Ruby Dee Archives - Broadway Black https://www.broadwayblack.com/tag/ruby-dee/ When Theatre Goes Dark Thu, 11 Mar 2021 19:52:11 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://i0.wp.com/www.broadwayblack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cropped-Broadway-Gold-B-1.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Ruby Dee Archives - Broadway Black https://www.broadwayblack.com/tag/ruby-dee/ 32 32 26346292 A Dream Realized: On This Day In Black Theatre History A Raisin In the Sun Debuts on Broadway https://www.broadwayblack.com/a-dream-realized-on-this-day-in-black-theatre-history-a-raisin-in-the-sun-debuts-on-broadway/ https://www.broadwayblack.com/a-dream-realized-on-this-day-in-black-theatre-history-a-raisin-in-the-sun-debuts-on-broadway/#respond Thu, 11 Mar 2021 19:52:11 +0000 https://www.broadwayblack.com/?p=25737 Today marks the 62nd anniversary of the Broadway debut of Lorraine Hansberry’s landmark play A Raisin In the Sun. It was on this date that history was made as Hansberry was the first African American woman to have her play produced and performed on Broadway; it was also the first Broadway play to be directed […]

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Friedman-Abeles/New York Public Library

Today marks the 62nd anniversary of the Broadway debut of Lorraine Hansberry’s landmark play A Raisin In the Sun. It was on this date that history was made as Hansberry was the first African American woman to have her play produced and performed on Broadway; it was also the first Broadway play to be directed by a Black person (Lloyd Richards). It opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater (and later moved to the Belasco Theater) on March 11, 1959, and played for a total of 530 performances before closing on June 25, 1960.

The play centers around the Youngers: a family of five that lives in a 2-bedroom apartment on the Southside of Chicago. Set to the backdrop of post-WWII, the family’s pursuit of success is driven by the idealization of the American dream; often thwarted by the consequential effects of racism, cultural appropriation and identity, and generational differences. Hansberry gives the reader, and oftentimes the performer, an eye-opening look into the Black experience in America with questions of freedom – educational and economic – ruling the conversation.

The play echoes many of the circumstances and accounts of the playwright’s family from the 1940 Supreme Court case of Hansberry v. Lee, which gave them a voice in the judicial system to fight against racial discrimination in the housing market.  Inspired by that, she wrote parts of her truth through the language of a family who only wanted their slice of the American pie; a slice that would feed their spirits in a world that starved them of their identity. 

A Raisin In the Sun has seen a long history on Broadway and around the world. After the original production was nominated in 1960 for four Tony Awards, the story became a universal tale of hope and success. The original production starred Hollywood leading man Sidney Poitier (later succeeded by Ossie Davis), Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Louis Gossett, Ivan Dixon, Lonne Elder III, John Fiedler, Glynn Turman, and Ed Hall. Multiple iterations of Hansberry’s classic have graced the stage and screen over the last 62 years: 

1961 film starring the original Broadway cast. 

Raisin (a musical based on A Raisin In the Sun) debuted on Broadway in 1973. The book was written by Hansberry’s former husband and starred Joe Morton, Debbie Allen, Virginia Capers (Tony winner for Lead Actress in a Musical), Ernestine Jackson, and Ralph Carter. It also won the Tony Award for Best Musical. 

1989 tv film starring Danny Glover and Esther Rolle.

2004 Broadway revival starring Sean Combs, Audra McDonald (Tony winner for Best Featured Actress in a Play), Sanaa Lathan, and Phylicia Rashad (Tony winner for Best Actress in a Play; also the first Black woman to win this award).

2008 tv movie event starring many of the leads of the 2004 Broadway revival. 

2014 Broadway revival at the Ethel Barrymore Theater (where it originally played in 1959) starring Denzel Washington, Sophie Okonedo (Tony winner for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play), Anika Noni Rose, and LaTanya Richardson Jackson. The production also won the Tonys for Best Revival of a Play and Best Direction for Kenny Leon (who also directed the 2008 tv movie). 

The title was inspired by the Langston Hughes poem “Harlem,” which starts out with “what happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” It is the hope in the midst of suffering and the strength in the midst of pain that makes this classic theatre work a blessing to the arts community.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Broadway Black honors Lorraine Hansberry. Your dream is a gift to us all.

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]]> https://www.broadwayblack.com/a-dream-realized-on-this-day-in-black-theatre-history-a-raisin-in-the-sun-debuts-on-broadway/feed/ 0 25737 Life Essentials with Ruby Dee Documentary To Air On Centric https://www.broadwayblack.com/life-essentials-with-ruby-dee-documentary-to-air-on-centric/ https://www.broadwayblack.com/life-essentials-with-ruby-dee-documentary-to-air-on-centric/#respond Wed, 13 Jan 2016 01:44:44 +0000 http://broadwayblack.com/?p=12930 Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee finally has a release date, this Sunday, January 17, at 3:00 p.m. EST on Centric. And what a fitting time for it be released, as this past year has been a constant battle with racial injustices in our country currently. This documentary reminds us of a time when artists used their platforms […]

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]]> Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee finally has a release date, this Sunday, January 17, at 3:00 p.m. EST on Centric. And what a fitting time for it be released, as this past year has been a constant battle with racial injustices in our country currently.

This documentary reminds us of a time when artists used their platforms for more than endorsements, but spoke up about real issues that plagued their communities. When caring about your community was more important than appealing to the white gaze or worrying about how to be politically correct to maintain their “popularity” , Ruby Dee (A Raisin In The Sun) and Ossie Davis weren’t afraid to speak up and out.

Two years before Ruby passed in 2014, her grandson,  Muta’ Ali Muhammad announced a kickstarter campaign to help produce and release a documentary about his grandparents’ lives, activism, and love.

The press release describes the film;

For more than a half century, audiences have been mesmerized by the love story between Hollywood legends Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee. Now, their grandson Muta’Ali unearths the foundation of this unbreakable bond in the documentary “Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee,” which premieres on Centric TV Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 3 pm. Through intimate conversations with the award-winning actress, playwright and activist, Muta’Ali not only discovers intimate details about his grandparents’ relationship, but also questions his ability to carry on the very dynasty that gave him life. In the film, the director breaks the wall between himself and his subject to ask heartfelt questions of his grandmother. “How do you stay faithful? And if I can’t see myself doing that, how can I honestly get married knowing that I could eventually break the heart of the woman I love?”

“I can’t say I didn’t do anything to make Ossie unhappy…” Ms. Dee states as she carefully reveals the core commitment made between her and Mr. Davis. Her answer only sparked more questions for Muta’Ali, provoking him to dig deeper into the family archives and the history that chronicles their remarkable journey as trailblazers in the arts community and activists in the Civil Rights Movement. Muta’Ali also shares exclusive video footage, family photos and memorabilia. In addition, a host of celebrity friends like Alan Alda, Angela Bassett, Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, Hill Harper, Samuel Jackson, Spike Lee, S. Epatha Merkerson, Phylicia Rashad, Glynn Turman, Dr. Cornel West, Sonia Sanchez and Malik Yoba share eyewitness accounts of this American legacy.

Check out the trailer for the feature-length documentary below and be sure to check your local listings to catch Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee this Sunday, January 17, at 3:00 p.m. EST on Centric!

 

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]]> https://www.broadwayblack.com/life-essentials-with-ruby-dee-documentary-to-air-on-centric/feed/ 0 12930 Arthur French Honored with the Paul Robeson Citation Award https://www.broadwayblack.com/arthur-french-honored-paul-robeson-citation-award/ https://www.broadwayblack.com/arthur-french-honored-paul-robeson-citation-award/#respond Sat, 17 Oct 2015 21:09:11 +0000 http://broadwayblack.com/?p=10793 Arthur French is best known for his work as both a Broadway Actor and producer. With a career spanning over fifty years, French has been in several Broadway productions such as The Trip to Bountiful, Dividing the Estate, Mule Bone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Design for Living, You Can’t Take it With You, Death of a […]

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]]> Arthur French is best known for his work as both a Broadway Actor and producer. With a career spanning over fifty years, French has been in several Broadway productions such as The Trip to Bountiful, Dividing the Estate, Mule Bone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Design for Living, You Can’t Take it With You, Death of a Salesman, The Iceman Cometh, The River Niger, Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death and All God’s Chillun Got Wings.

Born and raised in New York, French began his career in community theater. It wasn’t long before he was also performing in street plays in Harlem for Amiri Baraka’s Black Arts Repertory Theater. In 1967 French was one of the founding members of the Negro Ensemble Company. His career however, was not limited to theater. He also has appeared in such notable films as “Malcolm X”, “Crooklyn”, “Car Wash”, “Round Midnight”and “Kinsey”, and on television programs such as “Law and Order”.

In light of his contributions to theatre, Actor’s Equity Association has named him the 2015 recipient of the Paul Robeson Citation award.

French joins other notable recipients of the award such as Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Maya Angelou and Sidney Poitier, among others. According to the website,

Created in 1971, the award honors individuals or organizations that best exemplify and practice the principles to which Mr. Robeson devoted his life:  dedication to the universal brotherhood of all humankind, commitment to the freedom of conscience and of expression, belief in the artist’s responsibility to society, respect for the dignity of the individual and concern for and service to all humans of any race or nationality.

Actors’ Equity Association is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 50,000 Actors and Stage Managers. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans.  Actor’s Equity Association has committed to “…present annual citations to the individual or organization that, during the preceding year or years, best exemplified and practiced the principles and ideals of the great humanitarian, Paul Robeson.”

French will be presented with the award at 2:00 pm on Friday, October 16, 2015 at the Eastern Regional Membership Meeting of Actors’ Equity Association.  We are thrilled to express our appreciation to Arthur French for his contribution to Black Broadway and our congratulations on receiving this well deserved award!

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]]> https://www.broadwayblack.com/arthur-french-honored-paul-robeson-citation-award/feed/ 0 10793 Broadway Black Actors And The Legacy of Activism https://www.broadwayblack.com/black-broadway-actors-and-the-legacy-of-activism/ https://www.broadwayblack.com/black-broadway-actors-and-the-legacy-of-activism/#respond Mon, 22 Jun 2015 15:33:55 +0000 http://broadwayblack.com/?p=7150 Black actors on Broadway have a long legacy of being activists for social change. Paul Robeson was famously quoted as saying, “The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative.”  The tradition of Black actors on Broadway using their talent and name […]

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]]> Black actors on Broadway have a long legacy of being activists for social change. Paul Robeson was famously quoted as saying, “The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative.”  The tradition of Black actors on Broadway using their talent and name recognition in order to advance a variety of causes, particularly issues that deal with civil rights, has carried out for almost as long as Broadway has existed.

Perhaps most prominently, Ruby Dee and Ozzie Davis were civil rights activists.  Known for her work with the American Negro Theatre and roles in “Do the Right Thing” and “American Gangster,” Dee was a member of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), the NAACP, SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee),  and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Notably, she emceed the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  Her husband, Davis, was nominated for two Tony Awards; in 1958 as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Musical) for Jamaica, and in 1970 as co-author of the book for Best Musical nominee, Purlie.  Davis delivered Malcolm X’s eulogy, which can be heard at the end of the film “Malcolm X,” and also gave a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the day after his assassination, at a memorial in New York’s Central Park.

Current Broadway stars have continued this dedication to activism. In July 2014, over 100 members of the Broadway community came together to send a message about police violence and the killing of Eric Garner.  Nik Walker (Motown, Peter and the Starcatcher) participated in the Times Square performance and said, “As artists, it’s very easy to blind ourselves to the issues plaguing our world today. This meeting won’t be to take a side in the Ferguson case. We just want to promote a respectful and productive conversation, so that events like this are never forgotten…and always learned from.”

Daniel J. Watts (After Midnight, Motown, Memphis, In The Heights) also used his talent to spotlight the Ferguson community, Michael Brown, and other African Americans who have been affected by police brutality.  In November 2014, Watts gave spoken word performances in Times Square in order to open a dialogue using his platform to talk about a variety of social issues.  More recently, this past May, Watts along with Wilkie Ferguson (Motown, Porgy n’ Bess and Post Modern Jukebox), and Nicholas Christopher (Motown and Whorl Inside A Loop), released their song, “Another One,” which riffs off of Queen’s 1980 hit, “Another One Bites The Dust.”  Watts recites poetry for the track, Christopher provides backing guitar, and Ferguson produced the tracks and added vocals.

These actors, along with countless others who have used their celebrity to provide awareness about social issues, are to be applauded for their work.  Without this spotlight, many issues would just be a brief flash on the evening news. Each time a person with name recognition attaches themselves to an issue, the more attention that cause receives.  Often, the Arts can be the bridge to open someone’s eyes.  As Watts eloquently said, “Art is the way for us to connect.  Art has the power to overcome obstacles.”

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]]> https://www.broadwayblack.com/black-broadway-actors-and-the-legacy-of-activism/feed/ 0 7150 75th Anniversary of the American Negro Theatre https://www.broadwayblack.com/75th-anniversary-american-negro-theatre/ https://www.broadwayblack.com/75th-anniversary-american-negro-theatre/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2015 15:48:32 +0000 http://broadwayblack.com/?p=6234 June 5th marks the 75th anniversary of the American Negro Theatre (ANT). Founded in 1940 by Abram Hill, Frederick O’Neal, and other artists in Harlem, ANT was formed to provide work for Black theater professionals in a time where there was little work or recognition to be found in the mainstream arena. They began in […]

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]]> June 5th marks the 75th anniversary of the American Negro Theatre (ANT). Founded in 1940 by Abram Hill, Frederick O’Neal, and other artists in Harlem, ANT was formed to provide work for Black theater professionals in a time where there was little work or recognition to be found in the mainstream arena. They began in the basement of the Harlem Branch of the New York Public Library. By 1945, they went on to the Elks Lodge on West 126th St., which was then called the American Negro Theatre Playhouse. By 1950, ANT moved to its last residence – a loft on West 125th St.

A major focus of ANT was to show a wider array of stories and storytelling that was seldom seen whenever Black artists were on stage. This led to the productions of several original plays as well as adaptations of existing classic and contemporary works for all-Black casts. Their first major success came in 1944 when Anna Lucasta by Phillip Yordan debuted on Broadway starring Hilda Simms and Frederick O’Neal. It was ANT’s first all-Black play with a non-racial theme and went on to a national tour, a production in London, and a film in 1958 starring Eartha Kitt and Sammy Davis, Jr..

Financial issues and artistic difficulties brought the unfortunate demise of ANT by the mid-1950s, yet the legacy and revolutionary spirit had only just begun. The American Negro Theater was the beginning for many amazing artists such as Vinie Burrows, Harry Belafonte, Alice Childress, Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier, Isabel Sanford, and many other dynamic actors, directors, and playwrights. It is because of these artists that we can do more today. Happy Anniversary!

Schomburg-CenterCheck out the exhibition at The Schomburg Center in celebration of the 75th anniversary of our renowned American Negro Theatre (ANT).

Known to the locals as “The Harlem Library Little Theatre,” the ANT was founded in 1940 as a community space for thespians to work in productions that illustrated the diversity of black life. This exhibition is taken entirely from the Schomburg Collections and highlights the ANT’s stage productions from 1940 through 1949 with photographs, posters, playbills, and news clippings. Images include scenes from successful plays such as Anna Lucasta, studio workshops, and radio broadcasts featuring prominent talent whose careers began at the ANT. The exhibition is located in the Theatre, and is open 10:00 – 6:00, M, F, S, and 10:00 – 8:00, T, W, Th.

Now through January 2016

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture 

515 Malcolm X Boulevard New York, NY, 10037 (917) 275-6975

 

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]]> https://www.broadwayblack.com/75th-anniversary-american-negro-theatre/feed/ 1 6234 On Today: A Raisin In The Sun Opened On Broadway https://www.broadwayblack.com/today-raisin-sun-opened-broadway/ https://www.broadwayblack.com/today-raisin-sun-opened-broadway/#respond Thu, 12 Mar 2015 02:23:02 +0000 http://broadwayblack.com/?p=4927 A RAISIN IN THE SUN Keep your eyes glued to @BroadwayBlack for the rest of the day as we honor #LorraineHansberry and her CLASSIC play #ARaisinInTheSun. — Broadway Black (@BroadwayBlack) March 11, 2015 On this day in #BroadwayBlackHistory, in 1959 — Lorraine Hansberry’s classic #ARaisinInTheSun opened on Broadway. pic.twitter.com/VCABzIJEZG — Broadway Black (@BroadwayBlack) March 11, […]

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A RAISIN IN THE SUN

Keep your eyes glued to @BroadwayBlack for the rest of the day as we honor #LorraineHansberry and her CLASSIC play #ARaisinInTheSun.

— Broadway Black (@BroadwayBlack) March 11, 2015

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]]> https://www.broadwayblack.com/today-raisin-sun-opened-broadway/feed/ 0 4927