Theater

Until the early 1900s, many white actors in blackface would play African American roles and refused to be on the same stage as African American actors. Then the Harlem Renaissance took off and there were many black owned theaters and companies. 

During his time singing at the Breakers Hotel in 1911, Clarence joined “The Royal Poinciana Four Quartet”, which paid him approximately $150 a month plus tips. After working several Palm Beach venues, Clarence left for New York making a pitstop to gamble where he increased his savings from $300 to $3000. Due to this fortunate luck, Clarence stopped in Jacksonville, Florida to work with various black owned theater groups and even bought interest in a stock company.

This is where he met his first wife, had a baby, and after living in Kansas City performing with his wife as “the Muses’ in comedy and plays, they moved on to New York City. 

During the early 1910-1920s, Clarence produced traveling comedy shows lasting 45 minutes to an hour. Each play would perform for about a week, leaving the actors to learn their lines within a weekend.During this time black owned theaters usually charged 40-50 cents for the best seats. However, tradition was, one night of each performance was only for white customers who paid $5.00 for the 50 cent seats.

In the mid 1920s, Clarence produced the musical “Charleston Dandies” which toured the east coast and south. One review called it “the cleanest show” while also having good looking females who were in skimpy clothing. In 11926, Clarence was presented with a gold watch and chain by the management of the Lafayette Theatre.

During the 20s, Muse also became a founding director of the Delsarte Film Corporation, continued being a member of a variety of theater groups, and produced and directed plays for the Royal Garden Theatre.

In the 1930s, Clarence focused more on performing in the film industry on both the west and east coast. 

Spanning his career, Muse is credited with acting in over 225 plays. 

In 1974, Clarence was placed in the Paramount Theatre of Arts Hall of Fame.