Jarrett & Palmer

In 1866, they travelled to Europe and engaged the Parisienne Ballet Troupe to perform at the Manhattan Academy of Music in a spectacular show that also incorporated elements of an English pantomime they had seen.

[2] They took over the show's production, and to make it even more spectacular replaced much of the original play with their own tableaux, "transformations" of scenery, and dances involving dozens of performers.

[5] The unprecedented show that resulted was hugely successful, running on Broadway for over 15 months and 475 performances,[5] and has been claimed as the birth of American musical theatre.

The exercise, officially called "Jarrett & Palmer's Special Fast Transcontinental Train" but widely dubbed the "Lightning Express", was well publicized.

They advertised for "100 octoroons, 100 quadroons, 100 mulattoes, and 100 decidedly black men, women, and children capable of singing slave choruses,"[10] and a script was commissioned from the actor and writer George Fawcett Rowe.

Compared with earlier productions of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Rowe's script required the participation of many more African Americans.

[12] The show was advertised as featuring "scores of genuine freed negro slaves",[10] contained spectacular on-stage visual effects, and included a group of Jubilee Singers performing spirituals, as well as banjo players including the noted performer Horace Weston, comedians, dancers, and the vocal quintet.