Found matches for performing arts in 113 collections.

Ida Roley was a coloratura soprano and actress whose performances include a role in the 1923 edition of Jimmie Cooper's Revue, a burlesque show comprised of approximately seventy cast members, both African American and white. The white owner, producer and actor Jimmie Cooper, combined dancing, singing, jazz, comedy, and blackface in his company. The revue formed part of the circuit of the Columbia Amusement Company and performed in New York, Boston, London, and Montreal. Roley also performed in Shuffle Along (1922) and the play The Conjur Man Dies. She was the lead singer in the choir of Lew Leslie's road company of Blackbirds (1929) in Paris, later performing as a soloist and doing song recitals. She also wrote a few short stories. The Ida Roley collection consists of a scrapbook documenting the career of this entertainer, writings by her, and other material. The scrapbook contains news clippings and programs of Roley's performances in Jimmie Cooper's Revue, Lew Leslie's Blackbirds, Shuffle Along, and Plantation Days (1923), in addition to programs of her solo recitals. The scrapbook, which dates from 1923 to 1933 (bulk dates), also contains snapshots of Roley and other performers, news clippings about other singers, and productions in which she did not appear. In addition, the collection contains handwritten manuscripts for two stories Roley wrote in 1937, "Silver Dollars" and "The Unfaithful Wife." There are also two letters from W.C. Handy (1950) regarding his 77th birthday celebration. less

Emmett "Babe" Wallace is a singer, composer, actor and writer. He has performed in cabarets, musical revues, films and the theater. As a composer and writer, he has produced a voluminous body of musical compositions, poetry essays and journals. Music, songs, poetry, prose, daybooks, scripts, personal papers, printed material, and other papers, relating to Wallace's career in cabarets, musical revues, films, and theater in the United States, Canada, France, and Israel. Themes in his creative work include personal life, civil rights, religion, and politics. less

Pearl Primus (1919-1994) was an internationally recognized dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist. She is best known for presenting African dances, which she researched in Africa; studying their function and meaning; and performing before American audiences. She and her husband and partner, Percival Borde, conducted research in Africa from 1959 through the 1960s, and established a performing arts center in Liberia. However, Primus found her creative impetus in the cultural heritage of African Americans, exploring racism, as well as the dignity, beauty, and strength of Black people. Primus received an M.A. in education (1959) and a Ph.D. (1978) in dance education from New York University. In addition to teaching at such colleges as the five college consortium in Massachusetts, she founded several schools, one of which is the Pearl Primus Dance Language Institute, where her method of blending African American, Caribbean, and African influence with modern dance and ballet was taught. The Pearl Primus collection consists of two interviews conducted by Marcia Ethel Heard (1989) and James Briggs Murray (1992) with Pearl Primus, covering her dance career in the 1940s, the late 1980s, and the meaning of dance to her personally. There are a few programs, news clippings, and articles, as well as eight colored costume sketches for unidentified and undated dances. less

Charles "Cookie" Cook, a vaudeville tap and acrobatic dancer and teacher for more than fifty years, began performing as a child with Garbage and the Two Cans and Sarah Venable and Her Picks. In 1930, he and Ernest (Brownie) Brown formed the headline dance and comedy team Cook and Brown. Their act, seen in such venues as New York's Cotton Club, combined tumbling, dance, and comedic patter. Cook was one of the members of The Copasetics, the fraternity of black entertainers that was influential in the revival of tap dancing in the late 1970s-1980s. Cook also performed in the film Cotton Club, at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and at a 1990 tap festival in New York He died at age 77 in 1991. The Charles "Cookie" Cook Collection is actually a scrapbook that has been dismantled. The material focuses primarily on Cookie's later years with few primary source documents. There are several letters, telegrams, and postcards expressing appreciation for his performances, but no letters written by Cook. The collection also includes programs for performances in which Cook appeared, especially with the tap dance group The Copasetics in New York City, and other venues in the United States and Rome (1980-1995), as well as flyers advertising for a variety of performances in which Cook was featured (1961-1979). There are also programs for shows where jazz musicians, singers, and other artists appeared, in addition to news clippings discussing Cook, other tap dancers, and entertainers. less

Edward D. Coleman was a musical arranger and composer. He was a member of the trio known as Day, Dawn, and Dusk. Coleman was Dawn; the other members of the trio included, at different times, Robert Carver, Augustus Dewey Simons, and Mack Smith. The group performed during the 1930s and 1940s. this collection consists of handwritten sheet music used by the trio Day, Dawn, and Dusk, including some arrangements by Coleman; letters; and clippings. less

Soloist and leading soprano singer in the Mother Zion Church choir and Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in New York City. Jones spent most of her life in Orange County, Virginia, where she was active in church and community affairs. Collection includes Jones's passport and marriage certificate; broadsides and programs regarding her performances; and a portion of a handwritten poem. less

Edith Spencer was an international singer and dancer who appeared in vaudeville, the theatre and in nightclubs during the 1920s and 1930s. She appeared in the Broadway productions of "Runnin' Wild," "Rarin' to Go," and succeeded Florence Mills in "Shuffle Along." Her performances included club engagements and appearances from New York to Los Angeles, London, Paris, and the Far East. After "Shuffle Along" closed, Lottie Gee and Spencer became partners and formed a sister act that was followed by the addition of Allegretti Anderson. The trio was alternately billed as the Harmony Trio, the Creole Beauties, and the Three Dark Sisters. The Edith Spencer Scrapbook documents Spencer's entertainment career and her subsequent employment as a real estate agent. The contents include newspaper clippings, flyers and a photograph of Spencer, Gee and Anderson. less

Rose McClendon was one of the most famous black dramatic actresses of the 1920s and 1930s. Although she did not become a professional actor until she was in her thirties, she consistently won critical acclaim for many of her acting roles and influenced the careers of many aspiring black actors of the period. less

Ellabelle Davis was a soprano opera singer. Prior to her career as a concert singer, she worked as a dressmaker. Davis began her musical career at The Town Hall in 1942. She was the first African American to play the lead role of Aida during her 1946 performance at the Opera Nacional in Mexico. She resumed her role as Aida at La Scala in 1949 and recorded for Decca in February 1950. Posthumously, an opera based on Davis was performed in 2009 and she was inducted into the New Rochelle Walk of Fame in 2011. This collection consists of performance programs, news clippings, and personal papers pertaining to Ellabelle Davis's career as an opera singer. A few programs document her appearance in a concert with Black composer Harry T. Burleigh. less

Hilda Simms (1920-1994) was an actress best known for playing the title role in the American Negro Theater production of Anna Lucasta that moved successfully to Broadway in 1944. Her acting career also included film, television, and radio broadcasts. The Hilda Simms papers date from the 1930s to 1994 (bulk dates 1940s-1950s) and document her career as an actress; her work on creative arts and drug treatment programs in New York; and her personal life. less

Mabel Mercer (1900-1984) was a singer, song stylist, and night club entertainer. Born in England in 1900 to a Black musician father, Benjamin Mercer, and a white English vaudevillian mother, Emily Wadham Stonehouse, Mercer started her show business career at the age of fourteen. She joined a song and dance act with her mother and aunt in Europe. Later, in the 1920s, she appeared in Lew Leslie's Blackbirds in London, as part of a vocal trio. Around this time, Mercer started studying singing, with aspirations of becoming a concert singer. In the 1920s and 1930s, she was a successful night club singer in Paris, appearing at Ada "Bricktop" Smith's Bricktop's. She made her first appearance in the U.S. in 1938 and settled here in 1941, after marrying singer Kelsey Pharr, a member of the Delta Rhythm Boys. Mercer became an American citizen in 1952, where she was known as one of the most popular supper club singers for many years. The Mabel Mercer collection consists of articles, correspondence, interviews and profiles, publicity flyers, programs, and a scrapbook. less

Alma Lillie Hubbard was an African-American soprano who introduced Marc Connelly, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning play, The Green Pastures (1930), to the black churches of New Orleans. She also selected many of the spirituals that were sung in the production and performed in the chorus of the touring company in the 1930s. Hubbard studied music and voice at a number of institutions including Straight College where she also trained to be a Jubilee singer with two graduates of Fisk University who organized the first Jubilee clubs at that college, as well as Chicago's American Conservatory of Music, Columbia University in 1931 (Rosenwald scholarship), and the Juilliard School of Music where she received a master's degree. The Alma Lillie Hubbard papers consist of letters written to Hubbard from her first husband, Berry Hubbard, her mother and godmother, and from Gladys Mike of the Apollo Theater listing names of performers there for one week in February 1934. Other letters concern Hubbard's performances, education, and personal financial affairs. Hubbard authored one letter in the collection. Other material includes memo pads listing songs she performed, preparatory material for recitals and lessons she gave, and personal expenses. News clippings are primarily reviews of the touring performances of The Green Pastures in the South and Midwest in 1933-1934. less

Minto Cato, an opera singer and actress, was born in 1900 and died in 1979. A member of the National Negro Opera Company, she also appeared in productions of Gentlemen Unafraid (1938) and Showboat (1938-1942) at the St. Louis Municipal Theater ("The Muny"), and on Broadway in Blackbirds (1930) and John Henry (1940). On film, Cato acted in The Girl from Chicago (1932) and The End of the River (1947). This collection contains correspondence, certificates, and news clippings pertaining to the life and career of Minto Cato. less

This collection consists of material pertaining to Harrison's portrayal of "de Lawd" in the play The Green Pastures, written by Marc Connelly. Material primarily includes news clippings about Harrison and the play; Harrison's death in 1935; drafts of lectures given by Harrison; letters to Harrison from family members and others, including Paul Lawrence Dunbar; programs and playbills; and a biography of Harrison entitled "Even Playing 'De Lawd': Some Experiences from the Life of Richard Harrison" written by Olive L. Jeter. Jeter used the materials in this collection and her notes from discussions with Harrison for the biography. Additionally, there are two scrapbooks compiled by Jeter after Harrison's tours with Green Pastures." less

African-American soprano soloist, Berniece Hall made her Broadway debut in Finian's Rainbow (1953), and from 1956 to 1958 she performed in De Paur's Opera Gala. She also performed with Voices Inc. in Trumpets of the Lord (1963) at the French National Festival of the Arts in Paris in 1966. After the Festival, Hall remained in Italy and toured several other European countries, performing in a variety of venues. She lived in Italy for 4 years returning to live permanently in the United States in 1970. The Berniece Hall Papers document her professional career in North America and Europe. The Personal papers are comprised of biographical information, correspondence from friends and well-wishers, and financial records. The Professional papers contain correspondence pertaining to Hall's professional life, performance schedules for various events, some materials pertaining to Voices, Inc., scripts, song lists and lyrics, programs, posters and newspaper clippings. less

Interracial organization devoted to the discovery and promotion of talented black artists and educating people on the contributions of black artists to the performing arts. Constitution and bylaws, financial and legal documents, financial reports, correspondence to private individuals as well as government institutions, news clippings, and other printed material relating to the Society. Also, Aldridge family papers consisting of copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates, and correspondence to and from Ira Aldridge and other family members. less

Trinidadian actor and singer Edric Connor was instrumental in introducing Afro-American and Caribbean music and theater to British audiences. Pearl Connor was an actress and manager of the Pearl Connor Agency, a talent agency which represented African, Asian, and Caribbean artists residing in Britain. This collection contains material related to Edric Connor's career, the Pearl Connor Agency, and a number of Caribbean immigrant organizations with which they were involved. less

The Owen Dodson collection consists principally of printed matter describing Dodson's career as a poet, playwright, and novelist. There are programs, obituaries and a memorial, a few of his poems, and an extensive bibliography. Additionally, the collection contains a handwritten poem (ca. 1940s), postcards written to his friend Sol Gordon, court documents, and correspondence regarding Dodson's estate and his will. less

The Ralph Brown papers focus on the career of this tap dancer, with an emphasis on his performances in the 1980s. Among the documents are his public relations material and programs for the show 1000 Years of Jazz, when it toured nationally and internationally, and the special gala at Washington, D.C.'s Ford Theatre. Brown's performances in the Broadway and Paris productions of Black and Blue are represented by programs, reviews, contact lists, and associated material. A file discusses other tours in which he performed in France, 1983-1989. Programs (1930s-1988) for a variety of venues in which he appeared primarily in New York and France, contracts, and news clippings can also be found in this collection. less

Louise Evans Briggs-Hall (1921-1992) was the first African-American woman to become a member of the United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, in the early 1950s. She began her career directing children's theatre. She later added stage scenic production and costume and lighting design to her list of accomplishments. Considered an African-American pioneer in the field of costume and set design, Briggs-Hall also directed theatrical productions. The Louise Evans Briggs-Hall Theatre Collection consists of funeral programs, playbills, flyers, and reviews for productions directed and designed by Briggs-Hall. less

The Ed Hall Papers consist of correspondence concerning professional and personal matters (1944-1983), and a poem authored by Owen Dodson. Several letters are from Ted Shine and George Rose, and one letter each are from director Lloyd Richards, Bobby Short, Thornton Wilder, Boston Globe drama critic Kevin Kelly, Vinnette Carroll, and a telegram from Lorraine Hansberry. There are also several contracts for the productions in which he acted, including television shows. A file for Zulu and the Zayda contains quarterly financial reports for 1965-1966, showing that Hall was a small investor in the production. The collection includes obituaries and other articles with information about Hall's career. less

The Schomburg Programs and Playbills collection consists of thousands of programs, playbills, and other ephemera, spanning the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries, documenting Black theatrical, musical, and dance performances, as well as events put on by Black academic, community, religious, and political organizations. less

An actor and producer, A. Lincoln Harris reportedly was the first black playwright to feature black people in dramatic works. He produced several plays among them "The Advanced Negro," " Waena," "High Life in Haiti" and "A Trusted Friend" that featured the Lincoln Harris Players founded by Harris. Advertisements and reviews of plays comprise the contents in the scrapbook. The majority of articles, however, deal with the accomplishments of black people especially in sports. less

Pearl Bailey (1918-1990) was an African American actress and singer. In films, she was known chiefly for two roles: Maria in Porgy and Bess(1959) and Frankie in Carmen Jones (1954). She was also known for her starring role on Broadway in an all-Black cast version of Hello Dolly. During World War II, Bailey toured with the USO, performing for American troops. Beginning in 1946, she was a top attraction in nightclubs, variety houses, and television programs in the United States and Britain. At age 67, in 1985, she graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in theology. Between 1968 and 1989, she published six books on her life, cooking, and educational experiences. Bailey served as a special ambassador to the United Nations in 1975 and 1989, and in 1988, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Pearl Bailey letters (1943-1989) consist of correspondence between Bailey and her friend, Lillian Morrison, a published author, compiler, and editor of children's and young adult books as well as a librarian at the New York Public Library, 110th Street Branch. Most of the letters were written by Bailey, and refer to her various endeavors, including her USO work at Fort Huachucha in Arizona; recordings of the song "Tired", which was one of her hit songs; Disney's The Fox and the Hound, for which she provided one of the voices; and her service with the United Nations. As both women were published authors, several of the letters make reference to this fact and to their long friendship and shared birthday, March 29, 1918. The letters do not provide a great amount of detail about Bailey's show business career. less