Darryl Maximilian Robinson Recalls Tony Award Winner Leslie Uggams In 'Hallelujah, Baby!'

 

Remembering 1968 Tony Award Winner for Best Leading Actress In A Musical Leslie Uggams In The 1968 Tony Award Winner for Best Musical On Broadway "Hallelujah Baby!":

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long before the wonderful actress and singer and dancer Leslie Uggams delighted a new generation of audiences in her effective supporting role as the mother in the 2024 Oscar-winning film "American Fiction," she had cemented a legacy for herself over many years in the diverse mediums of stage, screen and television.

 

 

 

Before her acclaimed Best Lead Actress Primetime Emmy Award-nominated performance as Kizzy in the landmark 1970s ABC television miniseries "Roots," Leslie Uggams had established herself as a Broadway stage star in the 1967 Broadway musical production of "Hallelujah Baby!," a song-filled show ( with a book by noted American playwright Arthur Laurents and featuring a 1968 Tony Award-winning Best Score by Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green ) which addressed the struggles and racism ( in scenes of both humor and drama ) and highlighted what African-Americans who desired success in show business faced over a period of decades from the time of early Jim Crow through the Civil Rights Movement.

 

 

 

 

Playing opposite handsome and skilled African-American stage, screen and television leading man Robert Hooks ( who earned his sole career 1968 Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actor In A Musical for his role of Clem ) and gifted African-American singer and character actress Lillian Hayman ( who earned a 1968 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress In A Musical for her role as Momma ), Leslie Uggams, in 1968, made theatre history as the second African-American female performer ever to win a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress In A Musical for her dazzling performance as Georgina Franklin.

 

 

 

Here is a link to the national treasure Leslie Uggams and friends performing the title musical number from the 1968 Tony Award Winner for Best Musical on Broadway, "Hallelujah, Baby!".

 

Enjoy.

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