In March 1919, Reavis was hired as a soprano vocalist for the
Southern Syncopated Orchestra. The orchestra toured through various venues in Ohio and Indiana, before performing on April 20 in Chicago at Orchestra Hall. Three ships carried the 36 members of the troupe to England. Reavis sailed on the first one, the
SS Northland, arriving in
Liverpool in June. The first performance occurred in London in July, and a reviewer from
The Musical Standard praised Reavis' rendition of
Swanee River. Singing in various venues in London, including a performance at
Buckingham Palace, a run of performances at the
Philharmonic Hall, and at the
Royal Albert Hall, Reavis received favorable press reviews. In December, the orchestra began touring, with appearances in
Glasgow,
Edinburgh and Liverpool. After that, sections of the orchestra continued touring throughout the country until 1921, with more favorable press reports for Reavis. A critic for
The Graphic in London praised her as a "colored
prima donna" and noted
Listen to the Lambs was "exquisitely rendered. A reviewer for the
Nottingham Guardian added that her singing of ''Sinner, Please, Don' Let dis Harvest Pass
received two standing ovations. Her repertoire included Dear Old Pal of Mine, Give Me All of You
, Good Morning Brother Sunshine
, Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose
, and The Awakening''. From January 1921, Reavis worked as a talent scout, recruiting members for the orchestra, such as Elmer Certain,
Farley Berry Graden,
Herbert Eugene Parker, and Walter Bernard Williams for the tour. Williams died soon thereafter in the sinking of the
SS Rowan in October 1921 along with at least one other band member. The ship collided with two other vessels near
Corsewall Point and sank, leaving 13 crew members and three passengers unaccounted for. Reavis, who was aboard, survived, but lost her passport, according to her affidavit when applying for a replacement. Resuming touring, she performed with the orchestra in
Vienna between October and November 1921, returning there in the summer of 1922. She sang in September in
Prague, and
Budapest, before returning to the United States on December 13, 1922. As early as 1921, Reavis was recorded in songs for
Harry Pace's
Black Swan Records.
Florence Cole Talbert,
Antoinette Garnes,
Kemper Herreld, and Reavis were selected by Pace for his "Red Label" series. In 1922, advertisements in
The Crisis confirmed the label had released in April her recording of ''There Is a Green Hill Far Away / I'm So Glad Trouble Don't Last Always
. She also sang an arrangement by R. Nathaniel Dett for Black Swan of I'm So Glad
in 1923. That year she played the principal role in The Sheik of Harlem'' (1923), opposite
Irvin C. Miller. The show was a musical production held at Harlem's
Lafayette Theatre.
Theophilus Lewis, known for his disdain for Harlem productions, gave a good review, praising Reavis for her rendition of ''It Don't Pay to Love a Northern Man in from the South
. In the production, together with Alonzo Fenderson, she sang Just the Man We Can't Forget'' in tribute to the deceased president
Warren G. Harding. It was well received by audiences. Throughout 1924, Reavis worked the recital circuit, singing at churches in New York, North Carolina and Virginia. She received a favorable review for her role in the 1925 production
Chocolate Dandies, before returning to Europe in December. She performed in the revue
Black People produced by
Louis Douglas in
Berlin and
Zürich in 1926. She then performed in the
Creole Review, touring Norway, Sweden, Russia, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and then back through France, Belgium and Germany. She was accompanied by
Amanda Ira Aldridge, daughter of
Ira Aldridge, in London in 1928 in a version of one of Reavis's own songs. In April 1930, she returned from
Gibraltar to the U.S. Reavis performed in 1930 in a Douglas' revue,
Brownskin Models of 1931 at the Lafayette Theater. In 1932, she gave recitals and acted in the touring company of
Show Boat. She appeared in
Abram Hill's
On Strivers Row in 1940 at the New York Public Library branch in
Harlem and in a second production held in Harlem at the
American Negro Theater in 1946. Reavis was elected to serve on the board of the
American Guild of Variety Artists for the New York Chapter in 1940 and 1946 became the executive secretary of the American Negro Theater. She continued to act through the end of the 1940s, also writing songs. On retiring from singing in 1949, Reavis managed the career of
Urylee Leonardos. ==Death and legacy==