It’s 1910, and Bert Williams is asked to join the cast of the 1910 Follies. Horrified at the prospect of a Black man as a headliner, Charlie Fields and other white cast members threaten to quit if Bert isn’t fired. Ziegfeld calls their bluff and orders them out, but once alone with Bert, he says, “You better be worth it, boy.” Charlie leaves the theatre, stunned at this turn of events, while Bert, shaken, ultimately recommits to trying to use humor to advance the cause of racial uplift. This is the Act I finale. (Can’t see the video? Click here.)
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