Philadelphia's 'Negro Unit' of the Federal Theatre Project: A Conversation

Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia

An interview/conversation with Jonathan Shandell, the author of a January 2022 article in the journal Theater History Studies entitled "Caricatured, Marginalized, Betrayed". The article examines the history of the Philadelphia "Negro Unit" of the Federal Theatre Project in the 1930s - specifically the history of three plays produced by the FTP at the Walnut Street Theatre.
You can read more about Jonathan on his website: https://jonathan.shandell.us/home
Also in the conversation in Jerrell Henderson, a theater director, puppeteer and teacher currently living in Chicago. A native Philadelphian, he has devoted much time to studying and writing about musical theater, especially Black musical theater. He is the curator and creator of black_theatre-vinyl_archive on Instagram. https://www.jerrell-henderson.com/
For a blog post on our website, with images from the productions we discuss in the episode:
https://www.aithpodcast.com/blog/jericho-one-third-of-a-nation-and-prelude-to-swing/
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© Podcast text copyright, Peter Schmitz. All rights reserved.

℗ All voice recordings copyright Peter Schmitz.

℗ All original music and compositions within the episodes copyright Christopher Mark Colucci. Used by permission.