" ▁by ▁Caroline ▁Howard ' s ▁port ray al ▁of ▁T ops y ). ▁As a ▁H utch inson ▁of ▁the ▁H utch inson ▁Family ▁Sing ers , ▁whose ▁ant is la very ▁politics ▁closely ▁matched ▁those ▁of ▁St owe ▁tried ▁and ▁failed ▁to ▁get ▁her ▁permission ▁to ▁stage ▁an ▁official ▁version ; ▁her ▁ref us al ▁left ▁the ▁field ▁clear ▁for ▁any ▁number ▁of ▁adapt ations , ▁some ▁launched ▁for ▁( vari ous ) ▁political ▁reasons ▁and ▁others ▁as ▁simply ▁commercial ▁the atr ical ▁vent ures . ▁ ▁Eric ▁L ott , ▁in ▁his ▁book ▁Love ▁and ▁The ft : ▁Black face ▁M inst rel s y ▁and ▁the ▁American ▁Working ▁Class , ▁estimates ▁that ▁at ▁least ▁three ▁million ▁people ▁saw ▁these ▁plays , ▁as ▁many ▁as ▁the ▁novel ' s ▁world wide ▁sales . ▁Some ▁of ▁these ▁shows ▁were ▁basically ▁just ▁black face ▁min st rel ▁shows ▁only ▁lo os ely ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁novel , ▁and ▁their ▁gross ly ▁ex agger ated ▁car ic atures ▁of ▁black ▁people ▁further ▁perpet u ated , ▁for ▁purposes ▁of ▁mock ery , ▁some ▁of ▁the ▁s tere ot ypes ▁that ▁St owe ▁had ▁used ▁more ▁innoc ently . ▁ ▁Produ ctions ▁▁ ▁All ▁" Tom ▁shows " ▁appear ▁to ▁have ▁incorpor ated ▁elements ▁of ▁mel od rama ▁and ▁black face ▁min st rel s y . ▁ ▁The ▁first ▁serious ▁attempt ▁at ▁anything ▁like ▁a ▁faithful ▁stage ▁adaptation ▁was ▁a ▁one - hour ▁play ▁by ▁C . W . ▁Taylor ▁at ▁Pur dy