10/18/16 O&A NYC INSPIRATIONAL TUESDAY: Ruth Brown’s 1989 Tony Award Acceptance Speech For Best Actress in a Musical And Performance With Linda Hopkins And Cast

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Ruth Brown wins the 1989 43rd Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Black and Blue. And a performance of T’Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do with Linda Hopkins  and cast. Continue reading

12/27/15 O&A NYC Gospel Sunday: Hallelujah Chorus- Various Artists at the 1992 Stellar Awards

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 The Hallelujah Chorus (Hallelujah!) from Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration, performed by various artists at the 1992 Stellar Awards. Arranged and produced by Take 6 alumnus Mervyn Warren, Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album in 1992, and a Dove Award for Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year. Continue reading

1/9/15 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Black and Blue- The Musical

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Black and Blue is a musical revue celebrating the black culture of dance and music in Paris between World War I and World War II.  Choreographed by Henry LeTang, Cholly Atkins, Frankie Manning, and Fayard Nicholas the cast of forty-one singers, dancers, and musicians included Ruth Brown, Linda Hopkins, Carrie Smith, Savion Glover, Claude Williams, Roland Hanna, Grady Tate, Jimmy Slyde, Bill Easley, Jimmy “Preacher” Robins, Lon Chaney (the jazz tap dancer, not the actor) Bunny Briggs and  Dianne Walker. The Broadway production opened on January 26, 1989.  Continue reading