United States, Georgia, Bibb County, Macon, 32.84069, -83.6324United States, Georgia, Richmond County, Augusta, 33.47097, -81.97484United States, South Carolina, Richland County, Columbia, 34.00071, -81.03481Starr, Milton1927-09-10Letter from Milton Starr, president of Theatre Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.), a Tennessee-based booking agency from 1920 to the 1930s for African American vaudeville acts, to Ben Stein, owner and manager of the Douglass Theatre, dated September 10, 1927, regarding terms for playing the "Lemons show," a reference to the Eddie Lemons' Dashing Dinah show (see dbr056 and dbr067 of the Douglass Theatre Web site). Responding to Stein's telegram, Starr expresses his pleasure that Stein accepted the Lemons show. Starr argues that forty percent of the receipts from large shows equals fifty percent of the receipts of small shows, and suggests that Stein accept the Lemons show for forty percent of the receipts, rather than the fifty-fifty split on which Stein has insisted. Starr explains that in his wire of confirmation to Lemons, he insisted that the midnight show be fifty-fifty, and that he wired Reevin (Sam E. Reevin, manager of T.O.B.A.) to issue contracts with these figures. Starr expresses his certainty that Lemons will accept the terms. Dashing Dinah, produced by Lemons, featured Lemons, Homer Hubbard, Rogers and Rogers, Leroy Phillips, Charles Barry, Isadore Price, Willie Taylor, Jack "Ginger" Wiggins, Christina Gray, and String Beans Price. Starr mentions that for the past two nights, Ma Rainey failed to keep her engagements at his Royal Theatre in Columbia, South Carolina and Lenox Theatre in Augusta, Georgia. He adds that he asked Reevin to notify Stein when he learned that Rainey had disappeared. There is evidence that Rainey played the Douglass Theatre at a later date, since a subsequent receipt dated February 14, 1928, from Theatre Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.) to Ben Stein, refers to the act "Ma Rainey and her Paramount Flappers" (see dbr047 of the Douglass Theatre Web site).Digital image and encoded transcription of an original manuscript, scanned, transcribed and encoded by the Digital Library of Georgia in 2005, as part of Georgia HomePLACE. This project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.image/jpegtext/htmldbr057Blues, Black vaudeville, and the silver screen, 1912-1930s (Digital Library of Georgia) GAGALhttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/Theatre Owners Booking AssociationMusicians--Employment--Georgia--MaconContracts for work and labor--Georgia--MaconNegotiation--Georgia--MaconEntertainment events--Georgia--MaconCommercial agents--Tennessee--NashvilleRevues--Georgia--MaconDashing Dinah (Musical show : 1927)Douglass Theatre (Macon, Ga.)Lemons, EddieStein, BenReevin, Sam E.Rainey, Ma, 1886-1939Lenox Theatre (Augusta, Ga.)Royal Theatre (Columbia, S.C.)Letter: Nashville, Tennessee to Ben Stein, Macon, Georgia, 1927 Sept. 10Text