 subsequent Broadway revivals and numerous touring productions.
The Black Crook's scandalously dressed dancers, who were the first to perform the Can-Can on an American stage, delighted and shocked audiences. After attending a performance of The Black Crook in New York, Mark Twain, in a March 3, 1868 column in Alta, California, wrote that the musical "debauched many a pure mind."
The Black Crook Collection contains books, a photocopy of an original promptbook from the Harvard Theatre Collection, sheet music, playbills, programs, clippings, drawings, and photographs related to performances of the musical.

The Museum of the City of New York also holds a collection of material relating to The Black Crook.
  • The Black Crook: A Most Wonderful History. Philadelphia, 1882 Container 1.1
  • The Black Crook: A Most Wonderful History. Philadelphia, 1866 Container 1.2
  • The Naked Truth: An Inside History of the Black Crook. Joseph Whitton, Philadelphia, 1897 Container 1.3
  • Photocopy of The Black Crook in Four Acts. Charles M. Barras, 1866 Container 1.4
    Request entire Container 1
  • Amazon’s March, 1872 Container 1.5
  • Black Crook Waltzes, leaf, 1867 Container 1.6
  • Black Crook Waltzes, 1867 Container 1.7
  • Les Crelots d’Amour, leaf, 1872 Container 1.8
  • March of the Amazons, 1867 Container 1.9
  • Pas de Demons, 1867 Container 1.10
  • Quadrille, leaf, undated Container 1.11
  • Transformation Polka, leaf, 2 copies, 1867 Container 1.12
  • You Naughty, Naughty Men, 1866 Container 1.13
    Request entire Container 1
  • Photograph of playbill, Niblo’s Garden, 1866 Container 1.14
  • Theater programs, Niblo’s Garden, 1867 Container 1.15
  • Theater programs, Niblo’s Garden, 1870 Container 1.16
  • Theater programs, Niblo’s Garden, 1871 Container 1.18
  • Theater program, Niblo’s Garden, 1873 Container 1.17
  • Theater program, Niblo’s Garden, 1887 Container 1.19
  • Theater programs, Academy of Music, 1893 Container 1.20
  • Theater program, Grand Opera House, 1896 Container 1.21
  • Theater program, Lyric Theatre, Hoboken, 1929 Container 1.22
  • Theater programs, The Temple, Portsmouth, Boston Theatre, Niblo’s Garden, Gayety Theatre, and unidentified theater, undated Container 1.23
  • Clippings, 1867-1929 Container 1.24
    Request entire Container 1
  • Bonfanti receiving bouquets at the first performance of The Black Crook at Niblo’s Garden, undated Container 1.25
  • The Black Crook chorus, undated Container 1.26
  • Entrance to Niblo’s Garden, 1853 Container 1.27
  • Print and photographic reproduction, Gauzy Nymphs, undated Container 1.28-29
  • Interior view of Niblo’s Garden, 1853 Container 1.30
  • The Landing of Stalacta, Niblo’s Garden, undated Container 1.31
    Request entire Container 1
  • The Macgiltons, Niblo’s Garden, undated Container 2.1
  • Mdlle. Bonfanti, undated Container 2.2
  • The Black Crook dancers, undated Container 2.3
    Request entire Container 2
  • Cox, Hazel, as Stalacta, 1929 Container 1.32
  • Dancing master, undated Container 1.33
  • Gordon, W. in production of The Dowager, undated Container 1.34
  • Howitt, Belle, as Stalacta, print and photograph, undated Container 1.35
  • Kemp, Anna, as Stalacta, undated Container 1.36
  • Lee, Jennie, undated Container 1.37
  • Majilton, Marie, undated Container 1.38
  • Markham, Pauline, 1881, undated Container 1.39
  • Palmer, Harry, undated Container 1.40
  • Sangalli, Rita, undated Container 1.41
  • Santley, Kate, undated Container 1.42
  • Siegrist, Sadie, undated Container 1.43
  • Whitlock, Miss, undated Container 1.44
  • Willmore, Lizzie, as Carline, undated Container 1.45
  • Unidentified dancers, undated Container 1.46
    Request entire Container 1
  • "The Black Crook / September 16, 1866 / Niblo’s Gardens [sic] / New York", composite item consisting of 6 portrait photographs matted together: Hattie Grinnell, Jennie Lee, Pauline Markham, Sadie Segrist, one unidentified member of the chorus, and two unidentified members of the chorus (33 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches) Container framed item 1
    Request entire Container framed item 1