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In 1970 Johnson was nominated for a Tony Award for his choreography of Purlie.
A musical version of Ossie Davis’ Purlie Victorious.
Purlie – Sherman Hemsley, Melba Moore, Novella Nelson, and Clevon Little
PURLIE 1970 Tony Awards
PURLIE
March 15, 1970
Purlie is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell, and music by Gary Geld. It is based on Davis’s 1961 play Purlie Victorious, which was later made into the 1963 film Gone Are the Days! and which included all of the original Broadway cast, including Ruby Dee, Alan Alda, Beah Richards, and Godfrey Cambridge.
The Broadway musical cast included Cleavon Little as Purlie, John Heffernan as Cotchipee, Melba Moore as Lutiebelle, and C. David Colson as Charlie, with Sherman Hemsley, Linda Hopkins, Novella Nelson, and Helen Martin in supporting roles.
Cleavon Little and Melba Moore
The cast included George Faison, Loretta Abbott, and Ted Ross
Cast Of Purlie “Walk Him Up the Stairs”
on The Ed Sullivan Show – November 1, 1970.
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This is a restaging of the original 1970 Broadway production, with several of the original leads, at the Lehman College Center for the Performing Arts, New York City. It premiered on Showtime on Oct. 12, 1981.
PURLIE, book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Peter Udell, and music by Gary Geld, directed by Philip Rose (based on his original staging), with Robert Guillaume, Sherman Hemsley, Rhetta Hughes, Melba Moore, Clarice Taylor, Brandon Maggart, Don Scardino, Linda Hopkins, Ted Ross, et al.
Opening number “Walk him up the stairs” – PURLIE
Linda Hopkins and Company
PURLIE in Dance Rehearsal
