The Red Moon Mitchell, Abbie performer Cole, Bob performer J. Rosamond Johnson performer Walker, Ada Overton performer Theatrical Performance 1909-05-03 Majestic Theater An American Musical Comedy in Red and Black, in Three Acts. Book and lyrics by Bob Cole. Music by J. Rosamond Johnson. Additional music by James Reese Europe. Staged by Robert Cole. Opened 3 May 1909 at the Majestic Theatre and closed 29 May 1909 after 32 performances. The Red Moon told how Minnehaha (Abbie Mitchell), daughter of an Indian chief and a black woman, is taken back to the reservation by her father and then returned to her mother through the contriving of Slim Brown, a bogus lawyer, and Plunk Green, a quack doctor. Cole and Johnson played Brown and Green. Whatever the faults of the claptrap book, the songs were excellent. The Red Moon remained "the most tuneful colored show of the century." When Ada Overton Walker joined the show she sang "Pickaninny Days" dancing buck and wing in the chorus, and "Pheobe Brown"; and in male impersonation sang "That's Why They Called Me Shine" to great acclaim. Performing Arts Encyclopedia http://www.loc.gov/performingarts Bordman, Gerald: American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle. New York: Oxford University Press (1992). Tap Dance America http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/tda/tda-home.html Ada Overton Walker (biography) loc.music.tdabio.182 tda IHAS 151216 loc.music.tda.336