c. 1867 - c. 1943

Theodore Drury starred in Black traveling opera troupes and sang on the vaudeville stage as a “Hindoo Barytone.” At a time when performance in full operatic productions was rare for African Americans, he founded the Theodore Drury Opera Company, taking Black operatic productions off the vaudeville circuit and into the opera house. The company’s production of Bizet’s Carmen in New York (1900) was the first all-Black production of a standard repertoire opera in the United States. Harry T. Burleigh conducted, and Drury starred with soprano Desseria Plato. The company’s most notable season was 1906 when they produced Aida, Carmen and Faust during one week in May. After 1909 Drury produced operas less frequently but was active until at least 1941. In an interview he acknowledged that in later years it was necessary to rely on community members and students rather than professional singers to reduce production costs. Drury advocated for the inclusion of Black singers in white companies, although this goal was not realized in his lifetime. His company was among the first to insist of fully integrated audience seating, and his well-attended performances were the highlight of the social season in New York City.

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For further information on this artist:

· Kristen Turner. “Theodore Drury and the Dilemmas of Race, Class and Music at the Opera House.” AMS: Musicology Now. December 15, 2016. https://musicologynow.org/theodore-drury-and-the-dilemmas-of-race-class-and-music-at-the-opera-house/. Accessed December 14, 2023.

· Caplan, Lucy. “The Improbable Rise of the First African American Opera Impresario.” SF Classical Voice, February 6, 2017. https://www.sfcv.org/articles/feature/improbable-rise-first-african-american-opera-impresario. Accessed December 14, 2023.

· Turner, Kristen. “Class, Race, and Uplift in the Opera House: Theodore Drury and His Company Cross the Color Line,” Journal of Musicological Research, 34:4, 2015, pp. 320-351.

· Kristen Turner. “The Drury Grand Opera Company.” Black, Indigenous, People of Color Opera Companies, Part 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Kl_lSwMBY. Accessed December 14, 2023.