Courted Into Court

{{Short description|Play by John J. McNally}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox play

| name = Courted Into Court

| image = File:Clifford and Huth in John J. McNally's funniest farce comedy, Courted into court LCCN2014637303.jpg

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| writer =

| genre = Play

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| premiere = December 29, 1896

| place = Bijou Theatre

| orig_lang = English

}}File:All coons look alike to me (NYPL Hades-1929688-1990770).jpgs used in this play.]] Courted Into Court is a 1896 play by John J. McNally. It was produced by Charles T. Rich and William Harris for a 140 performance run at the Bijou Theatre on Broadway starting on December 29, 1896.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015020477181&view=1up&seq=201&skin=2021 The Best Plays of 1894-99], p. 189 (1955)(30 December 1896). [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1896-12-30/ed-1/seq-7/ Mary Irwin in a New Farcical Vaudeville Play], The Sun

Prior to its Broadway debut, it played first on any stage in Omaha, Nebraska, on December 4, 1896,(30 November 1896). [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn99021999/1896-11-30/ed-1/seq-8/ Amusements], Omaha Daily Bee[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn99021999/1896-12-05/ed-1/seq-2/ Amusements], Omaha Daily Bee(6 December 1896). [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn99021999/1896-12-06/ed-1/seq-7/ Amusements], Omaha Daily Bee (review of play) and then moved to Kansas City.(12 December 1896). [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063624/1896-12-12/ed-1/seq-12/ Music and the Drama], Kansas City Daily Journal and Chicago.(30 December 1896). [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015679/1896-12-30/ed-1/seq-3/ Notes of the Stage], Indianapolis Journal

Star May Irwin sang and helped popularize (the now notorious example) coon song "All Coons Look Alike to Me" by Ernest Hogan in the play, which had an all-white cast.Lee, Mauren D. [https://books.google.com/books?id=1y8UCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT148 Sissieretta Jones: "The Greatest Singer of Her Race," 1868-1933], p. 158 (2012) She also sang the coon song, "Mr. Johnson, Turn Me Loose" in the play, a song later remembered in all of Irwin's major obituaries.Ammen, Sharon. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Qs0ZDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT100 May Irwin: Singing, Shouting, and the Shadow of Minstrelsy], p. 100 (2017)