Editing Bob Cole (composer) (section)

{{short description|American composer, actor, playwright (1868–1911)}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=November 2015}}
[[File:Bob Cole.jpg|Bob Cole, ca. 1898|thumb]]

'''Robert Allen Cole Jr.''' (July 1, 1868 – August 2, 1911<ref>Saffle, Michael. "Cole, Robert Allen (Bob)". (1999). in ''International Dictionary of Black Composers.'' Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 246-251.</ref>) was an American composer, actor, and playwright who produced and directed stage shows.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1214581|jstor=1214581|title="Bob" Cole: His Life and His Legacy to Black Musical Theater|last1=Riis|first1=Thomas L.|journal=The Black Perspective in Music|year=1985|volume=13|issue=2|pages=135–150|doi=10.2307/1214581|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/cole-robert-bob-jr-1868-1911/|title = Robert "Bob" Cole, Jr. (1868-1911) •|date = 16 July 2017}}</ref> In collaboration with [[Billy Johnson (composer)|Billy Johnson]], he wrote and produced ''[[A Trip to Coontown]]'' (1898), the first musical entirely created and owned by black showmen.<ref>{{cite book|author = James Weldon Johnson|title = Black Manhattan|publisher = Knopf|date = 1930|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ogFMhd1EQ7sC&pg=PA102|page = 102|access-date = 22 Mar 2013|isbn = 978-0-306-80431-1|others = Introduction by Sondra Kathryn Wilson}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The popular song ''[[La Hoola Boola]]'' (1898) was a result of their collaboration. Cole later partnered with brothers [[J. Rosamond Johnson]], a pianist and singer, and [[James Weldon Johnson]], a pianist, guitarist and lawyer, creating more than 200 songs.

Their [[vaudeville]] act featured classical piano pieces and their musicals featured sophisticated lyrics without the usual stereotypes such as "hot-mamas" and [[Watermelon stereotype|watermelons]]. Success enabled Cole and Rosamond to tour America and Europe with their act. The trio's most popular songs were "[[Louisiana Lize]]" and "[[Under the Bamboo Tree]]" (1901?). Their more successful musicals were ''[[The Shoo-Fly Regiment]]'' (1906) and ''[[The Red Moon (musical)|The Red Moon]]'' (1908, written without Weldon).

Cole was the pre{{nbhyph}}eminent leader in the world of black musical theater both as a composer and as a performer. His skills in acting, writing, and directing were brought to the public eye through his early works: first, he produced the black musical “A Trip to Coontown”, where he joined alliance with Billy Johnson, followed by the production of popular songs such as “ Under the Bamboo Tree,” where he worked with [[J. Rosamond Johnson]]. Cole committed suicide by drowning himself in a creek<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPJZTJtz1IwC&pg=PA162 |title=Lynn Abbott, Doug Seroff, ''Out of Sight: The Rise of African American Popular Music, 1889-1895'' |date=1911-08-02 |isbn=9781604730395 |access-date=2014-06-18|last1=Abbott |first1=Lynn |last2=Seroff |first2=Doug |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi }}</ref> in the [[Catskill Mountains|Catskills]]<ref>{{Cite book|title = A History of African American Theatre|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4ePerohXDIUC|publisher = Cambridge University Press|date = 2003-07-17|isbn = 9780521624435|language = en|first1 = Errol G.|last1 = Hill|first2 = James V.|last2 = Hatch}}</ref> in 1911 after a nervous breakdown and period of [[clinical depression]] that worsened in 1910.