I’m blessed to have grown up with a dad who, for a short time, was in the theater and performed on Broadway. I’m also grateful that as a New Yorker, I’ve had the chance to go to many Broadway shows over the years. Very early on, I became a musical theater fan, joining the millions of other people who not only go to see shows, but also buy cast albums.
In honor of the 76th Tony Awards taking place Sunday night, I thought it would be fun to take a dive into Tonys music history. This week, we’ll feature some Black female award winners from the past in honor of the first African American and first Black woman to win a Tony: Juanita Hall.
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Black Music Sunday is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music. With over 150 stories (and counting) covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack, I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new.
First, a little Tony Awards history, courtesy of the Tonys website:
The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards® got their start in 1947 when the Wing established an awards program to celebrate excellence in the theatre.
Named for Antoinette Perry, an actress, director, producer, and the dynamic wartime leader of the American Theatre Wing who had recently passed away, the Tony Awards made their official debut at a dinner in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel on Easter Sunday, April 6, 1947. Vera Allen, Perry’s successor as chairwoman of the Wing, presided over an evening that included dining, dancing, and a program of entertainment. The dress code was black tie optional, and the performers who took to the stage included Mickey Rooney, Herb Shriner, Ethel Waters, and David Wayne. Eleven Tonys were presented in seven categories, and there were eight special awards, including one for Vincent Sardi, proprietor of the eponymous eatery on West 44th Street. Big winners that night included José Ferrer, Arthur Miller, Helen Hayes, Ingrid Bergman, Patricia Neal, Elia Kazan and Agnes de Mille.
In 1950, three years after the Tonys were established, singer and actress Juanita Hall would become the first Black American and first Black American woman to receive a Tony Award. Hall won Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in “South Pacific,” a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical based on James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1946 book, "Tales of the South Pacific."
In the production, Hall was cast as Bloody Mary, a Tonkinese islander. She would also go on to a major role in another Rodgers and Hammerstein production, “Flower Drum Song,” where she played a Chinese American character. This would lead to many people around the globe being unaware of Hall’s Black roots and background, and her superb performances as a jazz and blues singer.
Patrick Lombardi wrote about Hall’s beginnings for Best of New Jersey.
Musician and actress Juanita Hall was born on November 6, 1901, in Keyport, Monmouth County. A mix of African American (father) and Irish American (mother) descent, Hall is best known for her work on both Broadway and the big screen; including her stage roles in South Pacific and Flower Drum Song, as well as their film adaptations.
Hall lost her mother at a young age, so she and her three siblings were raised by her maternal grandparents. She attended early schooling at the Bordentown Industrial School in Burlington County; this residential school for African-American students closed in the 1950s.
Growing up, Juanita Hall sang in her church’s choir. After graduating from Keyport High School in her hometown, she received classical training at the Julliard School for performing arts. During this time, she was also working at the Lincoln settlement house in East Orange, Essex County; teaching music to children during the day, and then instructing the home’s adult chorus members in the evening.
Black Past continues Hall’s story:
Hall’s early career was in singing and choir directing. From 1935 to 1944 she directed the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Chorus. From 1941 to 1942 she also directed the Westchester (New York) Chorale and Dramatics Association. In the early 1940s she led the Juanita Hall Choir, which performed on radio with Rudy Vallee and Kate Smith and in 1949 the Juanita Hall Choir performed in the film Miracle in Harlem.
In 1935 Hall performed with the Lafayette Players, an African American theatrical troupe. Her first major acting role came in 1943 when she appeared on Broadway in The Pirate. Other Broadway acting opportunities came and she performed in Sing Out, Sweet Land, Saint Louis Woman, Deep Are the Roots, The Secret Room, Street Scene, and The Ponder Heart, all between 1943 and 1956.
Hall’s major break came in 1949 when she was cast as “Bloody Mary” in Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein’s South Pacific at New York’s Majestic Theatre. In 1950 Hall became the first African American to win a Tony Award when she was named Best Supporting Actress for her role in South Pacific. Hall played “Bloody Mary” for over 1,900 performances of South Pacific before beginning a brief a career as a nightclub singer performing mostly in Greenwich Village venues. In the early 1950s Hall starred in the radio soap opera The Story of Ruby Valentine.
Here is a 1952 television clip of Hall singing “Bali Hai” from “South Pacific.”
Masterworks Broadway completes Hall’s biography:
After her stint in South Pacific, Hall portrayed the proprietor of a Caribbean brothel in House of Flowers (1954) – by the unusual team of Truman Capote and Harold Arlen – which featured Diahann Carroll’s Broadway debut and starred Pearl Bailey.
In 1956 Hall played Narciss in The Ponder Heart, a play based on Eudora Welty’s story of the same name, and in 1958 she returned to Rodgers and Hammerstein as a member of the original cast of Flower Drum Song, playing the sly Madam Liang. The musical, focusing on the plight of Asian Americans, was the first on Broadway to feature a predominantly Asian cast, though Hall was an exception.
Original cast recordings of South Pacific, House of Flowers, and Flower Drum Song – all featuring Hall – are available through Sony.
In addition to her work on the stage, Hall played her famous Rodgers and Hammerstein roles in the movie adaptations of South Pacific (1959) and Flower Drum Song (1961), though her singing in South Pacific was dubbed by Muriel Smith.
Hall died in Bay Shore, New York, in 1968.
Hall also sang the blues.
She also formed her own gospel choir, which can be heard on this WNYC radio broadcast.
Twelve years after Hall’s Supporting Actress win made history, Diahann Carroll became the first Black woman to receive the coveted Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Tony in 1962 for her role in “No Strings.”
Check out this November 1962 performance from Carroll on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
Like many former students at New York City’s High School of Music and Art, I fangirled Carroll. We were all aware she was an illustrious alumni.
Famous African Americans details Carroll’s beginnings:
Carol Diahann Johnson was born on July 17, 1935 to John Johnson and Mabel ,in the Bronx, New York. During her infancy, the family moved to Harlem. She was sent to Music & Art High School for dance and music, which her parents openly supported. At the age of 15, she did a modeling stint for Ebony magazine. Upon her graduation, she went on to New York University to major in sociology. She finally got a big career break when she was landed a spot on Dumont Television Network program, Chance of a Lifetime as a contestant. Carroll won thousand dollars top prize for her rendition of Jerome Kern’s single “Why Was I Born?”. Afterwards, she began to perform at nightclubs and cafes, including Manhattan’s Café Society and Latin Quarter clubs.
In 1954, she made her debut in Carmen Jones, playing a supporting character to the lead. The same year she appeared in a Broadway play, House of Flowers.The film adaptation of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess starred Carroll but her voice was dubbed by an opera singer. In 1961, she was casted alongside with Sidney Poitier, Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman in film Paris Blues. The following year she was awarded the Tony Award for playing the character of Barbara Woodruff in the Samuel A. Taylor’s musical, No Strings.
Gwen Ifill hosted this wonderful interview with Carroll for PBS’ “The HistoryMakers” in 2005.
From the YouTube notes:
This hour-long, one-on-one interview program provided a rare and insightful look into the life and career of legendary entertainer Diahann Carroll. Taped live in Washington, D.C. at George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium on Saturday, May 7, 2005, this program was the seventh in The HistoryMakers’ An Evening With... series. Television journalist, moderator and managing editor of Washington Week, Gwen Ifill interviewed actress and singer Diahann Carroll with Discover Financial Services LLC serving as the event’s title sponsor. Diahann Carroll is a true legend. She is one of America’s major performing talents with a career on the Broadway stage, as a Las Vegas headliner and as an actress in both motion pictures and on television. In the interview, Carroll told her life story, shared her experiences working in the entertainment industry and offered her feelings about being a pioneer and inspiring future minority actresses. She talked about her sitcom Julia, working with Sidney Poitier, her Oscar nomination and her roles on the 1980s prime time soap operas, Dynasty and A Different World.
Here’s Carroll singing Alec Wilder’s popular standard, “I’ll Be Around,” from her 1967 album “Nobody Sees Me Cry.”
In 1964, Carol Channing won the Tony for her lead performance in “Hello Dolly.” Though she is currently listed with “African American Tony Award Winners,” since she “passed for white” most of her performing life, I’ll pass on featuring her here today.
In 1968, Lillian Heyman and Leslie Uggams both won Tonys for their performances in “Hallelujah, Baby!” They are shown here at the awards ceremony, along with Robert Hooks.
Uggams was born in Harlem on May 25, 1943, and HarlemWorld Magazine chronicles her beginnings there.
Her father was a singer with the Hall Johnson choir and her mother was a dancer. She attended the Professional Children’s School of New York and Juilliard. She met her husband, Grahame Pratt while she was performing in Sydney, Australia; they married in 1965. After their wedding, the couple decided to reside in New York, in part to avoid Australia’s racial segregation laws of that time.
From Uggams’ website press kit:
At the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, 9 year-old Leslie opened for such legends as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington. She also made appearances on "Your Show of Shows,""the Milton Berle Show," and "The Arthur Godfrey Show." Embracing her love of music, Leslie attended the New York Professional Children's School,and at the age of 15 appeared on the CBS-TV quiz show "Name That Tune," winning $12,500 toward her college education. Her appearance proved to be fortuitous. Mitch Miller, head of recordings for Columbia Records, was so impressed by her vocal talents that he signed her to a recording contract and then made her a regular on "Sing Along With Mitch." As such, Leslie Uggams became the first African-American performer to be regularly featured on a weekly, national prime time television series.
Concurrent with her musical composition and theory studies at the Julliard School, Leslie released the first of 10 albums she was to record for Columbia Records, including her first hit single, Morgan. Alternating major night club appearances with her stage work, Leslie appeared in the musical "The Boyfriend" in Berkeley, California, and soon made her Broadway debut as the lead in "Hallelujah, Baby!"
That performance earned Leslie the 1968 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Broadway Musical Comedy. She followed that with a starring role in her next Broadway show, "Her First Roman," opposite Richard Riley.
Here’s 12-year-old Uggams on the “Show of Shows” in March 1954.
In this contribution to the Television Academy Foundation’s oral history series, Uggams talks about the Southern resistance to her appearing on “Sing Along With Mitch” as a teen.
Uggams’ story continues on her website:
Leslie again made history by becoming the first African-American woman to star in her own musical variety television series, The Leslie Uggams Show, on CBS-TV. She also signed a new recording contract with Atlantic Records. In 1972, she made her dramatic film debut opposite Charlton Heston in the MGM motion picture Skyjacked, followed by Black Girl, the acclaimed film directed by Ossie Davis. However, it was Leslie's portrayal of Kizzy in the landmark 1977 television mini-series Alex Haley's Roots – at the time the most watched dramatic show in television history – that won her worldwide recognition as a dramatic actress. For her unforgettable performance Leslie earned the Critics Choice Award (Best Supporting Actress) and was nominated for both Emmy and Hollywood Foreign Press Association Golden Globe awards (Best Leading Actress).
Two years later Leslie starred in another acclaimed miniseries, Backstairs at the White House, in which she portrayed White House maid Lillian Rogers Parks. Based on Parks’ biographical account of her 30-year career that covered eight presidential administrations, the mini-series preceded the much heralded movie The Butler by 35 years! The ABC-TV movie of the week Sizzle was next followed by the HBO special Christmas at Radio City Music Hall. In 1982 Leslie won an Emmy as co-host of the NBC-TV series Fantasy.
Thanks to YouTube, we get a chance to see some of the memorable moments from Uggams’ short-lived variety show. Here she is with the Temptations in December 1969.
I love Uggams’ show tunes, so I’ll close with “If He Walked Into My Life” from “Mame.”
I didn’t even make it into the 1970s, when Melba Moore, Linda Hopkins, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Delores Hall, Nell Carter, and Virginia Capers made their own Tonys history, so join me in the comments for lots more … and be sure to post your favorite tunes from our Tony sistahs. And be sure to let me know: Will you be watching the Tonys tonight?
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