well, That's Show Biz, 02-09-2025 3-44 Black History Month 2025

Black History Month 2025

“Well, That’s Show Biz!”

2-09-2025

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• Welcome to “well, That’s Show Biz!”. I am your host, Jeremy Freedman, and each week I bring you music from Broadway, Movies, and Entertainers along with some anecdotes, information, and commentary all based on a theme.

• February is Black History Month and so on this week’s show we are going to highlight some important firsts in African American Broadway History.

• The first African American woman to win the Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award was Diahann Carroll for 1962s No Strings, the only musical for which Richard Rodgers wrote the lyrics AND the music. We are going to hear Diahann Carroll and costar Richard Kiley sing “The Sweetest Sounds” from No Strings.

• You just heard Diahann Carroll and Richard Kiley sing “The Sweetest Sounds” from No Strings the show for which Diahann Carroll won the Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award, a first for an African American.

• But she was not the first Black actor to win a Tony. That honor goes to Juanita Hall who won for Best Featured Actress in a musical for playing Bloody Mary in South Pacific. Here is Juanita Hall singing “Happy Talk” from South Pacific.

• You just heard Juanita Hall singing “Happy Talk” from South Pacific, the first Black Actress to win a Tony Award.

• The first major African American Hit Musical was 1921s Shuffle Along by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake. Here are two songs from the 1950 revival, “If You’ve Never Been Vamped by a Brownskin” and “I’m Just Wild About Harry”.

• You just heard “If You’ve Never Been Vamped by a Brownskin” and “I’m Just Wild About Harry” from Shuffle Along, the first African American hit musical.

• If you were to ask anyone, arguably the most famous African American musical would be Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, and DuBose Heyward. For this set we are going to hear four songs from Porgy and Bess, “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’”, “Bess, You Is My Woman Now”, “It Ain’t Necessarily So”, and “There’s a Boat That’s Leaving Soon for New York”.

• You just heard “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’”, “Bess, You Is My Woman Now”, “It Ain’t Necessarily So”, and “There’s a Boat That’s Leaving Soon for New York” all from Porgy and Bess as we celebrate Black History Month today on “well, That’s Show Biz!”.

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• We are celebrating Black History Month today with major achievements of African Americans on Broadway.

• Audra McDonald has the distinction of winning the most Tony Awards in history including the first to win all four of the major acting awards. They are Best Featured Actress in a Musical for 1994s Carousel, Best Featured Actress in a Play for 1996s Master Class, Best Featured Actress in a Musical for 1998s Ragtime, Best Actress in a Play for 2004s A Raisin In The Sun, Best Actress in a Musical for 2012s Porgy and Bess, and Best Actress in a Play for 2014s Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar & Grill. And she will probably win her 7th this year for Gypsy.  Here is Audra McDonald with “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess, with Brian Stokes Mitchell singing “Wheels of a Dream” from Ragtime, and “God Bless the Child” from Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar & Grill.

• You just heard Audra McDonald singing “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess, with Brian Stokes Mitchell singing “Wheels of a Dream” from Ragtime, and “God Bless the Child” from Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar & Grill.

• We are celebrating Black History Month today with major achievements of African Americans on Broadway.

• Actor, dancer, choreographer, designer Geoffrey Holder was the first African American to win the Tony Awards for both Best Director and Best Costume Design for his work on 1975s The Wiz. We are going to hear “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News”,  “Believe in Yourself”, this from the 2024 revival, and “Ease On Down the Road”. Here is The Wiz.

• And now to close out today’s show on Black History Month, here is the Finale from Bring in ‘da Noise / Bring in ‘da Funk, a musical revue that uses tap dancing to tell the story of Black History from slavery to today.

• You just hear the finale from Bring in ‘da Noise / Bring in ‘da Funk as we complete today’s celebration of Black History Month.

• (Next Week’s Show)

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