Virginia Minstrels

After a successful try-out in the billiard parlor of the Branch Hotel on New York City's Bowery, the group is said to have premiered to a paying audience nearby at the Chatham Theatre, probably on January 31, 1843.

"[4] A few weeks later, Dan Emmett and Frank Brower teamed up with Bill Whitlock and Dick Pelham, who were also popular blackface comedians.

Their marketing and presentation on stage resembled that of the Hutchinson Family Singers, a group earning at least ten times the performance fees paid to minstrel troupes.

[6] The change of perception from being a variety show to being a concert afforded the Virginia Minstrels with patrons of a slightly upper class.

22"[7] The editorial that accompanied this notice stated "The harmony and skill with which the banjo, violin, castinets, and tambourine are blended by these truly original minstrels, in their Ethiopian characters, is a redeeming feature to this species of amusement, and cannot fail of making it acceptable to the most refined and sensitive audience.

[9] Although they primarily appeared within a larger schedule of entertainment in their earliest months, they surely were the first minstrels to also be hired to perform by themselves at smaller venues.

Among other things, they are credited with the songs "Jimmy Crack Corn" and "Old Dan Tucker", which passed into American folk culture.