Black Musicals of the 1970s
“By the 1970s, Broadway was fully integrated. Black and white theatergoers sat together in the audience, and — although people of color may have still been underrepresented [that goes without saying] on the New York stage — Broadway shows routinely included black performers in their casts.”
Black Broadway - Stewart F. Lane
Purlie - Opening: March 15, 1970 - Broadway Theatre
“Based on the 1961 Broadway comedy Purlie Victorious, Purlie had a book by Ossie Davis, Phillip Rose, and Peter Udell; lyrics by Udell; and music by Gary Geld. Davis did not actually work on the musical adaptation, but he was credited because so much of his original work was used in the show. Like the play, the musical tells the story of a dynamic preacher who returns to Georgia to claim an inheritance that will enable him to open his own church. The show featured Cleavon Little, Melba Moore, and — in his Broadway debut — Sherman Hemsley, as well as an extended cast of singers and dancers.”
Black Broadway - Stewart F. Lane, pg. 18
“What’s an African-American show doing with a white composer (Gary Geld), white lyricist (Peter Udell) and white producer-director (Philip Rose)? The only African American on the writing team was Ossie Davis, who’d written the book with Rose and Udell. That was fitting, for he’d written the play on which Purlie was based: Purlie Victorious.”
Discussion: Why wasn’t there any other black members on the creative and producing team? Do you think it changed the story-telling?
Watch: Melba Moore perform “I Got Love” from Purlie
Watch: Purlie at the 1970 Tony Awards
Purlie was nominated for five Tony Awards and won two - for Best Leading Actor (Little) and Best Featured Actress (Moore). Both stars also garnered Drama Desk Awards.
“Despite widespread mainstream approval, Purlie had some difficult times at the box office… Sylvester Leaks, unlike all other ticket brokers, aimed for black theatre parties, which most Broadway agents had previously ignored.
While Leaks’s work cannot be considered the only reason for Purlie’s success, it put Broadway producers on notice that a potent sourche of ticket sales had been under-utilized. Rather than ignore black audiences, producers might start to consider them as a part of the ultimate profit picture.”
Black Musical Theatre - Allen Woll, pg. 257s
Deep Dive: Watch - Seth Rudetsky deconstruct “I Got Love” from Purlie
“Purlie… started a new push in the 1970s to bring a formerly invisible audience to the Great White Way.” - Allen Woll
Raisin - Opening: October 18, 1973 - 46th Street Theatre
“In 1973, the musical Raisin opened at the 46th Street Theater. Based on Lorraine Hansberry’s groundbreaking 1959 drama A Raisin in the Sun, it tells the story of the Youngers, an African-American family struggling to find a better way of life in Chicago at the start of the 1950s. The book was written by Robert Nemiroff (Hansberry’s ex-husband) and Charlotte Zaltzberg, and the songs were the work of composer Judd Woldin and lyricist Robert Brittan.”
Black Broadway - Stewart F. Lane, pg. 182
“Much of the credit for the new Raisin must be given to director-choreographer Donald McKayle, who helped convert the new show into a musical…
…Raisin was his first Broadway assignment. His key was to work on choreography and music first, allowing the libretto, which had already proven itself, to follow. As a result, Raisin excelled in both its dramatic and musical elements, and the show ran for 847 performances.”
Black Musical Theatre - Allen Woll, pg. 262-263
Listen: “A Whole Lotta Sunlight” from Raisin
Watch: Raisin at the 1974 Tony Awards
Raisin was nominated for nine Tony Awards and won two, for Best Musical and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Virginia Capers).
“Broadway last night got its first new musical of the season. It is a strange one but a good one, it warms the heart and touches the soul. The musical is “Raisin,” and it has come to Broadway via Washington's Arena Stage. It is based on the late Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 watershed of a play “A Raisin in the Sun.”
Clive Barnes - The New York Times
“Raisin is one of those unusual musicals that should not only delight people who love musicals, but might also well delight people who don't. It is a show with a heartbeat very much of its own.”
Clive Barnes
The Wiz - Opening: October 21, 1974 - Broadway Theatre
“In the early 1970s, Ken Harper was the program affairs director at WPIX Radio when he had the idea of producing a new musical version of L. Frank Baum’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
…Harper’s version was to be different, for it would place Baum’s story in the context of black culture and would add all new music. William F. Brown was signed on to write the book, and music and lyrics would be contributed by Charlie Smalls.”
Black Broadway - Stewart F. Lane, pg. 186
The Wiz finds Dorothy as the head of an assembled family. Her leadership resonates with 1970s feminism and even more with black women who were heads of their households… Dorothy reprises her first song at the end — the last word in the musical is “home.”
Changed for Good: A Feminist History of The Broadway Musical - Stacy Wolf, pg. 112
“The transformation from white Hollywood musical to black Broadway incorporates a new vocabulary of speech, song, and movement, as well as new meanings for the tropes of “home” and a spiritual journey in a hostile environment.”
Changed for Good: A Feminist History of The Broadway Musical - Stacy Wolf, pg. 113
“The journey of The Wiz to Broadway was fraught with more problems than Dorothy’s journey to Oz. Cast members left, the original director had to be replaced in out-of-town tryouts, and as the play moved toward New York, ticket sales were so low that Harper had closing notices ready for posting on opening night.”
Black Broadway - Stewart F. Lane, pg. 186
Watch: The Wiz’s TV Commercial that Changed Broadway Marketing
Watch: The Wiz - Original Broadway Cast Footage
“Reviews were mixed after The Wiz arrived in New York, but the negative notice in the Times was a sure death knell for the production.”
Black Musical Theatre - Allen Woll, pg. 263
“I wish that everyone else connected with “The Wiz,” which is what Frank Baum’s elderly fairy‐tale is now called at the Majestic, had taken equal time to consider what constitutes good theater.”
“…an editorial appeared in the New York Amsterdam News — the oldest black newspaper in the country — urging black theatergoers to see the play. The editorial explained that white critics might be unable to respond to a story “produced by Blacks, sung by Blacks, and seen predominantly by Blacks on opening night.”
Black Broadway - Stewart F. Lane, pg. 186
Discussion: After reading The Times’ article, do you believe there is inherent bias for a white critic to review a black show?
The Wiz became a huge hit, running for 1,672 performances. The show was nominated for eight Tony Awards and won seven including: Best Musical.
“The Wiz was the only black musical of the 1970s to be filmed by a major studio.”
Black Musical Theatre - Allen Woll, pg. 265
Watch: Stephanie Mills, the original Dorothy on NBC News
Watch: “Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz movie
“…the producers of The Wiz may not have seen themselves as socially significant, and that wasn’t their explicit goal in the content of the show, they were indeed creating socially significant art in that it got produced and succeeded on Broadway.”
Changed for Good: A Feminist History of The Broadway Musical - Stacy Wolf, pg. 114
