My Friend from Kentucky J. Leubrie Hill performer Rector, Eddie performer Wlliams, Ethel performer Peters, Johnny performer Sloan and Field performer Theatrical Performance 1913-11-03 Lafayette Theater This was the work of J. Leubrie Hill, whom Variety later called a black George M Cohan. After a period of ill health, he reemerged in 1913 with a thoroughly rewritten My Friend from Dixie, now called My Friend from Kentucky. Early on he christened the group he had assembled The Darktown Follies. The haunting "Rock Me in the Cradle of Love" and the joyous "At The Ball, That's All" were given major niches. The musical became known as The Darktown Follies. So successful was it that subsequent editions were launched under the newer name. The work featured the Texas Tommy, Circle dance, Strut and Cakewalk, and Ballin' the Jack 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 Eddie Rector (biography) loc.music.tdabio.158 tda IHAS 151216 loc.music.tda.356