Carolina Chocolate Drops are at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music tonight to give the world premiere of Keep a Song in Your Soul, a special program celebrating the black roots of vaudeville. The production features the Chocolate Drops along with jazz tap virtuoso Reggio "The Hoofer" McLaughlin and ragtime piano ace Reginald Robinson in an exploration, through music and dance, of the African-American heritage of this rich tradition. The production is the subject of a feature article in the Chicago Sun-Times; Carolina Chocolate Drops' Dom Flemons also discusses the production, and the whole group gives a taste of what's to come, in the videos below.

Tonight's Opening Night performance marks the first of five shows at the Old Town School in the coming days, including two sets on Saturday. There will be an open forum Q & A with the Carolina Chocolate Drops and their fellow performers immediately following each performance, with a different guest moderator each night.

Keep a Song in Your Soul: The Black Roots of Vaudeville was commissioned by the Old Town School of Folk Music in its first foray into the world of theatre. Featuring more than 20 historic songs written and performed by African-Americans between 1830 and 1930 on the Chitlin’ Circuit, as well as original music and new arrangements of the classic songs by the creative team, the production explores Vaudeville's African-American heritage through music and dance to reclaim the spirit and substance of this rich taproot of American entertainment. Old Town School’s commission is made possible thanks to support from the Joyce Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the MAP Fund.

Set in the Great Migration era of 1910–1930, Keep a Song in Your Soul tells the story of a young woman who is lured from the rural South by the promise of a better life in a northern city, followed by her devoted boyfriend. There, the two encounter further challenges, finding the realities behind the city’s false gleam. The songs that tell the story include such historic pieces as “Underneath The Harlem Moon,” “Darktown Strutter's Ball,” “There’s a Brownskin Girl Down the Road Somewhere,” “Raise a Ruckus,” “Run, N-gger, Run,” “Cakewalkin’ Babies from Home,” “Keep a Song in Your Soul” (written by Fats Waller and Alex Hill in 1930) and many more. In addition, McLaughlin will choreograph dances in keeping with the Chitlin’ Circuit era, including the “Chair Dance” which was taught to him by his mentor, the legendary Ernest "Brownie" Brown, a former vaudeville performer.

“’Keep a Song in Your Soul is the perfect work for the Old Town School of Folk Music’s first theatrical piece,” says Old Town School Executive Director Bau Graves. “The show mines a treasure trove of songs from the vaudeville era to paint a vivid, sometimes unsettling portrait of the lives of African-Americans at the time, while also telling a compelling story through music and dance. The music is at times hilarious and uplifting, and alternatively troubling and very emotional. I am confident that audiences will find it to be a fascinating, moving and ultimately inspiring exploration of a musical heritage and an era that is abundantly deserving of greater attention.”

For tickets, visit oldtownschool.org.

For additional upcoming tour dates from the Carolina Chocolate Drops, go to nonesuch.com/on-tour. To pick up a copy of their Nonesuch debut album, Genuine Negro Jig, the winner of the 2011 Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the complete album plus seven additional live bonus tracks.

Watch a preview of Keep a Song in Your Soul here:

Flemons also spoke with Chicago's ABC7, and he and his fellow performers gave a taste of what's to come in the show. Watch the segment here: