Darryl Maximilian Robinson Acknowledges The Wonderful Diahann Carroll In Richard Rodgers' "No Strings"

YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT IN THE THEATRE, DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON OF THE EXCALIBER SHAKESPEARE COMPANY OF CHICAGO, IS DELIGHTED TO SHARE NOTES ABOUT ANOTHER AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTIST BEING THE FIRST!

Richard Kiley And Diahann Carroll In "No Strings" Starred On Broadway In A 1962 Richard Rodgers Composed And Produced Musical That Made History In Multiple Ways.

The highly-talented Richard Kiley had already won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor In A Musical in the late 1950s as the leading man opposite Tony Award Winner for Best Leading Actress In A Musical Gwen Verdon in "Redhead" when he was cast by Composer / Lyricist and Producer Richard Rodgers ( with his first solo score since the death of his longtime collaborator Oscar Hammerstein II ) to play a disenchanted, Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer, David Jordan, suffering from severe writer's block, roaming Europe, and who unexpectedly falls in love with a respected, African-American fashion model, Barbara Woodruff, played in a wonderfully lovely, charming and musically soaring performance by gifted Black actress, singer, and yes, fashion model, Diahann Caroll.

Kiley and Carroll acted well together and sang well together in the evocative musical that ran over 500 performances on Broadway and highlighted an interracial romance ( rare in a Broadway show of that period of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement ).

Even more rare, "No Strings" utilized no string instruments in its orchestrations ( a very new approach in a musical composed by Richard Rodgers ).

And, most rare of all, it proved to be a musical that would garner for its Black female star, THE FIRST TONY AWARD FOR BEST LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL TO DIAHANN CARROLL AS FASHION MODEL BARBARA WOODRUFF IN RICHARD RODGERS' "NO STRINGS"!

AND...Here Are The Many Other Ways We Love DIAHANN CARROLL!:

Dominique Deveraux is a fictional character on the ABC prime time soap opera "Dynasty" and its spin-off, "The Colbys". Portrayed by a wonderfully determined Diahann Carroll from 1984 to 1987, the character is the surprise half-sister of millionaire Blake Carrington. And no power on earth could stop Diahann Carroll as Dominique Deveraux when she went after Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington Colby for messing with her brother Blake.

The hair-pulling and diva-slapping were priceless.

In her successful 1960s television series "Julia", Diahann Carroll clearly showed us that an African-American woman can be independent, have a successful career as a nurse, and be a strong and reliable single parent to a young black son without any kind of a man around to gum up the works. Her 1968 Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Female TV Star and 1969 Emmy Award Nomination for Outstanding Actress In A Comedy Series are a testament to her fine acting in "Julia".

In the 1974 film "Claudine," Diahann Carroll completely deglams herself, and gives a strong, heartfelt dramatic performance as a welfare mom with several children, who, somehow also finds time to to engage in a new love relationship with a sanitation worker played superbly by James Earl Jones. Diahann Carroll won an Academy Award nomination for Best Leading Actress In A Motion Picture for her performance in the title role of "Claudine".

All that love shared, here's a photo of the late, great Diahann Carroll with her TONY AWARD FOR BEST LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL FOR HER PERFORMANCE AS BARBARA WOODRUFF IN "NO STRINGS".

Enjoy.