GOLDEN BOY BROADWAY PLAY LONDON 1968 WITH AUTOGRAPH OF
BEN VEREEN
MARK DAWSON
ALFRED PERRYMAN
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Golden Boy is a 1964 musical with a book by Clifford Odets and William Gibson, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse.
Based on the 1937 play of the same name by Odets, it focuses on Joe Wellington, a young man from Harlem who, despite his family's objections, turns to prizefighting as a means of escaping his ghetto roots and finding fame and fortune. He crosses paths with Mephistopheles-like promoter Eddie Satin and eventually betrays his manager Tom Moody when he becomes romantically involved with Moody's girlfriend Lorna Moon.
Al Perryman, African American dancer, choreographer and instructor, studied ballet, modern, jazz, tap and African dance. Born in Monroe, Louisiana in 1945, he grew up in New York City. Perryman began dancing at age three and made his television debut at nine on the "Perry Como Show" and later appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and in television specials. A versatile dancer, he performed with Dinizulu, Olatunji, Eleo Pomare, JoJo Smith, and the Brooklyn Dance Theatre which he founded in 1979. Perryman appeared on Broadway in "Purlie," "Two Gentleman of Verona," "Raisin," "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" and "The Wiz," and choreographed the Broadway musical "Amen Corner" in 1983. He taught jazz and modern dance at Iowa University, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and the Philadelphia Dance Company, and was the artistic director of the Brooklyn Dance Theatre. In addition, Perryman taught dance at universities around the countries, and at community organizations to the youth in urban areas. Perryman appeared frequently with his dance partner, Loretta Abbott. He was well known for his recreation of Earl "Snakehips" Tucker for the Brooklyn Academy of Music's production of "Dance--Black in America," as well as his dance done to "Mr. Bojangles.". The Al Perryman Papers document his dance career and consist of scripts for productions, programs, broadsides and playbills from plays in which Perryman performed, sketches of designs by Perryman, choreography and lighting notes, contracts and agreements, Brooklyn Dance Theatre financial and legal records, correspondence, news clippings and reviews. There are also notices, awards and programs prepared in honor of Perryman, produced after his death.
Performers
Replacements and additional info can be seen by clicking on a linked role.
Original Cast
...
Tom Moody
Mark Dawson
...
Roxy Gottlieb
Louis Basile
...
Tokio
Frank Nastasi
...
Lorna Moon
1 replacement
Gloria De Haven
...
Joe Wellington
Sammy Davis, Jr.
...
Ronnie
John Bassette
...
Mrs. Wellington
Hilda Haynes
...
Anna
Altovise Gore
...
Frank Wellington
Al Kirk
...
Eddie Satin
Lon Satton
...
Lola
Lola Falana
...
Les
Lester Wilson
...
Lopez
Tony Catanzaro
...
Reporter
Dan Frazer
...
Baayork
Baayork Lee
...
Fight Announcer
Ben Vereen
...
Driscoll
John Gorrin
...
Al
Albert Popwell
Swings/Alternates
No swings or alternates listed yet.
Standbys
No standbys listed yet.
Understudies
No understudies listed yet.
General Replacements
No general replacements listed yet. For specific replacements, click the role above.
Staff/Creative
Staging
...
Director
Michael Thoma
...
Director (New York)
Arthur Penn
...
Dances and Musical Numbers
Jaime Rogers
Lester Wilson
...
Choreography (original)
Donald McKayle
Design
...
Production Design
Tony Walton
...
Lighting
Tharon Musser
Music
...
Musical Direction
Shepard Coleman
...
Orchestrations
Ralph Burns
Danny Hurd
Producers
...
Producer
Hillard Elkins
...
Producers (in association with)
Bernard Delfont
Arthur Lewis
...
Producer (by arrangement with)
Leslie A. Macdonnell
Film
No film credits listed yet.
Production Writers
No writing credits listed yet.
Misc. Credits
...
Costume Coordinator
Florence Klotz
Golden Boy is a 1964 musical with a book by Clifford Odets and William Gibson, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse.
Based on the 1937 play of the same name by Odets, it focuses on Joe Wellington, a young man from Harlem who, despite his family's objections, turns to prizefighting as a means of escaping his ghetto roots and finding fame and fortune. He crosses paths with Mephistopheles-like promoter Eddie Satin and eventually betrays his manager Tom Moody when he becomes romantically involved with Moody's girlfriend Lorna Moon.
Contents
1 Background
2 Productions
3 In other media
4 Song list
5 Awards and nominations
5.1 Original Broadway production
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
Background
Producer Hillard Elkins planned the project specifically for Sammy Davis, Jr. and lured Odets out of semi-retirement to write the book. The original play centered on Italian American Joe Bonaparte, the son of poverty-stricken immigrants with a disapproving brother who works as a labor organizer.[1] Elkins envisioned an updated version that would reflect the struggles of an ambitious young African American at the onset of the Civil Rights Movement and include socially relevant references to the changing times.
In Odets' original book, Joe was a sensitive would-be surgeon fighting in order to pay his way through college, but careful to protect his hands from serious damage so he could achieve his goal of saving the lives of blacks ignored by white doctors.[1] In an ironic twist, the hands he hoped would heal kill a man in the ring.
Productions
Following the Detroit tryout, Odets died and Gibson was hired to rework the script.[1] The ideals of the noble plot were abandoned in a revision in which Joe evolved into an angry man who, embittered by the constant prejudice he faces, uses his fists to fight his frustrations. His brother became a worker for CORE, and the subtle romance between Joe and the white Lorna developed into an explicit affair capped by a kiss that shocked audiences already having difficulty adjusting to a heavily urban jazz score and mentions of Malcolm X.[2] This was a far cry from the musical comedies Hello, Dolly! and Funny Girl, both popular holdovers from the previous theatrical season.
The Broadway production, directed by Arthur Penn and choreographed by Donald McKayle, opened on October 20, 1964 at the Majestic Theatre, where it ran for 568 performances and twenty-five previews. In addition to Davis, the cast included Billy Daniels as Eddie Satin, Kenneth Tobey as Tom Moody, Jaimie Rogers as Lopez and Paula Wayne as Lorna Moon, with Johnny Brown, Lola Falana, Louis Gossett, Al Kirk, Baayork Lee, and Theresa Merritt in supporting roles.[3]
An original cast recording was released by Capitol Records. One song from the score, "This Is the Life", later became a hit in a cover version recorded by Matt Monro. Art Blakey recorded a jazz version of the score in 1964 and Quincy Jones' Golden Boy (Mercury, 1964) featured three versions of the theme.
Davis reprised his role for the 1968 West End production at the London Palladium, the first book musical ever to play in the theatre.[1][4]
Porchlight Music Theatre presented Golden Boy as a part of "Porchlight Revisits" in which they stage three forgotten musicals per year. It was in Chicago, Illinois in February 2014. It was directed by Chuck Smith, choreographed by Dina DiCostanzio, and music directed by Austin Cook. [5]
In other media
Necco (New England Confectionery Company) created a short-lived candy bar inspired by Davis and the musical. It was called "Golden Boy".
Song list
Act I
"Workout"
"Night Song"
"Everything's Great"
"Gimme Some"
"Stick Around"
"Don't Forget 127th Street"
"Lorna's Here"
"The Road Tour"
"This is the Life"
Act II
"Golden Boy"
"While the City Sleeps"
"Colorful"
"I Want to Be with You"
"Can't You See It?"
"No More"
"The Fight"
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
Year Award Category Nominee Result
1965 Tony Award Best Musical Nominated
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Sammy Davis, Jr. Nominated
Best Choreography Donald McKayle Nominated
Best Producer of a Musical Hillard Elkins Nominated
Clifford Odets’ timeless drama Golden Boy tells the story of a young Italian New Yorker in the late 1930s who pursues “the American dream” of fame and fortune and, by doing so, loses everything he holds dear. The play premiered in 1937 to great fanfare, and now Lincoln Center Theater is presenting the first Broadway revival in 60 years. Starring Seth Numrich, Tony Shalhoub, Yvonne Strahovski and Danny Burstein and directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher, this production proves that Golden Boy still packs a punch. Read on to learn about the world of Odets, the stars who have flocked to his work and why Golden Boy holds up 75 years later.
A Theater Unlike Any Other
Playwright Clifford Odets was born to Jewish immigrants in Philadelphia in 1906. At age 17, he dropped out of school to pursue a career in acting, and in 1931, at 25, he became a founding member of the Group Theatre, created by Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg. They recruited 28 actors to form their new company, which would dedicate itself to mounting original American plays that would shine a spotlight on the turbulent life of the country and its citizens.
The Group Theatre approached acting based on Strasberg’s “method,” a new interpretation of Constantin Stanislavsky’s radical technique. “What touched me as a playwright was the Group Theatre—its method of acting, its ensemble ideal and its ensemble performance,” Odets said in an interview reprinted in Lincoln Center Theater Review. “I don’t think, still, that in our day anyone could put together such a company but Lee Strasberg.”
Odets put the the Group Theatre on the theatrical map in 1935 when they debuted his left-leaning play Awake and Sing!, which was soon followed by Waiting for Lefty and Paradise Lost. “The Group couldn’t have done it without Clifford, and he could never have done it without them,” Ellen Adler, daughter of Stella Adler, said in an interview published by Lincoln Center Theater Review.
A Golden Idea for a New Play
By the end of the 1930s, the Group Theatre was near its end, and founder Harold Clurman ventured to Los Angeles, where Odets was working as a screenwriter. After learning of the company's downward spiral, Odets had an idea for a new play that would save it: Golden Boy.
“I really wrote the play to be a hit, to keep the Group Theater together. And it was a hit. It was my first really big hit,” Odets said.
Golden Boy tells the cautionary tale of Joe Bonaparte, the son of Italian immigrants and a violin prodigy who is lured into the lucrative world of prizefighting. The original production opened at Broadway's Belasco Theatre on November 4, 1937 and starred Luther Adler as Joe, Frances Farmer as Lorna and featured Lee J. Cobb, Elia Kazan and John Garfield in supporting roles.
“[Golden Boy] is a genuine American tragedy,” current Broadway director Bartlett Sher wrote. “Awake and Sing! took on a variety of issues but was essentially concentrated on a family's life in the Bronx. Golden Boy is a much bigger canvas. It has a damaged woman, Lorna, who is unlike any female character being written then. And there's a gay gangster who is also singular. Odets was very forward-thinking." The play also touched on the oppressive social climate for Italian and Jewish immigrants in New York at the time.
The play ran 250 performances on Broadway before being adapted into a 1939 film. William Holden made his big-screen debut as Joe, with box office darling Barbara Stanwyck as his love interest, Lorna, and Group Theatre member Lee J. Cobb as Joe's father.
Breaking Stereotypes and Boundaries
In March 1952, Golden Boy returned to Broadway at the American National Theare and Academy (ANTA). Odets directed the first Broadway revival, which starred original Broadway cast members John Garfield as Joe and Lee J. Cobb as his father. This Golden Boy closed after a mere 55 performances. “John Garfield always wanted to play the part," Odets recalled. "[But] by then, there were clichés, there was a set of stereotypes for playing that play. Garfield and Cobb fell right into the stereotypes. And it was very difficult to direct them out of those stereotypes.”
It took 12 years to figure out how to break Golden Boy out of its rut: by transforming it into a musical, with a book by Odets and William Gibson, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams. Superstar Rat Packer Sammy Davis Jr. signed on to play Joe Wellington, a young African American man looking to pull himself out of the Harlem ghetto. The musical also featured an interracial love affair between Joe and Lorna. Odets passed away during the creation of Golden Boy, and Gibson took several liberties, including the removal of Odets’ subplot that Joe was an aspiring surgeon who hoped to use his hands to heal instead of hurt.
Thanks to Davis, the highest paid actor in Broadway history at the time ($10,000 a week), Golden Boy ran for 568 performances at the Majestic Theatre after opening on October 20, 1964. It went on to be nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actor in a Musical. Two years later, the show became first book musical to play the London Palladium. Golden Boy was given a fresh concert presentation by Encores! in 2002. Directed by Tony winner Walter Bobbie, the show starred Alfonso Ribeiro as Joe, Anastasia Barzee as Lorna and Tony nominee Norm Lewis as racketeer Eddie Satin.
Golden Boy Returns to the Ring
In 2012, Lincoln Center Theater announced that it would revive Odets’ classic for a 75th anniversary production at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre, where it first opened in 1937. This lush new production was to be helmed by Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher, who also directed LCT’s Tony-winning revival of Odets’ Awake and Sing!
“I am trying to make the play true for what it is,” Sher wrote on the show’s site. “I have to trust that it still has something to tell us, and that there is still some continuity in how audiences experience the piece." Actor Daniel Jenkins mused on the play's power to Broadway.com, saying, “We think of [Odets] as literature but seeing it come to three dimensional life with amazing actors and an incredible director, it’s like, ‘Wow!’”
The revival stars War Horse alum Seth Numrich as Joe, Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub as his father, Australian screen actress Yvonne Strahvoski as Lorna and three-time Tony nominee Danny Burstein as Joe’s manager, Tokio. The anniversary production also features a complete production team of Tony winners: Michael Yeargan (sets), Catherine Zuber (costumes) and Donald Holder (lights).
“Every day at Golden Boy is like a master class,” Burstein told Broadway.com. “This is one of the best ensemble casts I’ve ever gotten to work with; from the very beginning, everyone has been completely prepared and on their ‘A’ game. Clifford Odets is New York’s Shakespeare—his language is poetic and beautiful, and for me, having grown up in New York City, it’s like mother’s milk.”
Throughout the country in the early 1960s, the issues of civil rights — voter’s rights and voter registration for blacks, integration, and fairness and equality in the workplace — were in the news and on television nearly every day, but mostly absent on Broadway. In 1962, Richard Rodgers produced the first musical he had attempted since the death of Oscar Hammerstein II, in 1960, an original piece called “No Strings,” for which he would write both the lyrics and the music. Set in contemporary Paris, “No Strings” was about a love affair between an expatriate writer and a fashion model. The model, an American, was played by Diahann Carroll, an exquisite and talented black actress and singer, who had made her Broadway debut in 1954. Although the interracial aspect of the romance was apparent to anyone who was watching, it was never mentioned specifically; Rodgers had Carroll’s character refer to her growing up “north of Central Park.” Well, so had Richard Rodgers, but clearly he meant something else. A show that looked to be socially progressive appeared, upon reflection, to be finicky at best, cowardly at worst.
Producer Hillard Elkins had an obsession with signing Sammy Davis, Jr. to a Broadway contract. It wasn’t the craziest idea in the world; Davis, one of the biggest nightclub and concert attractions of the 1960s, had starred in a 1956 Broadway musical called “Mr. Wonderful,” a semirevue about — imagine that — a talented, young, black nightclub singer, dancer, and impressionist. Elkins caught up with Davis in London and dangled the prospect of adapting Clifford Odets’ 1937 play “Golden Boy” into a musical. The original play was one of the depression era’s great dramas, about a boxer who in his quest for ambition loses his soul — and his life. It would be a serious musical and, in signing Davis, Elkins determined that it would not only be updated but also reflect the struggles of an ambitious young black man in America. The songwriting team of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams were signed, and Odets himself came out of semiretirement to adapt the book.
Sammy Davis, Jr. in "Golden Boy."
Sammy Davis, Jr. in "Golden Boy."
As “Golden Boy” moved toward its 1964 opening, the project began to accommodate its star and, more compellingly, its times. Davis’ character was originally called Joe Bonaparte, a poor Italian American, the son of immigrants with a disapproving brother who works as a labor organizer. Here, in one of the show’s rare bits of whimsy, he’s renamed Joe Wellington, a Harlem resident, whose brother now works for CORE (the Congress of Racial Equality). Strouse and Adams provided a score that banked heavily and effectively on urban jazz. One of Davis’ nine numbers (nine numbers, plus a prize fight at the show’s climax, is an unfathomably large load for a performer — even Davis) has him returning as a success to his old neighborhood. In a funky gospel number, Davis and his cohorts mock both white attitudes and George M. Cohan:
Don’t forget One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Street —
Don’t forget your happy Harlem home!
Don’t forget One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Street —
No, siree! There’s no slum like your own!
Don’t forget the cultural life on this here street —
Richer than the outside world suspects!
Hark! The cheerful patter of all the junkies’ feet —
And the soothing tones of Malcolm X!
It was undoubtedly the first time a Broadway audience had heard Malcolm X mentioned in a show. Even better, it was the first time an audience had been confronted with anger, real anger, in a musical for a long time. The social and political frustration in “Golden Boy” — its hero asks, “Who do you fight/When you want to break out/But your skin is your cage?” — brought the anger of the musicals of the 1930s to the issue of civil rights.
In the original, Joe has a doomed love affair with the mistress of his manager, Lorna. In 1964, the woman was still the mistress of the manager, but now she was white. The kiss between Joe and Lorna in Act Two sent off shock waves during the show’s tryouts.
Sammy Davis, Jr. as prize-fighter Joe Wellington with Paula Wayne, playing Lorna Moon.
Sammy Davis, Jr. as prize-fighter Joe Wellington with Paula Wayne, playing Lorna Moon.
Although its tryouts were troubled by other creative issues, “Golden Boy” eventually opened as a slick, stark, well-intentioned piece of Broadway craftsmanship, with a dynamite, once-in-a-lifetime performance by Davis at its center. Despite its ethical message, the show still wowed audiences for its sheer performance quality, and Elkins insulated Davis and the company from the various death threats and other hostilities leveled against the musical. Soon after the opening, Martin Luther King Jr. came to see it. He admired its message, particularly a number called “No More”:
Well, you had your way! No more! Well, it ain’t your day No more! Well, I’m standing up, I ain’t on the floor. I ain’t bowin’ down No more!
The early ’70s saw the emergence of several shows where the creative staff and the cast were predominately African American. There were nonlinear musicals that put the urban black experience front and center, like Melvin van Peebles’ “Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death” (1971), with its undercurrent of social protest, and Vinette Carroll’s more celebratory “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope” (1972), both nurtured by the Black Arts movement. There were more traditional adaptations of earlier black plays, such as “Purlie” (1970), which launched the careers of Cleavon Little and Melba Moore, and “Raisin” (1973), a version of Lorraine Hansberry’s groundbreaking “A Raisin in the Sun.” “Purlie” and “Raisin” achieved a measure of commercial and critical success, but the show’s writers were a mixture of whites and blacks.
André De Shields as The Wiz.
André De Shields as The Wiz.
The first completely black mainstream musical of the 1970s came from a time-honored source, THE WIZARD OF OZ. A black producer in New York, Ken Harper, saw the possibilities of reinventing the story in a manner that would access the popularity of Motown, SOUL TRAIN, Afrocentric fashion, and the black urban movies that were developing a greater crossover audience across the country in the early part of the decade. He hired a black composer/lyricist named Charlie Smalls (who, tragically, died soon after the show opened) and got the film company 20th Century Fox to put up the $650,000 investment. “Ease on Down the Road” became the show’s infectious theme, as Dorothy and her three friends ventured forth to see “The Wiz,” but the musical’s tryouts on the real-life road were anything but easy. When it arrived on Broadway at the very beginning of 1975, it met with apathy from the largely white critical community and was on the verge of closing.
Producer Harper bypassed the traditional press campaign to advertise the show and turned directly to the television audience, with a joyous, bubbly commercial aimed — rather unsubtly — at getting black seven-year-olds to ask their parents to “ease on down the road” called Broadway. Coupled with word of mouth and the black community’s skill at organizing theater parties and group sales, the television commercial turned “The Wiz” into a “wow.” It ran 1,672 performances, followed by an immensely successful national tour. There was now a black audience for Broadway shows, an audience that, THE NEW YORK TIMES wrote in 1975, “the white theater establishment has for years been saying did not exist.”
It seemed possible now for black and white audiences to revel in the glories of African-American culture from earlier in the century, and a plethora of revues brought the black music of the 1920s and ’30s to the Broadway stage for the first time since the music first appeared. “Bubbling Brown Sugar” relived the experience of the Harlem Renaissance in 1976, followed by “Ain’t Misbehavin'” in 1978, which was so expert at bringing Fats Waller’s music to the public through an amusing, talented cast of five that it won the Tony Award® for Best Musical. Eubie Blake had his moment in the spotlight — literally, on stage at the age of 94, in “Eubie!” (1979), and Duke Ellington’s song catalogue was elegantly staged as “Sophisticated Ladies” in 1981.
he London Palladium opened on Boxing Day 1910 with the first 'grand variety bill' featuring acts as diverse as Nellie Wallace and classical actor Martin Harvey. The Frank Matcham designed building occupies a site which was previously home to a Corinthian Bazaar, Henglers Grand Cirque and the National Ice Skating Palace. By the 1950s the theatre was known as the 'Ace Variety Theatre of the World', a reputation enhanced by the enormous worldwide popularity of ATV's Sunday Night at the London Palladium. For many years it played host to the annual Royal Variety Performance and was the home of London's most spectacular pantomimes.
The history of performances at The Palladium is by its very nature little more than a list of star names. The great and the good from both stage and screen queued up to top the bill at 'the world's most famous theatre' and audiences flocked to see them.
Famous bill toppers in the 1920s included Harry Houdini, Dickie Henderson, Gracie Fields, Billy Bennett, Sophie Tucker, Burns & Allen, Jackie Coogan and Ivor Novello.
In 1930 The Palladium hosted the first Royal Variety Performance and the following year the first Crazy Week which brought together the famous Crazy Gang, and the theatre became their home with later shows including Life Begins at Oxford Circus and Round About Regent Street. Other stars of the 1930s included Jack Benny, Paul Robeson, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ramon Navarro, Cab Calloway, Ethel Barrymore, Josephine Baker, Fats Waller and Tom Mix.
In 1940 Top of the World played only four performances before being closed by the Blitz but the theatre soon reopened in 1941 with Max Miller and Vera Lynn in Apple Sauce. Star names of the 1940s included Arthur Lucan (Old Mother Riley) and Kitty McShane, Tommy Trinder, Elisabeth Welch, Tessie O'Shea, Jewel & Warris, Gracie Fields, Betty Hutton, Dinah Shore, the Andrews Sisters, Carmen Miranda, Martha Raye and Laurel and Hardy.
In 1945 Val Parnell took over as director and general manager and began a regular policy of importing major American stars, the first great success being Danny Kaye. Kathryn Grayson, Eleanor Powell, Harpo and Chico Marx, Benny Goodman, Dorothy Lamour, Frank Sinatra, Abbott and Costello, Nat King Cole, Donald O'Connor, Hoagy Carmichael, Judy Garland, Jimmy Durante, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope and Gypsy Rose Lee all followed. Home grown talents to top the bill were Max Bygraves, Julie Andrews, Alma Cogan, Harry Secombe, Terry Thomas, Billy Cotton, Charlie Drake, Cilla Black, Norman Wisdom, Des O'Connor, Frankie Howerd, Ken Dodd, Tommy Steele, Ronnie Corbett, Arthur Askey and Shirley Bassey.
Sunday Night at The London Palladium was first broadcast in 1955 and made stars of its hosts Bruce Forsyth, Norman Vaughan and Jimmy Tarbuck.
The annual lavish pantomimes featured the biggest stars of the day including Cliff Richard and the Shadows in 1964 and 1966.
In 1968 Sammy Davis Jr starred in Golden Boy, the Palladium's first proper musical show (as opposed to panto or revue), based on the Clifford Odets play.
The next musical was Harold Fielding's Hans Anderson starring Tommy Steele, which was booked for the 1974 Christmas season, stayed for a year and returned in 1977.
In 1979 The King and I arrived with Yul Brynner recreating his most famous role supported by Virginia McKenna and John Bennett. 1981 saw Michael Crawford star in Harold Fielding's production of Barnum and the next spectacular followed in 1983 with Fielding's stage premiere of Singin' in the Rain with Tommy Steele, Roy Castle, Sarah Payne and Danielle Carson (revived in 1989).
In 1986 a two-week season with Liza Minnelli was followed by Jerry Herman's La Cage Aux Folles starring George Hearn and Denis Quilley. Ziegfeld the Musical, starring Len Cariou and later Topol opened and closed in 1988. Other successful shows include a stage version of 'Allo 'Allo with all of the television cast including Gordon Kaye and Carmen Silvera (twice), The Pirates of Penzance with Paul Nicholas and Bonnie Langford, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber starring Sarah Brightman, and an award-winning production of Show Boat produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and Opera North (two seasons).
Meanwhile variety was kept alive with seasons by Ken Dodd, Russ Abbott and Bruce Forsyth, not to mention regular Sunday concerts.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's new production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat had an enormously successful run with Jason Donovan, and subsequently Phillip Schofield in the title role. In 1994 Fiddler on the Roof with Topol as Tevye played a three-month season prior to Cameron Mackintosh's production of Lionel Bart's Oliver! This opened with Jonathan Pryce as Fagin and Sally Dexter as Nancy, was directed by Sam Mendes and choreographed by Matthew Bourne. Subsequent Fagins included George Layton, Russ Abbott, Robert Lindsay, Barry Humphries and Jim Dale.
Bruce Forsyth celebrated his 70th birthday in 1998 with a week-long run of his one-man show and a special Sunday Night at the London Palladium television broadcast with Diana Ross. Robert Stigwood, Paul Nicholas and David Ian produced the stage premiere of the Bee Gee's Saturday Night Fever with Adam Garcia as Tony Manero.
The London Palladium became a Really Useful Theatre in 2000 when Lord Lloyd-Webber's Really Useful Group and Bridgepoint Capital purchased Stoll Moss Theatres Ltd. Elaine Paige and Jason Scott Lee starred in a lavish revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I.
The famous but outdated revolving stage was removed at the start of 2002 to accommodate the state-of-art technology required to make a car fly in the world premiere of the stage spectacular Chitty Chitty Bang Bang based on the 1968 film. Chitty now holds the record as the longest-running show ever to play The Palladium with 1,414 performances.
The 2005 seasonal run of Scrooge saw Tommy Steele consolidate his position as the performer to have headlined more productions at the London Palladium than any other star. A plaque celebrating this fact was unveiled in the Cinderella Bar opposite the recently donated bust of Bruce Forsyth.
2006 saw the return of Sinatra to the Palladium stage in an all singing and dancing technological concert prior to the opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian's new production of The Sound of Music.
Since December 2005 the London Palladium has been owned 100% by the Really Useful Group Limited
Performers
Replacements and additional info can be seen by clicking on a linked role.
Original Cast
...
Tom Moody
Mark Dawson
...
Roxy Gottlieb
Louis Basile
...
Tokio
Frank Nastasi
...
Lorna Moon
1 replacement
Gloria De Haven
...
Joe Wellington
Sammy Davis, Jr.
...
Ronnie
John Bassette
...
Mrs. Wellington
Hilda Haynes
...
Anna
Altovise Gore
...
Frank Wellington
Al Kirk
...
Eddie Satin
Lon Satton
...
Lola
Lola Falana
...
Les
Lester Wilson
...
Lopez
Tony Catanzaro
...
Reporter
Dan Frazer
...
Baayork
Baayork Lee
...
Fight Announcer
Ben Vereen
...
Driscoll
John Gorrin
...
Al
Albert Popwell
Swings/Alternates
No swings or alternates listed yet.
Standbys
No standbys listed yet.
Understudies
No understudies listed yet.
General Replacements
No general replacements listed yet. For specific replacements, click the role above.
Staff/Creative
Staging
...
Director
Michael Thoma
...
Director (New York)
Arthur Penn
...
Dances and Musical Numbers
Jaime Rogers
Lester Wilson
...
Choreography (original)
Donald McKayle
Design
...
Production Design
Tony Walton
...
Lighting
Tharon Musser
Music
...
Musical Direction
Shepard Coleman
...
Orchestrations
Ralph Burns
Danny Hurd
Producers
...
Producer
Hillard Elkins
...
Producers (in association with)
Bernard Delfont
Arthur Lewis
...
Producer (by arrangement with)
Leslie A. Macdonnell
Film
No film credits listed yet.
Production Writers
No writing credits listed yet.
Misc. Credits
...
Costume Coordinator
Florence Klotz
Benjamin Augustus Vereen (born October 10, 1946) is an American actor, dancer, and singer who has appeared in numerous Broadway theatre shows. Vereen graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Stage
2.2 Television
3 Filmography
3.1 Television work
4 Awards
5 Personal life
6 Sexual misconduct allegations
7 References
8 External links
Early life
Vereen was born Benjamin Augustus Middleton on October 10, 1946, in Laurinburg, North Carolina.[2][3][4] While still an infant, Vereen and his family relocated to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City. He was adopted by James Vereen, a paint-factory worker, and his wife, Pauline, who worked as a maid and theatre wardrobe mistress.[5] He discovered he was adopted when he applied for a passport to join Sammy Davis Jr. on a tour of "Golden Boy" to London when he was 25.[6] He was raised Pentecostal.[7]
During his pre-teen years, he exhibited an innate talent for drama and dance and often performed in local variety shows. At the age of 14, Vereen enrolled at the High School of Performing Arts, where he studied under world-renowned choreographers Martha Graham, George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins. Upon his graduation, he struggled to find suitable stage work and was often forced to take odd jobs to supplement his income.
Career
Stage
When Vereen was 18 years old he made his New York stage bow off-off Broadway in The Prodigal Son at the Greenwich Mews Theater. By the following year, he was in Las Vegas, performing in Bob Fosse's production of Sweet Charity, a show with which he toured in 1967–68. He returned to New York City to play Claude in Hair in the Broadway production, before joining the national touring company.
The following year, he was cast opposite Davis in the film adaptation of Sweet Charity. After developing a rapport with Davis, Vereen was cast as his understudy in the upcoming production of Golden Boy, which toured England and ended the run at the Palladium Theatre in London's West End.
Vereen was nominated for a Tony Award for Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972 and won a Tony for his appearance in Pippin in 1973. Vereen appeared in the Broadway musical Wicked as the Wizard of Oz in 2005. Vereen has also performed in one-man shows and actively lectures on black history and inspirational topics.
Year Title Role Venue Type Notes
1965 The Prodigal Son Dancer Greenwich Mews Theater Off-Broadway Choreography by Martha Graham
1967–68 Sweet Charity Dancer US & Canada Tour Touring Cast by Bob Fosse for the US Touring Company
1968–72 Hair Hud Biltmore Theatre Broadway Alternated roles: Hud & Claude
1968 Hair Claude National Tour Broadway
1968 Golden Boy Understudy to
Sammy Davis Jr. London Palladium Touring International Tour
1970 Gurton's Apocalyptic Needle Alternate roles The New Troupe Touring Touring company repertory included:
The Holy Ghostly & Melodrama Play
1970 Don't Call Me Toby Singer/Dancer The New Troupe Touring Touring company
1970–71 No Place to be Somebody Alternate roles Touring Company Touring
1971–73 Jesus Christ Superstar Judas Iscariot Mark Hellinger Theatre Broadway Nominee for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1972–74 Pippin Leading Player Imperial Theater Broadway,
U.S. tour Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical
1985 Grind LeRoy Mark Hellinger Theatre Broadway
1992–93 Jelly's Last Jam Chimney Man Shubert Theater Broadway Replacement
1995–96 A Christmas Carol Ghost of Christmas Present Madison Square Garden Broadway
1999 Chicago Billy Flynn U.S. & Canada Tour Touring
2001 Fosse Performer Shubert Theater Broadway Replacement
2002 I'm not Rappaport Midge Shubert Theater Broadway,
U.S. tour Revival, Play, Comedy
2003 The Exonerated Actor Off-Broadway Off Broadway
2005-6 Wicked The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Gershwin Theatre Broadway Replacement
Television
Vereen in 2007
Vereen has also starred in numerous television programs, and is well known for the role of 'Chicken' George Moore in Alex Haley's landmark TV miniseries Roots, for which he received an Emmy nomination in 1977.
Vereen's four-week summer variety series, Ben Vereen ... Comin' At Ya, aired on NBC in August 1975 and featured regulars Lola Falana, Avery Schreiber and Liz Torres.
In 1978, on a Boston Pops TV special, Vereen performed a tribute to Bert Williams, complete with period makeup and attire, and reprising Williams' high-kick dance steps, to vaudeville standards such as "Waitin' for the Robert E. Lee".
In 1981, Vereen performed at Ronald Reagan's first inauguration. The performance generated controversy as Vereen performed the first part of the show in blackface. Before the finale, ABC cut the live performance, generating confusion and anger from viewers at home.[8] According to video artist Edgar Arcenaux, what TV viewers didn’t see was the second part of the performance, in which Vereen mimicked being refused service because of his color while trying to buy the Republican elite a congratulatory drink. As Arceneaux explains, Vereen's performance was meant as a critique of Republican civil rights policies, but the TV audience didn't get to see it.[9]
Vereen was cast opposite Jeff Goldblum in the short-lived detective series Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980). During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Vereen worked steadily on television with projects ranging from the sitcom Webster to the drama Silk Stalkings.
In 1985, Vereen starred in the Faerie Tale Theatre series as Puss in Boots alongside Gregory Hines. He appeared on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode, "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse", in which he played Will Smith's biological father, Lou Smith. He made several appearances on the 1980s sitcom Webster as the title character's biological uncle.
He also appeared as Mayor Ben (a leopard) on the children's program Zoobilee Zoo and as Itsy Bitsy Spider in Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme. In 1993 he appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Interface" as the father of Roots co-star LeVar Burton's character Geordi La Forge; fellow Roots star Madge Sinclair appeared in the same episode as Geordi's mother. In Roots, Vereen had played "Chicken George", the grandson of Burton's character Kunta Kinte.[10] He also appeared on the television series The Nanny episode "Pishke Business". In 2010, he appeared on the television series How I Met Your Mother episodes "Cleaning House" and "False Positive" as Sam Gibbs, the long lost father of James Gibbs, Barney Stinson's brother. He returned in 2013 and 2014 for another two episodes.
Filmography
The handprints of Ben Vereen in front of Theater of the Stars at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park
Sweet Charity (1969) as Dancer
Gas-s-s-s (1970) as Carlos
Funny Lady (1975) as Bert Robbins
All That Jazz (1979) as O'Connor Flood
This Boxer Wears a Shirt (1980)
Cycling Through China (1982, Documentary) as Himself
Sabine (1982) as Stanley
The Zoo Gang (1985) as The Winch
Buy & Cell (1988) as Shaka
Once Upon a Forest (1993) as Phineas (voice)
Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998) as Richard Barrett
I'll Take You There (1999) as Mr. Gwin
The Painting (2001) as Whistlin' Willie Weston
Idlewild (2006) as Percy Senior
And Then Came Love (2007) as Chuck Cooper
Accidental Friendship (2008, TV Movie) as Wes
Tapioca (2009) as Nuts
21 and a Wake-Up (2009) as General Garner
Mama, I Want to Sing! (2011) as Horace Payne
Broadway: The Next Generation (2011, Documentary)
Khumba (2013) as Mkhulu, the Elder Zebra (voice)
Top Five (2014) as Carl
Time Out of Mind (2014) as Dixon
Television work
Ben Vereen... Comin' at Ya (1975) (summer replacement series – only four episodes produced)
Louis Armstrong – Chicago Style (1976)
The Muppet Show (1976)
Roots (1977) (miniseries)
The Carol Burnett Show (1977)
The Sentry Collection Presents Ben Vereen: His Roots (1978)
Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980) (canceled after 12 episodes)
Pippin: His Life and Times (1981)
The Love Boat (1982)
SCTV 1984
The Charmkins (1983) as Dragonweed (voice)
The Jesse Owens Story (1984)
Ellis Island (1984)
Webster (cast member from 1984 to 1985)
AD (1985)
The Magic of David Copperfield VIII: Walking Through the Great Wall of China (1986) (TV special)
Lost in London (1985) roots
Faerie Tale Theatre Puss in Boots (1985)
Zoobilee Zoo (1986–1987)
You Write the Songs (1986–1987)
Jenny's Song (1988)
J.J. Starbuck (cast member in 1988)
Rockin' Through the Decades (1990)
The Kid Who Loved Christmas (1990)
Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme (1990)
Booker: "The Life and Death of Chick Sterling" (Carl McQueen, 1990)
Silk Stalkings (cast member from 1991 to 1993)
Intruders (1992)
Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Interface" (Dr. Edward LaForge, 1993)
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse" (Lou Smith, 1994)
The Nanny: "Pishke Business" (1994)
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman: "Illusions of Grandeur" (Dr. Andre Novak) 1994
Portraits of Courage (1996–1997)
Promised Land (3 episodes in 1999)
The Jamie Foxx Show: "Taps for Royal" (Royal Johnson, 1999)
The Feast of All Saints (2001)
Grey's Anatomy (2007)
Law & Order: Criminal Intent: "Senseless" (Rev. Jeremiah Morris, 2007)
Your Mama Don't Dance (Judge, 2008)
How I Met Your Mother: "Cleaning House", "False Positive", "Mom and Dad" and "The End of the Aisle" (Sam Gibbs, 2010–2014)
NCIS as Lamar Addison (2013)
Hot in Cleveland as Mayor of Cleveland (2 episodes) (2015)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again as Dr. Everett von Scott (TV movie, 2016)
Sneaky Pete as Porter (3 episodes) (2017)
Making History as Dr. Theodore Anthony Cobell (2017)
Magnum P.I. as Henry Barr (1 episode) (2018)
Bull as Willie Lambert (1 episode) (2019)
Awards
Theater
1973 Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical: Pippin [winner]
1973 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance: Pippin [winner]
1972 Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical: Jesus Christ Superstar [nominee]
1972 Theatre World Award: Jesus Christ Superstar [winner]
Television
1985 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television – Nominee
1976 Golden Globe: New Star of the Year – Actor – Nominee
1977 Emmy: Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Variety or Music – Nominee
1977 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series – Nominee
1992 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special – Nominee
Other
The Community Mental Health Council awarded Vereen with their 2004 Lifeline Celebration Achievement Award. For his humanitarian contributions, he has received a number of awards including Israel's Cultural and Humanitarian Awards, three NAACP Image Awards, an Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award and a Victory Award. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Arizona, Emerson College, St. Francis College, and Columbia College in Chicago. In 2001, Medgar Evers College created the Ben Vereen Scholarship for the Performing Arts, and in 2004, he received an Achievement in Excellence Award from his alma mater, the High School of the Performing Arts.
He was the first simultaneous winner of the "Entertainer of the Year," “Rising Star," and "Song and Dance Star" awards from the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA). He also earned a coveted spot in the Casino Legends Hall of Fame.
Vereen was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for his performance in the Hallmark movie An Accidental Friendship. In 2004, Vereen was nominated for a "Career Achievement Award" by the Le Prix International Film Star Awards Organization.
In 2011, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.[11]
In 2012, Vereen was inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Vereen has appeared as a public speaker and humanitarian speaking on such topics as black history, overcoming adversity, and the importance of continuing education.
In 2007, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and has a website in which he shares his personal story along with advice from medical experts.
According to the 'Fayetteville Observer' of April 29, 2006, Vereen learned while applying for a passport in the late 1960s that he was adopted. His birth certificate revealed that his birth name was Benjamin Augustus Middleton, that he was the son of Essie Middleton, and that he was born in Laurinburg, N.C. In April 2006, Vereen visited Scotland County with a genealogist on a search for family members and learned that his mother's name was Essie May Pearson. The Laurinburg Exchange reported: "Vereen, an adoptee who learned that he was born in Laurinburg and made a celebrated trip to Scotland County in 2006 to reconnect with family. While on the trip he learned his mother had died 24 years before, but that several relatives still lived in the area." According to her acquaintances, Essie had gone on a trip when Vereen was a child, and had left her baby in someone's care. When she returned, the child was gone. In the April 28, 2006, interview with the 'Laurinburg Exchange', Vereen said that his visit "has just all been so overwhelming ... I've finally found my family".[12] In May 2006, he met his mother's daughter, (his sister), Gloria Walker, of Derby, Connecticut.[13][14][15] He also has a brother, James Middleton, who lives in Tucson, Arizona.
In the early 1980s, Vereen moved with his family to Saddle River, New Jersey.[16] via Associated Press.
His 16-year-old daughter, Naja, was killed in an auto accident in 1987,[17] on the New Jersey Turnpike when a truck overturned on her car.
In 1992, Vereen suffered three accidents in one day, when his car hit a tree causing him to hit his head on the roof of his car, then he suffered a stroke while he was walking on a Malibu highway, apparently veering into the road where he was struck by a car driven by record producer David Foster. His critical injuries (including a broken leg) required him to undergo arduous physical rehabilitation in the ensuing months.[18][19]
Vereen is the godfather of R&B superstar Usher and is also the first cousin once removed of New York Giants running back Shane Vereen. Vereen was the keynote speaker for the Boys & Girls Clubs in St. Petersburg, Florida annual alumni tribute gala held in October 2007.
In August 2011, Vereen was named Co-Artistic Director of Tampa's Broadway Theatre Project.[20]
In September 2012, Vereen filed for divorce from his wife Nancy Bruner Vereen of 36 years, citing irreconcilable differences.[21]
He is an active Democrat.[22]
Vereen was inducted as an honorary member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity on April 9, 2019.[23]
Sexual misconduct allegations
In January 2018, multiple actresses in a Florida production of Hair directed by Vereen alleged that he had made inappropriate sexual advances towards them throughout the production.[24] Vereen has since apologized for his misconduct.[25]
Al Perryman, African American dancer, choreographer and instructor, studied ballet, modern, jazz, tap and African dance. Born in Monroe, Louisiana in 1945, he grew up in New York City. Perryman began dancing at age three and made his television debut at nine on the "Perry Como Show" and later appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and in television specials. A versatile dancer, he performed with Dinizulu, Olatunji, Eleo Pomare, JoJo Smith, and the Brooklyn Dance Theatre which he founded in 1979. Perryman appeared on Broadway in "Purlie," "Two Gentleman of Verona," "Raisin," "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" and "The Wiz," and choreographed the Broadway musical "Amen Corner" in 1983. He taught jazz and modern dance at Iowa University, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and the Philadelphia Dance Company, and was the artistic director of the Brooklyn Dance Theatre. In addition, Perryman taught dance at universities around the countries, and at community organizations to the youth in urban areas. Perryman appeared frequently with his dance partner, Loretta Abbott. He was well known for his recreation of Earl "Snakehips" Tucker for the Brooklyn Academy of Music's production of "Dance--Black in America," as well as his dance done to "Mr. Bojangles.". The Al Perryman Papers document his dance career and consist of scripts for productions, programs, broadsides and playbills from plays in which Perryman performed, sketches of designs by Perryman, choreography and lighting notes, contracts and agreements, Brooklyn Dance Theatre financial and legal records, correspondence, news clippings and reviews. There are also notices, awards and programs prepared in honor of Perryman, produced after his death.