Muriel Rahn was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 vocalist and actress. She co-founded the Rose McClendon Players with her husband, Dick Campbell

Dick Campbell (producer)

Dick Campbell, born Cornelius Coleridge Campbell , was a key figure in black theater during the Harlem Renaissance. While a successful performer in his own right, Campbell is best known as a tireless advocate for black actors in general...

 and was one of the leading black concert singers of the mid-20th Century. She is perhaps best known for her starring role in the original Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 production of Carmen Jones. Rahn also served as musical director of the German State Theater in Frankfurt.

Biography

Muriel Ellen Rahn was born in Boston in 1911, the daughter of Willie and Bessie Rahn.

Rahn was awarded a degree from the Music Conservatory of the University of Nebraska, at Lincoln. She also attended Tuskegee Institute, Atlanta University, Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 and studied voice at Juilliard School of Music.

In 1929, she launched her professional career in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. One of her earlier appearances on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 was in the musical, Come of Age written and staged by Clamence Dane with music by Richard Addinsell

Richard Addinsell

Richard Stewart Addinsell was a British composer, best known for film music, primarily his Warsaw Concerto, composed for the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight .-Life:...

.

In 1950, Rahn made one of her last appearances on Broadway. She played the role of Cora Lewis in the musical, The Barrier, based on the play, Mulatto by 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...

.

Later stage credits included the off-Broadway production of Sara Reavin’s melodrama, The Ivory Branch with Diana Barrymore

Diana Barrymore

Diana Barrymore was an American film and stage actress.-Early life:Born Diana Blanche Barrymore Blythe in New York City, New York, she was the daughter of renowned actor John Barrymore and his second wife, poet Blanche Oelrichs...

.
In 1959, Rahn became the first black musical director of the Stadtische Buhnen Theatre in Frankfurt, Germany.

Theatre

Year	Production	Role	Theatre(s)	Notes
1956	The Ivory Branch.		Provincetown Playhouse
1950	The Barrier	Cora Lewis	Broadhurst Theatre
1943	Carmen Jones Carmen Jones Carmen Jones is a 1943 Broadway musical starring Muriel Smith in the title role, later made into a 1954 musical film; the play also ran for a season in 1991 at London's Old Vic and most recently in London's Royal Festival Hall in the Southbank Centre in 2007. It is an updating of the Georges Bizet...	Carmen	Broadway Theatre	Alternated lead role with 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...
1942	The Pirate	Lizarda	Martin Beck Theatre
1939	Swingin’ The Dream	Singer	Center Theatre
1934	Come of Age	An Entertainer	Maxine Elliott’s Theatre

Television

Year	Series	Role	Notes
1958	The Arlene Francis Show	Herself
1957	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Zipporah	A production of The Green Pastures
1952	Hollywood Screen Test
1951	The Ed Sullivan Show	Herself

Motion Pictures

Year	Title	Role	Distributor	Notes
1934	King for a Day (short)	Herself

External links