Juanita Hall
Encyclopedia
Juanita Hall was an American
musical theatre and film actress. She is remembered for her roles in the original stage and screen versions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein
musicals
South Pacific
as Bloody Mary and Flower Drum Song
as Auntie Liang.
, Hall received classical training at the Juilliard School
.
In the early 1930s she was a special soloist and assistant director for the Hall Johnson Choir. A leading Black Broadway performer in her day, she was personally chosen by Richard Rodgers
and Oscar Hammerstein II
to perform the roles she played in the musicals South Pacific and Flower Drum Song, as a Tonkinese woman and a Chinese-American, respectively.
In 1950, she became the first African-American to win a Tony Award
for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Bloody Mary
in South Pacific. She also starred in the 1954 Broadway musical House of Flowers
in which she sang and danced Harold Arlen
's Slide Boy Slide. She played the role of "Bloody Mary" for 1,925 performances on Broadway at the Majestic Theater beginning on April 7, 1949. Her co-stars were Ezio Pinza
and Mary Martin
. In addition to her role in South Pacific
, she was a regular performer in clubs in Greenwich Village
, where she captivated audiences with her renditions of "Am I Blue", "Lament Over Love", and Langston Hughes
' "Cool Saturday Night".
Prior to her acting roles, she assembled her own chorus group (The Juanita Hall Choir) and kept busy with performances in concert, on records, in films, and on the air. She auditioned for "Talent 48", a private review created by the Stage Manager's Club. Later, she performed on radio in the soap opera The Story Of Ruby Valentine on the National Negro Network. The serial was broadcast on 35 stations and was sponsored by, among others, Philip Morris and Pet Milk
.
In 1957, she recorded Juanita Hall Sings the Blues (at Beltone Studios in New York City), backed by an astonishing group of jazz musicians including Claude Hopkins
, Coleman Hawkins
, Buster Bailey
, Doc Cheatham, and George Duvivier
. In 1958 she reprised Bloody Mary in the film version of South Pacific, for which her singing part was dubbed, at Richard Rodgers's request, by Muriel Smith
who had played the role in the London production. The same year, she starred in another Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway show, Flower Drum Song
.
. Leonard Feather
gave a particularly moving tribute to Hall at the time of her death when he proclaimed her "an expert student and practitioner in the art of singing the blues".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musical theatre and film actress. She is remembered for her roles in the original stage and screen versions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
as Bloody Mary and Flower Drum Song
Flower Drum Song
Flower Drum Song was the eighth stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was based on the 1957 novel, The Flower Drum Song, by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. The piece opened in 1958 on Broadway and was afterwards presented in the West End and on tour...
as Auntie Liang.
Biography
Born in Keyport, New JerseyKeyport, New Jersey
Keyport is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,240. Keyport's nickname is the "Pearl of the Bayshore" or the "Gateway to the Bayshore"....
, Hall received classical training at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
.
In the early 1930s she was a special soloist and assistant director for the Hall Johnson Choir. A leading Black Broadway performer in her day, she was personally chosen by Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
and Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
to perform the roles she played in the musicals South Pacific and Flower Drum Song, as a Tonkinese woman and a Chinese-American, respectively.
In 1950, she became the first African-American to win a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary (South Pacific)
Bloody Mary is a character in the book Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener, which was made into the musical South Pacific by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and later into a film in 1958....
in South Pacific. She also starred in the 1954 Broadway musical House of Flowers
House of Flowers (musical)
House of Flowers is a musical by Harold Arlen and Truman Capote , based on his own short story, first published in Breakfast at Tiffany's as one of three extra pieces besides the titular novella...
in which she sang and danced Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
's Slide Boy Slide. She played the role of "Bloody Mary" for 1,925 performances on Broadway at the Majestic Theater beginning on April 7, 1949. Her co-stars were Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza was an Italian basso opera singer with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas...
and Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
. In addition to her role in South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
, she was a regular performer in clubs in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, where she captivated audiences with her renditions of "Am I Blue", "Lament Over Love", and Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
' "Cool Saturday Night".
Prior to her acting roles, she assembled her own chorus group (The Juanita Hall Choir) and kept busy with performances in concert, on records, in films, and on the air. She auditioned for "Talent 48", a private review created by the Stage Manager's Club. Later, she performed on radio in the soap opera The Story Of Ruby Valentine on the National Negro Network. The serial was broadcast on 35 stations and was sponsored by, among others, Philip Morris and Pet Milk
Pet, Inc.
Pet, Inc., was an American company that was the first to commercially produce evaporated milk as a shelf-stable consumer product and later became a multi-brand food products conglomerate. Its signature product, PET Evaporated Milk, is now a product of The J.M. Smucker Co...
.
In 1957, she recorded Juanita Hall Sings the Blues (at Beltone Studios in New York City), backed by an astonishing group of jazz musicians including Claude Hopkins
Claude Hopkins
Claude Driskett Hopkins was an American jazz stride pianist and bandleader.-Biography:Claude Hopkins was born in Alexandria, Virginia in 1903. Historians differ in respect of the actual date of his birth. His parents were on the faculty of Howard University...
, Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
, Buster Bailey
Buster Bailey
William C. "Buster" Bailey was a jazz musician specializing in the clarinet, but also well versed on saxophone...
, Doc Cheatham, and George Duvivier
George Duvivier
George Duvivier was an American jazz double-bass player.Duvivier was born in New York City and took up the cello and also the violin while in high school before settling on the bass. He also learned composition and scoring before going out on the road with Lucky Millinder and then with the Cab...
. In 1958 she reprised Bloody Mary in the film version of South Pacific, for which her singing part was dubbed, at Richard Rodgers's request, by Muriel Smith
Muriel Smith (singer)
Muriel Burrell Smith was an American singer. In the 1940s and 1950s, she was a star of musical theater and opera, and was also the off-film ghost singer in several hit movies...
who had played the role in the London production. The same year, she starred in another Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway show, Flower Drum Song
Flower Drum Song
Flower Drum Song was the eighth stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was based on the 1957 novel, The Flower Drum Song, by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. The piece opened in 1958 on Broadway and was afterwards presented in the West End and on tour...
.
Private life
Hall married actor Clement Hall while in her teens. He died in the 1920s; they had no children. Hall, a diabetic, died from complications of her illness in Bay Shore, Long IslandLong Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. Leonard Feather
Leonard Feather
Leonard Geoffrey Feather was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.-Biography:...
gave a particularly moving tribute to Hall at the time of her death when he proclaimed her "an expert student and practitioner in the art of singing the blues".