The men who perform at the ball (and whom Effie Barrow introduces as "famous all over the nation...soon to appear on Broadway in 'In Dahomey.' The original Cakewalkers, the Two Real Coons, Williams and Walker!") were the show's depictions of two of the biggest real theatrical stars of the minstrel era, George Walker and Bert Williams. Walker and Williams were both African American men who nonetheless performed in blackface, a performance (and makeup) style usually employed by white minstrel performers (hence the "Real" in their now-offensive nickname). The dance that they perform at the ball, "The Cakewalk," was a real dance craze that was derived from traditional African folk dance and plantation slave traditions, and popularized by minstrel shows. The Broadway show that Effie mentions, "In Dahomey: A Negro Musical Comedy," had a successful 1903 run on Broadway, followed by tours of the United States and Europe. The show, with a book by Jesse A. Shipp, lyrics by the pre-Harlem Renaissance poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, and music by Will Marion Cook, is widely regarded by theater historians as the first Broadway musical ever created entirely by black artists.