Mama Morton research

So my first dig came up with some background on the show, the time period and who my character was designed after.

I went with the last clue because I had actually heard of the woman before and wanted to know more. She was based on Sophie Tucker - a brassy vaudevillean from the 1930's. She initially performed in blackface ( if you dont know what that is, it is a style of minstrel show done with white people painting thier faces black and doing clownish "coon" songs - hugely popular - HUGELY offensive... but it does give some context) Sophie went so far as to hire black performers to teach her to "be black". Hmm.

I was taken aback by this a bit and I still dont quite know what to do with that information. Is Mama a nasty "coon" character? I suppose I could play it that way and people would enjoy it. But maybe there is more to it.

Looking at Sophie Tucker, her history and choices... I think she might actually be a good place to dig deeper. I think I am going to get a biography of her. How does a Russian Immigrant become a vaudeville star? How does that influence Mama Morton. Stay tuned...