|
Lew Leslie (April 15, 1888 or 1890 – March 10, 1963)〔(Cary D. Wintz, Paul Finkelman, ''Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance''.j )〕 was a Broadway writer and producer.〔(IBDB Broadway data base. )〕〔("Lew Leslie's International Revue" ), ''Time'', March 10, 1930.〕〔(Stars of Broadway, Lew Leslie. )〕 Leslie got his start in show business in vaudeville in his early twenties.〔(Lew Leslie - Producer, Director, Vaudevillian" ), Jazz Biographies.〕 ==Career== Although white, Lew Leslie was the first major impresario to present African-American artists on the Broadway stage. He became famous for his stage shows at the Cotton Club and later for his ''Blackbirds'' revues, which he mounted in 1926,〔(Jazz Age Club, Les Ambassadeur Blackbird show, 1926 ), article and pictures.〕 1928, 1930, 1933 and 1939. ''Blackbirds of 1928'' starring Adelaide Hall,〔(Iain Cameron Williams, ''Underneath a Harlem Moon ... the Harlem to Paris years of Adelaide Hall''. )〕〔("Blackbirds of 1928" ), Adelaide Hall photos. MySpace.〕〔(Blackbirds logo. )〕 Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Tim Moore and Aida Ward. was his most successful revue and ran for over one year on Broadway, where it became the hit of the season. The sell-out show transferred to the Moulin Rouge in Paris, France, where it ran for three months before returning to the U.S., where it commenced an American road tour.〔(1929 photograph of the Blackbird troupe ) on board the SS ''Île de France'' en route to Paris, France. Lew Leslie is on the front row.〕 Adelaide Hall starred in the show for just over two years.〔(Poster of Adelaide Hall drawn by Paul Colin for Blackbirds 1929 Paris ). MySpace.〕 The ''Blackbirds'' revues helped advance the career of several famous artists, including Florence Mills, Adelaide Hall, Tim Moore, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Aida Ward and Lottie Gee. Leslie began his career doing a patter act in vaudeville. He had two well-known wives, torch singer Belle Baker and Ziegfeld Follies showgirl Irene Wales. Leslie started his showbusiness career in vaudeville, first as an impressionist then in a double act with Belle Baker to whom he was married for a while. Becoming an agent, he listed among his clients Ben Bernie, Frank Fay and Bea Palmer. He put on a revue starring Baker and Palmer at the Café de Paris, which later became the Plantation Club where Leslie staged ''Plantation Revue'', the second edition of which, in 1922, starred Florence Mills and her husband, dancer Ulysses "Slow Kid" Thompson. Leslie also staged ''Dixie To Broadway'' (1924), again starring Mills and Thompson, and then came his ''Blackbirds'' revues, which began in 1926 with a show also starring Mills. At first, these revues were only moderately successful but they paved the way for ''Blackbirds of 1928''. In January, 1928, ''Blackbirds'' opened at Les Ambassadeurs Club in New York under the heading ''Lew Leslie's Blackbird Revue'', starring Adelaide Hall. On 9 May 1928, the show transferred to the Liberty Theatre, Broadway and was re-titled ''Blackbirds of 1928''. Along with Adelaide Hall, the show also starred Aida Ward and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. The show ran until August the following year, playing a total of 518 performances. The songs were composed by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields, both of whom worked on revues at the Cotton Club. For ''Blackbirds of 1928'' they wrote "Baby!", "Dixie" and "Here Comes My Blackbird", and while these had little life outside the show the same cannot be said for others that became popular: "Diga Diga Doo", "Doin’ The New Low-Down", "I Must Have That Man" and what became a perennial favourite, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby". Leslie’s Broadway shows that followed included several editions of ''Blackbirds''. Ethel Waters appeared in the 1930 edition, the 1934 show had Robinson, and the 1936 show, which also ran in London, featured an appearance by the Nicholas Brothers. The last of the series, ''Blackbirds omf 1939'', included in its cast Lena Horne. Interspersed amidst these revues were other Leslie ventures, including ''The International Revue'' (1930) and ''Rhapsody In Black'' (1931). Although not among the leading Broadway moguls of the '20s, Leslie helped make an important contribution to the integrating of the Broadway musical. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lew Leslie」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|