Wild About Lottie Gee

Although a major star in her day, Lottie Gee’s (1886–1973) career has earned only brief mentions in standard musical theater histories. After appearing on vaudeville in the 1910s—including an early tour to England—she achieved her greatest success as the celebrated star of the landmark 1921 production of Shuffle Along. She sang the show’s biggest hit, "I’m Just Wild About Harry," and began a ten-year love affair with its composer, Eubie Blake. Following this success, Gee was the star in the ill-fated Chocolate Dandies, costarring with an up-and-coming comedian/dancer, Josephine Baker. Gee left to join a company bound for Europe, one of the first Black troupes to enjoy success there, some six months before Baker arrived in Paris. Gee’s commitment to perform a combination of traditional spirituals and Broadway and pop songs, along with her formal singing style, made her sound old-fashioned once the craze for blues came into vogue in the mid-1920s. Other Black actresses were able to make the transition to more popular styles, either by recording songs from the blues repertoire or by accepting stereotypical film roles aimed primarily at Black audiences. But Gee could not make this transition, and—despite her initial triumphs—she spent her final decades performing in obscurity, remembered only by a small number of her fellow performers. Wild About Lottie Gee: Pioneering Star of Black American Theater restores Lottie Gee’s rightful spot in Black theater history.