On the Road Again
On the Road Again
On the Road Again
Troupe(s): Soloist; Ethiopian Harmonists
Role: dancer, vocalist
Info:
John H. Collins first appears in our database in 1847 when Bell’s Life in London mentions, on July 25th, that he performed for some 200 nights with the Ethiopian Serenaders at the St. James theatre filling in for the injured Germon. He is also listed as a solo singer at Vauxhall Gardens, and as a member of the Ethiopian Harmonists all in that same year. While a ‘Collins’ appears in 1850 in Staffordshire, in all likelihood it is a different man as Era refers to him as “the negro melodist and dancer from Liverpool” (September 14, p.11) and John. H. Collins seems to have been performing with The New Orleans Serenaders Operatic Troupe in America at that time, judging by a sheet music cover from that year. T. Allston Brown also cites Collins as a member of Sam S. Sanford’s Minstrels (Clipper, October 21, 1876).
Playbills from the Liverpool Concert Hall from November of 1847 list J. H. Collins as a featured soloist with the Ethiopian Harmonists performing the following numbers:
Rosa Lee; Get Along Home, Yellow Gals; Mary Blane; Goin Ober de Mountain; My Skiff is on de Shore; Lucie Neal; I wish I was in Ole Virginny; De Colour Fancy Ball; Lucy Long.
Collins died of yellow fever in Havana, Cuba in December 1860
Please see the 'Bibliographic Sources' link at right for a complete listing of materials (both primary and secondary) from which the above information was compiled.
Alexis Butler.
| Troupe Name | Event | # of events |
|---|---|---|
| Collins, J.H. | Minstrel | 3 |
| Ethiopian Harmonists (1847-?) | Minstrel | 3 |
| Event | Date | Location | Troupe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Variety | 1847-1847 | Vauxhall Gardens, London London (city-county) | Collins, J.H. |
| Variety | 1847-1847 | Vauxhall Gardens, London London (city-county) | Collins, J.H. |
| Minstrel Show | 1851-1851 | Bull's Head Concert Room, Dudley Staffordshire | Collins, J.H. |
| Minstrel Show | 1847-1847 | Concert Hall, Liverpool Lancashire | Ethiopian Harmonists (1847-?) |
| Minstrel Show | 1847-1847 | Concert Hall, Liverpool Lancashire | Ethiopian Harmonists (1847-?) |
| Minstrel Show | 1847-1847 | Concert Hall, Liverpool Lancashire | Ethiopian Harmonists (1847-?) |
| Title | Type | Number of Events Found | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Color'd Fancy Ball, De | Song | 1 event(s) |
| 2 | Lucy Long | Song | 1 event(s) |
| 3 | Get Along Home, Yellow Gals | Song | 1 event(s) |
| 4 | Lucy Neal | Song | 2 event(s) |
| 5 | Mary Blane | Song | 3 event(s) |
| 6 | My Skiff is by de Shore | Song | 3 event(s) |
| 7 | Rosa Lee | Song | 2 event(s) |
| 8 | I Wish I War At Ole Warginny | Song | 2 event(s) |
| 9 | Going ober de Mountains | Song | 1 event(s) |
