Edward Everett Rice | |
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| Born | (1847-12-21)December 21, 1847 Brighton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | November 16, 1924(1924-11-16) (aged 76) New York City, U.S. |
Edward Everett Rice (December 21, 1847 – November 16, 1924) was an Americanmusical theatre composer and producer active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known as a pioneer of American musical theatre, who introduced to BroadwayClorindy, a musical by African-American writers with African-American performers.[1]
Rice was born inBrighton, Massachusetts to Edmund Rice and Martha A. Rice, née Fletcher. His father gained wealth in the wholesale meat business and provided a superior education for his sons, two of whom fought in theU.S. Civil War. He arranged a private music tutor for the eight-year-old Edward; after a year's tuition, the boy could not read music but could improvise fluently,playing by ear. Some years later, his father offered to send him to Europe for another attempt at a musical education, butB. J. Lang, a leading Boston organist, advised against it, saying the world wants songs, not more sonatas.[2]
Rice was first employed in printing and publishing, and for a while managed a newspaper. By the 1870s he wasamanuensis for James Alexander, Boston agent for theCunard Steamship Company, and was a member of Boston'sPapyrus Club. In one version of how he began composing for musical comedy, he andJ. Cheever Goodwin saw theLydia Thompson production ofFarnie andReece'sburlesqueOxygen, and agreed that they could do better.[2] In another version, he saw the English production ofThe Black Crook and became interested in creating an American musical.[3] In 1874 Rice and Goodwin created anextravaganza,Evangeline; or, The Belle of Acadia, a musical burlesque ofHenry Wadsworth Longfellow'sEvangeline, that became the first American production billed as a musical comedy.[4][5] Rice composed the music for more than eighteen productions that appeared on Broadway, includingHiawatha andSummer Nights, that toured the country. Rice had no formal musical education and he could not read sheet music, but he played by ear on the piano. His method of composition would be to "dictate" to a scribe tunes that he would play on the piano, and he would make suggestions for orchestration.[3]
As a producer, Rice introduced popular performersPauline Hall,Lillian Russell, andFay Templeton, and in 1898, he bookedClorindy, or The Origin of the Cake Walk byWill Marion Cook andPaul Laurence Dunbar, one of the earliest musicals by African Americans and the first to appear on Broadway at the prestigiousCasino Theatre.[6][7] Rice's biggest hit was 1894'sAdonis, which starredHenry Dixey, one of the most popular performers of the era.[1] He produced theburlesque extravaganza musical1492 Up to Date in 1893 in New York City. His final Broadway production was a 1904 revival of the British musicalMr. Wix of Wickham, with new songs byJerome Kern.
Rice died at the age of 76 in New York City.
Rice's first cousinEdmund Rice was a brigadier general andMedal of Honor awardee. Rice was a direct descendant ofEdmund Rice, an English immigrant toMassachusetts Bay Colony.[8]
Rice married Clara E. Rich, daughter of Isaac E. Rich, in 1869, and they had a daughter Carrie B. Rice (born 1870) and sons, Aubrey L. Rice (born 1876) and Anthony D. Rice (born 1876).[9][10]
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