The Show Did Go On: How Theatre Changed after the Pandemic of 1918–19
Abstract
Using examples from Toronto’s newspapers, this article examines the impact of the 1918–19 Spanish flu pandemic on the city's theatre and the changes that followed in the twenties. Like during the COVID-19 pandemic, in 1918 health boards across Ontario ordered all theatres to close. However, after two weeks, theatres opened, and productions from New York City’s Broadway, such as the musical comedy Ask Dad, appeared at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, to rave reviews. Toronto’s stages became more diverse following the Spanish flu, with productions such as Shuffle Along, the first all-Black musical on Broadway, which hit the city’s stages in 1923, and one of the first locally cast shows, Amateur Minstrel Frolics, which appeared in 1924 at the Winter Garden Theatre. This article explores how and why the theatre changed after the last pandemic and what issues, such as those related to race and gender, lingered on.
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Works Cited
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About the Author
Cheryl Thompson is Assistant Professor in the School of Creative Industries at Ryerson University’s Faculty of Communication and Design. Her second book, Uncle: Race, Nostalgia, and the Politics of Loyalty, was published in 2021. Cheryl’s SSHRC-funded research documents the performative and visual history of blackface performance in Canada.
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Published In
Canadian Theatre Review
Volume 187 • Summer 2021
Pages: 91 - 93
Copyright
Copyright © 2021, University of Toronto Press.
History
Published in print: Summer 2021
Published online: 20 July 2021
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