All-Colored Comedy

2021 ◽  
pp. 65-84
Author(s):  
Constance Valis Hill

Musical comedy films made by the Nicholas Brothers bring to light the staggering racist stereotyping that existed in Hollywood in the thirties. In the Minstrel Night scene in Kid Millions (1934), star Eddie Cantor in blackface sings “I Want to be a Minstrel Man,” with close-ups on the clean, bright face of Harold Nicholas, singing the same lyrics, and the brothers having to play end men to the star. Nicholas Brothers continue to defy racial stereotyping, demonstrating their virtuosic brilliance in song and dance in Jealousy (1934), American Wife (1936), Big Broadcast of 1936, Black Network (1936), and The All-Colored Vaudeville Show (1935).

Author(s):  
Kevin Winkler

This chapter looks at Bob Fosse’s most ambitious film, the autobiographical All That Jazz. All That Jazz follows Joe Gideon, a director and choreographer very much like Fosse who is at a personal and professional crossroads as he prepares to direct a Broadway musical much like Chicago while simultaneously editing a film that looks a lot like Lenny. Following graphic footage of open-heart surgery and a series of metaphoric musical comedy turns by the women in his life, All That Jazz concludes with Gideon presiding over a combined funeral and wake for himself: a glamorous, high-energy floor show to end all floor shows. Here Fosse took the movie musical further than anyone had dared—not only in subject matter, but also in structure and pacing. Fosse tells this “putting on a show” musical in nonlinear fashion, with surprising juxtapositions, fragments, and time leaps.


Author(s):  
Kevin Winkler
Keyword(s):  

This chapter focuses on Fosse’s show Dancin’, an evening of numbers performed to preexisting music from a variety of composers. Having dismissed all collaborators and untethered to a narrative, Fosse was free to create dances around his favorite music, which included classical, swing, rock, and pop. Dancin’ had moments of startling eroticism, and his ability to sculpt stage pictures with bodies, space, and light remained unmatched. But there were also cringeworthy attempts at comedy and moments of maudlin sentimentality. By now, Fosse’s choreographic style had shifted from traditional musical comedy with touches of antic vaudeville to a more lyrical, self-serious approach that he could not always support. A sameness crept into much of his work, with similar steps, patterns, and groupings carried over from one show or film to another. Choreographing for character seemed no longer important, and all his dancers appeared to be performing the role of Bob Fosse.


1992 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Richard Hornby
Keyword(s):  

1983 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Richard Kislan ◽  
Stanley Green
Keyword(s):  

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Soler-González ◽  
Antoni Rodríguez-Rosich ◽  
Josep Ramon Marsal-Mora

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Crittle ◽  
Keith B. Maddox

Research in social psychology has the potential to address real-world issues involving racial stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Literature on confrontation suggests that addressing racism can be seen as a persuasive act that will allow for more effective interpersonal interactions. In this article, we explore the persuasive communication literature in the context of classroom education on the pervasiveness of racial bias. We examine some of the challenges instructors might face from students. Finally, we suggest strategies that might allow for a more effective classroom experience.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Adam Love ◽  
Sam Winemiller ◽  
Guy Harrison ◽  
Jason Stamm

College football programs invest millions of dollars into recruiting top high school prospects. This recruiting process is covered extensively by reporters from sports media outlets. While the players being recruited are predominately Black, the sports media is disproportionately dominated by White men. In this context, the current study reports on data from interviews with 15 participants who work in the college football recruiting media industry. While some participants adopted a color-blind perspective dominated by a belief that racism no longer exists, most reporters expressed an awareness of racial stereotypes in the sports media and felt a need to address racial inequity. Such awareness presents an opportunity for anti-racist training that may help media members avoid racial stereotyping and address racism in the field.


Author(s):  
D.V. Budianskyi

The characteristic features of I. Kavaleridze’s drama is considered in the article. It is noted that there are signs of the artist’s individuality, attraction to expressionist forms, artistic techniques characteristic for the art of sculpture: symbolism, monumentality, hyperbole. I. Kavaleridze was well versed in the drama laws, understood the specifics of the stage events construction, had a large arsenal of literary means, thanks to which the characters’ monologues and dialogues were extremely expressive and colorful. In his work, he implemented original solutions that were ahead of time. Therefore, many of the artist’s ideas and achievements received due recognition only after his death. I. Kavaleridze’s creative heritage covers a wide range of both purely artistic and general philosophical problems. Among them the formation of the era of modernism and its features in the Ukrainian art of the early XX century, the impact of revolutionary ideas on the work of the 1920s, the role of spiritual leaders of the Ukrainian people T. Shevchenko and G. Skovoroda in the formation of national consciousness, political and ideological pressure on figurative art language and the formation of a socialist-realist canon, etc. The analysis of the productions of I. Kavalerizde’s plays “The First Furrow” and “Gregory and Paraskeva” on the stage of the Mykhailo Shchepkin Sumy Theater of Drama and Musical Comedy in 1970-1972. The article notes that these plays were staged in Sumy for the first time in the history of Ukrainian theater. The premiere of “The First Furrow” (the play was called “Old Men”) took place on March 19, 1970. The figure of the national genius Hryhoriy Skov oroda was als o embodied for the first time on t he stage in Sumy in th e play “Hryhoriy and Paraskeva”. It premiered on October 21, 1972. I. Rybchynsky, Honored Artist of the USSR, performed the production. Creating generalized historical outlines of people’s life, features of life at that time, depicting psychological portraits of people in various, sometimes-dramatic collisions, in the productions of I. Kavaleridze’s plays on the Sumy stage the emphasis was on universal values such as virtue, love. The main character was the Ukrainian people, who nurtured such large-scale historical figures, gave them strength and wisdom for great achievements. Based on publications in periodicals of that time, memoirs of Ukrainian directors, the peculiarities of the director’s interpretation, stenographic and musical design of these plays on the Sumy stage are considered. Considerable attention is paid to the analysis of acting works in I. Kavaleridze’s plays. In particular, the peculiarities of the actor’s embodiment of the image of the national genius Hryhoriy Skovoroda on the stage are presented. It is noted that I. Kavaleridze’s plays, created in a difficult political, social and ideological context, are rightly considered to be highly artistic works of Ukrainian drama. Their staging was carried out on various theatrical stages, including Mykhailo Shchepkin Sumy Theater of Drama and Musical Comedy is an important page of national theatrical art.


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