Use Restrictions

Public Domain. There are no known restrictions.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Mecca by Oscar Asche musical program, C0392, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Acquisition Information

Donor unknown.

Processing Information

Processing and finding aid completed by Amanda Brent in June 2022.

Biographical and Historical Information

Mecca - known as Cairo in England - was a 1920 Broadway musical written by Oscar Asche. Asche was an American actor, mainly known for brown and yellow face roles in plays such as the titular character in Othello and Hajj in Kismet , which was written for Asche. Eventually Asche turned to theatre managing in addition to acting, which led to his huge theatrical hit Chu Chin Chow , which broke theatrical records and held over 2,200 performances over five years in London, England. Following the success of Chu Chin Chow , Asche wrote Mecca , which premiered at the Century Theatre in New York City, but was met with much less acclaim.

Scope and Content

Content warning: orientalism and racist content.

A program for the 1920 musical Mecca (also known as Cairo ) by Oscar Asche. The cover of the program is embossed with the title, "Century Theatre New York" and an image of men riding camels in the desert. The program contains a short novelization of the musical's plot by William A. Page and illustrated color plates of scenes by Carl Link. Both story and illustrations are highly orientalist in subject and tone.

Arrangement

This is a single item collection.

Related Material

The Special Collections Research Center holds many other collections and materials on American musical theatre, including the 'My Maryland' operetta stage guide and score manuscripts, the Broadway souvenir theatre programs, and the Charles Rodrigues playbill collection.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Musical Theater
• Orientalism
• Performing arts