Theatre: New Plays in Manhattan: May 18, 1931

Rhapsody in Black. Producer Lew Leslie, who used to put on an annual Blackbirds review with colored chorus girls, funnymen and blackouts, has evidently become very serious about the Negro's part in the art of the theatre. Rhapsody in Black spurns the traditional habiliments of a blackamoor review, presents instead "a symphony in blue notes and black rhythm." That is to say, the show is not very amusing. It is not boring either.

All of the divertissement's activity takes place before a severe black velvet drop. A good band (Pike Davis' Continental Orchestra) is...

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