Although places like Los Angeles had bans in place they were still allowed to play at certain theaters. In the 1960s laws and regulations were put in place against cross-dressing and the Jewel Box Revue slowed down a bit.
In 1959 they began performing at The Apollo Theater in New York City and it was always a full house when they came to town. Many of the venues they performed at were part of the " chitlin' circuit", the Howard Theatre (Washington, D.C.), the Baltimore-Royal Theatre, Uptown Theatre (Philadelphia) and the Regal Theater in Chicago. The revue was made up of a diverse group that included African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and whites, which was unusual for the times before the Civil Rights Movement. The show had their own music and dances that were composed and choreographed for performers, they also did comedy sketches and some stand-up performances.
They had at least ten specific performances in their repertoire, which was helpful for shows that ran for longer periods of time at the same place. The Jewel Box Revue was the longest running drag show that performed from the 1940s until the 1970s across the United States. This show would go on to set the stage for the touring drag show known as the Jewel Box Revue. Jewel Box Revue ĭoc Benner, and Danny Brown produced the show which started in Miami, Florida, at a gay bar known as Club Jewel Box. According to Elizabeth Ashburn, "A drag king is anyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference or orientation, who consciously makes a performance of masculinity." Therefore, drag performers of the drag king scene typically identify as women, but some may be cisgender men or transgender men.ĭuring World War II, parody drag shows were also a regular kind of entertainment for soldiers who dressed up as humorous-looking women and put on shows for each other. It was not until about 50 years later that the term drag king was coined and performances started popping up across the United States. Butch African American women constructed their own forms of masculinity inside and outside of Blues performances which set the stage for future performers in drag. Women of the Harlem Renaissance like Gladys Bentley, a prominent Blues singer, regularly wore tuxedos and dressed in men's clothing while performing. Drag balls were social events that brought people together who were on the margins of society and they often had to meet in secret. White people were not excluded but did not typically participate. Harlem drag balls primarily had people of color. These shows featured extravagant performances of gays and lesbians impersonating the opposite sex and competing against one another in fashion shows. The first known drag balls in the United States were in Harlem in the 1920s, at the Rockland Palace.
This law or code was aimed at eliminating what it saw as perversion and disallowed men impersonating women in film, temporarily ending the era of male impersonation in film and theater.
The impersonation of the opposite sex was popular in theater and film until 1933 when the Hollywood Motion Picture Production Code was passed. She had a low voice and shaved regularly her facial hair to cause it to form a stubble. In the Victorian period English actresses impersonated men in theater, and in America actresses like Anne Hindle also impersonated men in her performances. Since women were not allowed to participate in drama or theater, men impersonated women when acting on stage. There have been independent examples of drag in England and China in the 1500s. Instances of drag have been recorded well before drag shows began.