| Collection | Max Tyler Music Hall Collection |
| Description | A collection of programmes from the Black and White Minstrel Show. Includes:
- The Black & White Minstrel Show, souvenir brochure, Futurist theatre, Scarborough (undated)
- The Black and White Minstrel Show, Summer Season programme, The Congress Theatre, Eastbourne (1971)
- Two programmes from The Black and White Minstrel Show, Souvenir Brochure, Victoria Palace, London (undated) |
| Admin history | The Black and White Minstrel show was a British entertainment show that ran for twenty years on the BBC, from 1958-1978, produced by George Inns with George Mitchell. Entertainers performed traditional American minstrel and country songs. Male minstrels wore blackface, whilst female dancers and supporting performers did not. The show was broadcast in black and white initially, with the first show in colour being broadcast in 1967.
From 1962 it was also a successful stage show, with performances at the Victoria Palace Theatre London running from 1962-1972, and at seaside resorts across the UK. The show was also toured in Australia and New Zealand. The stage show was produced by Robert Luff and was very popular, winning awards and producing published recordings that reached number 1 in the UK album charts.
The shows portrayal of stereotypical Black and African-American characters was offensive and racist. In 1967 the 'Campaign Against Racial Discrimination' sent a petition to the BBC calling for the television show to be cancelled. The BBC produced alternate versions of the show, including 1968's short-lived 'Masquerade', in which the main singers appeared without make-up and Black singers wore whiteface. However, despite continuing accusations and complaints of racism, the BBC show continued unitl 1978 when it was eventually cancelled. The stage show continued touring until 1989 when a final tour was held at Butlins resorts in the UK.
In 2023 the BBC broadcast a documentary 'David Harewood on Blackface' that explored the impact that blackface minstrelsy, and specifically the BBC’s Black and White Minstrel Show, had on pervading stereotypes and anti-Black racism in the UK. |