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ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF ...

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Club’s stage (ca 1932) began with Mr. Julius Caesar, followed by a marionette<br />

“impression” <strong>of</strong> the Spanish dancer Escudero. Selections from Julius Caesar’s Circus<br />

concluded the first act. After the first intermission, audiences viewed The Little King<br />

(based on O. Soglow’s story). The third, and final, act featured Orlando Furioso. A<br />

blackface emcee and a “live” “Harlem” band, depicted with the aesthetics <strong>of</strong> lowbrow<br />

blackface puppetry, added lightheartedness to the evening. This would provide comedy,<br />

Fig. 34. “The Band.” Sketch by Remo Bufano. Copied from: Remo Bufano. Be a<br />

Puppet Showman. New York: The Century Company, 1933, 1.<br />

or at least ease, to a production dominated by heavy themes <strong>of</strong> myth, honor, chivalry, and<br />

sacrifice. Given that jazz musicians are not featured in the traditional tale, Bufano<br />

probably added the musicians to certain scenes <strong>of</strong> the large drama. If so, their appearance<br />

in this mythical tales would have provided a referential connection back to the present<br />

day, amusing the audience with anachronism, but also reinforcing its awareness <strong>of</strong> the<br />

artificiality <strong>of</strong> the event. Less fortunately, it might have created a thematic contrast<br />

156

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