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Black Broadway: African Americans on the Great White Way (Hardcover)

Name: Black Broadway: African Americans on the Great White Way (Hardcover)
Brand: Stewart F Lane; Kenny Leon
SKU: 22233524
Price: 30.99 USD
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Black Broadway: African Americans on the Great White Way (Hardcover)Black Broadway African Americans on the Great White Way Hardcover 9780757003882

Book Format:Hardcover

Key item features

Publishers Weekly,Filled with black-and-white photos and illustrations, this richly informative book by six-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Lane honors the legacy of determined African-American performers and ground-breaking productions, spanning from the polarizing early years of the minstrel shows through the vaudeville heyday of the 1880s and to the glittering Jazz Age of the 1920s, the post-World War II era of the 1950s, and the 1960s. The book, supported by a foreword by noted Broadway producer Kenny Leon, highlights such entertainers as Ira Aldridge, Bert Williams, George Walker, the Whitman sisters, Scott Joplin, Paul Robeson, Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, Ethel Waters, Florence Mills, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, August Wilson, Gregory Hines, and Audra McDonald, all dedicated to altering social and political attitudes. With photo stills and original theater-bill cover art, this is a wonderful, insightful history of black theater. (Feb.) �� Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.,Publishers Weekly,Publishers Weekly,Filled with black-and-white photos and illustrations, this richly informative book by six-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Lane honors the legacy of determined African-American performers and ground-breaking productions, spanning from the polarizing early years of the minstrel shows through the vaudeville heyday of the 1880s and to the glittering Jazz Age of the 1920s, the post-World War II era of the 1950s, and the 1960s. The book, supported by a foreword by noted Broadway producer Kenny Leon, highlights such entertainers as Ira Aldridge, Bert Williams, George Walker, the Whitman sisters, Scott Joplin, Paul Robeson, Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, Ethel Waters, Florence Mills, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, August Wilson, Gregory Hines, and Audra McDonald, all dedicated to altering social and political attitudes. With photo stills and original theater-bill cover art, this is a wonderful, insightful history of black theater. (Feb.) �� Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Specs

Book format
Hardcover
Fiction/nonfiction
Non-Fiction
Genre
History
Publication date
February, 2015
Pages
288
Reading level
General (US: Trade)

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The African-American actors and actresses whose names have shone brightly on Broadway marquees earned their place in history not only through hard work, perseverance, and talent, but also because of the legacy left by those who came before them. Like the doors of many professions, those of the theater world were shut to minorities for decades. While the Civil War may have freed the slaves, it was not until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s that the playing field began to level. In this remarkable book, theater producer and historian Stewart F. Lane uses words and pictures to capture this tumultuous century and to highlight the rocky road that black actors have travelled to reach recognition on the Great White Way.

After the Civil War, the popularity of the minstrel shows grew by leaps and bounds throughout the country. African Americans were portrayed by whites, who would entertain audiences in black face. While the depiction of blacks was highly demeaning, it opened the door to African-American performers, and by the late 1800s, a number of them were playing to full houses. By the 1920s, the Jazz Age was in full swing, allowing black musicians and composers to reach wider audiences. And in the thirties, musicals such as George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and Eubie Blake's Swing It opened the door a little wider.

As the years passed, black performers continued to gain ground. In the 1940s, Broadway productions of Cabin in the Sky, Carmen Jones, and St. Louis Woman enabled African Americans to demonstrate a fuller range of talents, and Paul Robeson reached national prominence in his awarding-winning portrayal of Othello. By the 1950s and '60s, more black actors--including Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, and Sidney Poitier--had found their voices on stage, and black playwrights and directors had begun to make their marks.

Black Broadway provides an entertaining, poignant history of a Broadway of which few are aware. By focusing a spotlight on both performers long forgotten and on those whom we still hold dear, this unique book offers a story well worth telling.

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Specifications

Book format

Hardcover

Fiction/nonfiction

Non-Fiction

Genre

History

Publication date

February, 2015

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