From Elinor Tatum’s opening remarks at the Amsterdam News Educational Foundation salute to Blacks on Broadway, to watching the nimble feet of Community Service Society’s David Jones on the dance floor, last Thursday at Sardi’s restaurant was a memorable event. Tatum presented her Broadway credentials by recalling her first encounter with Broadway when “Grease” was the word, as well as the extent to which her 5-year-old daughter, Willa, has begun her own fascination with the Great White Way.
The Amsterdam News, like Tatum, has a long and vital connection to Broadway, she recounted how “our paper has always been particularly supportive of Black plays and performers” on Broadway. That relationship came into stark relief recently when it was reported that several renowned African-American theater groups had been denied funds from the city’s cultural affairs department.
Tatum voiced her concern about this matter and immediately began researching and assembling for publication an article on the paper’s legacy with Broadway. Almost from the paper’s inception there were columnists who focused on the theatrical, and she came across a long series of stories related to the difficulties Black actors and others were experiencing on Broadway back in the 1940s and 1950s.
Photos by Lisa Pacino
That history and the current problems were inescapable with the salute in which producer Stephen Byrd, actor/vocalist Norm Lewis and publicist extraordinaire Irene Gandy were the evening’s first honorees. Later, after a contingent of attendees from the dinner thrilled to “The Color Purple” at the Bernard Jacobs Theater, the stars of the show—Jennifer Hudson, Danielle Brooks and Cynthia Erivo—were given their awards from the foundation.
On accepting his award Byrd, currently the only African-American producer on Broadway, asked Alia Jones-Harvey to stand and be recognized. “Without her I would not be standing here,” he said, noting his partner in Front Row Productions. “I know I stand on the shoulders of others, and I hope I can provide the same for those who follow me.”
Gandy also handed out appreciative nods after accepting her award, with a particularly warm regard for Voza Rivers of the New Heritage Theater and Lloyd Williams of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, who she eagerly embraced as she left the podium. Like Byrd, she is a significant singular as the only African-American female member of the Association of Theatrical Agents and Managers on Broadway. It was good to see her lovely daughter, Mira, deftly moving on the dance floor, demonstrating that she is more than just a fine visual artist.
Lewis proudly announced his long association with the Amsterdam News and praised it for continuing to be a platform and voice for Blacks on Broadway and beyond. “My goodness, I didn’t know he was so gorgeous,” a woman nearby almost shouted. It seems that every woman—and a few men—wanted to be photographed with the man who is the first African-American lead in “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway, although many in the packed room remember him as Porgy in the Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.”
After viewing “The Color Purple,” the attendees took a while to wind down from the excitement of seeing and hearing such powerful performers, none more formidable than Erivo, who hails from London and gave her portrayal of Celie a special resonance of humility and humanity. Her voice had lost none of that precious quality later, when she was presented with her award by Tatum and the foundation. “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me,” she sang in gratitude.
Equally gracious in their acceptance speeches were the stunning Jennifer Hudson and Danielle Brooks, both of whom received rousing cheers from the audience in their respective roles as Shug Avery and Sofia.
When Tatum acknowledged the presence of Vinie Burrows, the evening was beautifully bracketed by the career of an actress/activist who has appeared in more than 5,000 performances, on and off-Broadway, in television and in film. She has as much vintage as some of the evening’s sponsors, including Macy’s, 1199 SEIU, Barney’s, BET Networks, AFT, the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, Harlem Week and the Harlem Music Fest, the Perelman Family Foundation, Mercury LLC, Teamsters Local 237, Ken Sunshine &Nancy Hollander, Susan D. Austin, Dorria L. Ball, Linda Dunham, Fireman Hospitality Group, Reginal F. Lewis Foundation, the Shubert Organization, United Way of New York, Sidney M. Avent, the Broadway Association, Sandra Webster, Victor Kovner, Ketly Michel, Broadway HD and Community Service Society, and we hope Mr. Jones wasn’t too exhausted by this romp on the dance floor.
It was an unforgettable moment, especially for the honorees, friends, associates and staff of the Amsterdam News, which, as State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli noted in his words of congratulations, continues to maintain “high journalistic standards.” But the paper also knows how to throw a party!
