Darryl Maximilian Robinson Remembers The National Treasure That Is 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 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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