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158-495: Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz ; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his numerous stage productions were On the Town , Peter Pan , High Button Shoes , The King and I , The Pajama Game , Bells Are Ringing , West Side Story , Gypsy , and Fiddler on

316-491: A Peabody Award the same year. Robbins was born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz in the Jewish Maternity Hospital at 270 East Broadway on Manhattan's Lower East Side – a neighborhood populated by many immigrants. He was the son of Lena Robbins (née Rips) and Harry Rabinowitz (1887-1977). He had an older sister, Sonia (1912-2004). The Rabinowitz family lived in a large apartment house at 51 East 97th Street at

474-492: A mob enforcer. McKay, like most of the men in her life, was abusive. They were separated at the time of her death, but McKay had plans to start a chain of Billie Holiday vocal studios, on the model of the Arthur Murray dance schools. Holiday was childless, but she had two godchildren: singer Billie Lorraine Feather (the daughter of Leonard Feather) and Bevan Dufty (the son of William Dufty). By early 1959, Holiday

632-467: A viola . In 1946, Holiday recorded " Good Morning Heartache ". Although the song failed to chart, she sang it in live performances; three live recordings are known. In September 1946, Holiday began her only major film, New Orleans , in which she starred opposite Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman . Plagued by racism and McCarthyism , producer Jules Levey and script writer Herbert Biberman were pressed to lessen Holiday's and Armstrong's roles to avoid

790-550: A "remarkable ear" and a "remarkable sense of time", her tenure with the band was nearing an end. In November 1938, Holiday was asked to use the service elevator at the Lincoln Hotel in New York City, instead of the one used by hotel guests, because white patrons of the hotels complained. This may have been the last straw for her. She left the band shortly after. Holiday spoke about the incident weeks later, saying, "I

948-542: A Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx , used the pseudonym "Lewis Allan" for the poem, which was set to music and performed at teachers' union meetings. It was eventually heard by Barney Josephson, the proprietor of Café Society , an integrated nightclub in Greenwich Village , who introduced it to Holiday. She performed it at the club in 1939, with some trepidation, fearing possible retaliation. She later said that

1106-703: A ballet about intolerance. At New York City Ballet Robbins distinguished himself immediately as both dancer and choreographer. He was noted for his performances in Balanchine's 1929 "The Prodigal Son" (revived expressly for him), Til Eulenspiegel, and (with Tanaquil LeClercq) Bouree Fantasque, as well as for his own ballets, such as Age of Anxiety, The Cage, Afternoon of a Faun, and The Concert, in all of which LeClercq played leading roles. He continued working on Broadway, as well as, staging dances for Irving Berlin 's Call Me Madam , starring Ethel Merman , Rodgers and Hammerstein 's The King and I , in which he created

1264-495: A citywide celebration of Leonard Bernstein's 90th birthday. John Rando was the director, Warren Carlyle the choreographer, with a cast that featured Justin Bohon (Chip), Christian Borle (Ozzie), Tony Yazbeck (Gabey), Jessica Lee Goldyn (Ivy), Leslie Kritzer (Hildy Esterhazy), Jennifer Laura Thompson (Claire De Loone), and Andrea Martin (Madame P. Dilly). In reviewing this production, Charles Isherwood wrote: "The production

1422-517: A club on West 132nd Street. Producer John Hammond , who loved Moore's singing and had come to hear her, first heard Holiday there in early 1933. Hammond arranged for Holiday to make her recording debut at age 18, in November 1933, with Benny Goodman. She recorded two songs: " Your Mother's Son-In-Law " and "Riffin' the Scotch", the latter being her first hit. "Son-in-Law" sold 300 copies, and "Riffin'

1580-540: A cold, intrudes. Hildy finally gets rid of her by convincing her to go to an air-cooled movie. Hildy seduces Chip, bragging about her many talents, not the least of which is her cooking ("I Can Cook Too"). Gabey's attitude has done a full 180, and he feels "Lucky to Be Me." Ivy, about to meet Gabey at Nedick's, runs into Madame Dilly, who reminds her that if she does not do her cooch dance that night, she will be fired, and will not be able to pay Madame Dilly for her lessons. Madame Dilly threatens to smear her reputation, and she

1738-403: A comeback concert at Carnegie Hall. Holiday hesitated, unsure audiences would accept her after the arrest. She gave in and agreed to appear. On March 27, 1948, Holiday played Carnegie Hall to a sold-out crowd. Two thousand seven hundred tickets were sold in advance, a record at the time for the venue. Her popularity was unusual because she did not have a current hit record. Her last record to reach

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1896-514: A concert in 1946 that her performance had little variation in melody and no change in tempo. By 1947, Holiday was at her commercial peak, having made $ 250,000 in the three previous years. She was ranked second in the DownBeat poll for 1946 and 1947, her highest ranking in that poll. She was ranked fifth in Billboard ' s annual college poll of "girl singers" on July 6, 1947 ( Jo Stafford

2054-518: A dance demonstrating the nightlife of the city. At Diamond Eddie's, the dancers perform a number ("So Long Baby"). Gabey is still hung up on Miss Turnstiles, and Lucy has not shown up yet. A singer, Diana Dream, performs a very sad song, "I Wish I Was Dead," which causes Gabey to feel even sadder. Lucy calls, having accidentally gone to the Diamond Eddie's in Yonkers. The group decides to go to

2212-492: A dead girl overnight as punishment for misbehavior. The experience traumatized her, and for years she would "dream about it and wake up hollering and screaming". After nine months, she was released on October 3, 1925, to her mother. Sadie had opened a restaurant, the East Side Grill, and mother and daughter worked long hours there. She dropped out of school at age 11. On December 24, 1926, Harris came home to discover

2370-492: A dinosaur. Waldo Figment, the professor who built the dinosaur, joins Uperman, the cop, and the lady in the chase. Gabey mopes around the city. Without love, New York is nothing but a " Lonely Town ." At Carnegie Hall, Ivy Smith is taking lessons from Madame Dilly, a drunk who clearly does not know vocal training. Ivy is not quite as glamorous as the Miss Turnstiles contest has made her out to be. In reality, while she

2528-598: A few years after they had been blacklisted . Robbins shared the Academy Award for Best Director with Robert Wise for the film version of West Side Story (1961). Robbins was only the second director to win the Academy Award for Best Director for a film debut (after Delbert Mann for Marty ). That same year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored him with a special Academy Honorary Award for his choreographic achievements on film. In all, he

2686-434: A flat fee rather than royalties , which saved the company money. " I Cried for You " sold 15,000 copies, which Hammond called "a giant hit for Brunswick.... Most records that made money sold around three to four thousand." Another frequent accompanist was tenor saxophonist Lester Young , who had been a boarder at her mother's house in 1934 and with whom Holiday had a rapport. Young said, "I think you can hear that on some of

2844-654: A headliner with Dinah Washington and others in Jazz Under the Stars , a summer concert series that took place at the Wollman Memorial Theater in New York City's Central Park . When Holiday returned to Europe almost five years later, in 1959, she made one of her last television appearances for Granada television's British Cabaret show, Chelsea at Nine, in London. The show taped what is believed to be

3002-589: A meeting, reminding Claire that they are to meet at Diamond Eddie's to celebrate their engagement. The two take advantage of their alone time ("Carried Away (reprise)"). Hildy brings Chip and an armful of groceries back to her apartment, promising to cook for him. Chip insists that he must leave to find Ivy. She tells him to call the IRT , but they refuse to give Chip her address or phone number. He decides that he has tried hard enough, and he and Hildy attempt to get physical when her roommate, Lucy Schmeeler, home from work with

3160-781: A member of Sandor's company Robbins made his stage debut with the Yiddish Art Theater , in a small role in The Brothers Ashkenazi . In 1937 Robbins made the first of many appearances as a dancer at Camp Tamiment , a resort in the Poconos known for its weekly Broadway-style revues; and he began dancing in the choruses of Broadway shows, including Great Lady and Keep Off the Grass , both choreographed by George Balanchine . Robbins had also begun creating dances for Tamiment's Revues, some of them comic (featuring

3318-623: A neighbor attempting to rape Holiday. She successfully fought back, and he was arrested. Officials sent Holiday to the House of the Good Shepherd under protective custody as a state witness in the rape case. Holiday was released in February 1927, when she was nearly 12. She found a job running errands in a brothel , and she scrubbed marble steps as well as kitchen and bathroom floors of neighborhood homes. Around this time, she first heard

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3476-645: A number one hit for Bing Crosby . She also recorded her version of " Embraceable You ", which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005. Holiday's mother Sadie, nicknamed "The Duchess", opened a restaurant called Mom Holiday's. She used money from her daughter while playing dice with members of the Count Basie band, with whom she toured in the late 1930s. "It kept Mom busy and happy and stopped her from worrying and watching over me", Holiday said. Fagan began borrowing large amounts from Holiday to support

3634-420: A prize for "some really greatly outstanding person or art institution. The prizes should "lean toward the arts of dance..." The first two Jerome Robbins Awards were bestowed in 2003 to New York City Ballet and to lighting designer Jennifer Tipton . On the Town (musical) On the Town was first produced on Broadway in 1944 and was made into a film in 1949, although the film replaced all but four of

3792-440: A recording contract with Brunswick in 1935. Her collaboration with Teddy Wilson produced the hit " What a Little Moonlight Can Do ", which became a jazz standard . Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday had mainstream success on labels such as Columbia and Decca . By the late 1940s, however, she was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, she performed a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall . She

3950-520: A request to sing. Hildy, as well as Ozzie, Claire, and Chip try to lift Gabey's spirits by reminding him that he can count on them ("Ya Got Me"). As they are about to depart for another nightclub, the Slam Bang Club, Pitkin arrives ("I Understand (reprise)"). Claire tells him once again to pay the check, also to wait for Lucy and come to the Slam Bang later. At the Slam Bang Club, Madame Dilly

4108-610: A revival of Bertolt Brecht 's Mother Courage and Her Children . Robbins was still highly sought after as a show doctor. He took over the direction of two troubled productions during this period and helped turn them into successes. In 1962, he saved A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), a musical farce starring Zero Mostel , Jack Gilford , David Burns , and John Carradine . The production, with book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart , and score by Stephen Sondheim ,

4266-419: A second time, changing the lyrics "I know you raise Cain" to "Just say you'll remain" and changing "You mixed with some dame" to "What is there to gain?" Other songs recorded were "Big Stuff", " What Is This Thing Called Love? ", and "You Better Go Now". Ella Fitzgerald named "You Better Go Now" her favorite recording of Holiday's. "Big Stuff" and "Don't Explain" were recorded again but with additional strings and

4424-460: A significant contribution to jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly influenced by jazz instrumentalists, inspired a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo . She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills. After a turbulent childhood, Holiday began singing in nightclubs in Harlem where she was heard by producer John Hammond , who liked her voice. She signed

4582-539: A small role as a woman abused by her lover in Duke Ellington 's musical short film Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life . She sang "Saddest Tale" in her scene. In 1935, Holiday was signed to Brunswick by John Hammond to record pop tunes with pianist Teddy Wilson in the swing style for the growing jukebox trade. They were allowed to improvise on the material. Holiday's improvisation of melody to fit

4740-860: A solo, Ms. DeLaria makes an obliging captive of anyone watching her." Mary Testa was nominated for the 1999 Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical; Lea Delaria was nominated for the Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical and won the Theatre World Award . A Broadway revival opened at the Lyric Theatre on September 20, 2014, in previews, and officially on October 16, directed by John Rando with choreography by Joshua Bergasse. The cast featured Jay Armstrong Johnson (Chip), Tony Yazbeck (Gabey) and Clyde Alves (Ozzie), and Megan Fairchild (Ivy), Alysha Umphress (Hildy), and Elizabeth Stanley (Claire) as

4898-597: A song based on the lyric, " God Bless the Child ", and added music. "God Bless the Child" became Holiday's most popular and most covered record. It reached number 25 on the charts in 1941 and was third in Billboard 's songs of the year, selling over a million records. In 1976, the song was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Herzog claimed Holiday contributed only a few lines to the lyrics. He said she came up with

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5056-478: A staple in the pop community, leading to solo concerts, rare for jazz singers in the late 1940s. Gabler said, "I made Billie a real pop singer. That was right in her. Billie loved those songs." Jimmy Davis and Roger "Ram" Ramirez , the song's writers, had tried to interest Holiday in the song. In 1943, a flamboyant male torch singer , Willie Dukes, began singing "Lover Man" on 52nd Street . Because of his success, Holiday added it to her shows. The record's flip side

5214-535: A star. I needed the prestige and publicity all right, but you can't pay rent with it." She soon demanded a raise from her manager, Joe Glaser . Holiday returned to Commodore in 1944, recording songs she made with Teddy Wilson in the 1930s, including " I Cover the Waterfront ", " I'll Get By ", and " He's Funny That Way ". She also recorded new songs that were popular at the time, including, " My Old Flame ", "How Am I to Know?", "I'm Yours", and " I'll Be Seeing You ",

5372-441: A year for financial reasons, and to pursue dance full-time. He joined the company of Senya Gluck Sandor, a leading exponent of expressionistic modern dance; it was Sandor who recommended that he change his name to Robbins. Sandor also encouraged him to take ballet, which he did with Ella Daganova; in addition he studied Spanish dancing with Helen Veola; Asian dance with Yeichi Nimura; and dance composition with Bessie Schonberg . While

5530-465: A year later for Vocalion in sessions produced by Hammond and Bernie Hanighen . Hammond said the Wilson-Holiday records from 1935 to 1938 were a great asset to Brunswick. According to Hammond, Brunswick was broke and unable to record many jazz tunes. Wilson, Holiday, Young, and other musicians came into the studio without written arrangements, reducing the recording cost. Brunswick paid Holiday

5688-656: Is billed as the biggest dance musical ever staged at the theatre. A semi-staged concert version was performed at the Royal Albert Hall , London, as part of the 2018 Proms , on 25 August, the exact centenary of Bernstein's birth. The London Symphony Orchestra was conducted by John Wilson . The MGM film opened on December 8, 1949. It starred Gene Kelly as Gabey (who also co-directed with Stanley Donen ), Frank Sinatra as Chip, and Jules Munshin as Ozzie, as well as Ann Miller (Claire), Vera-Ellen (Ivy) and Betty Garrett (Hildy). The film dispensed with many of

5846-478: Is excited to see all the sights that his father told him about after his trip to New York in 1934, with his decade-old guidebook by his side. Ozzie is interested in finding a date (or several) because Manhattan women are the prettiest in the world. Gabey is looking for one special girl, hopefully, one who reminds him of his 7th-grade girlfriend, Minnie Finchley. On the subway, the three spot a poster of Ivy Smith, " Miss Turnstiles " for June. Gabey, overcome with love for

6004-416: Is forced to stand Gabey up. Chip and Ozzie both arrive at Nedick's with Hildy and Claire, both dressed as Ivy Smith. Gabey is not fooled and tells them the story of how he met her. Just then, Madame Dilly arrives with a message from Ivy: she will not be coming because she instead elected to go to a fancy party. Gabey is alone and dejected, but Hildy tells him that she can get him a date: Lucy. The five go into

6162-472: Is found asleep in her cab by her irate boss S. Uperman. He fires her and tells her to return the cab in an hour or he will call the police. Looking for one last fare, she comes across Chip. It is love at first sight, at least for Hildy. She forcefully kisses Chip, but Chip wants nothing more than to find Ivy. Hildy tempts him into taking a tour of the city, but all the places he wants to go ( the Hippodrome ,

6320-422: Is in a drunken stupor. Gabey asks her where Ivy is, and she lets it slip that she is at Coney Island . Gabey runs off to find her. Chip and Ozzie, afraid that he will not be able to get back to the ship on time, rush after him. On their way out, they come across Lucy and Pitkin. Claire once again leaves him to go with Ozzie. Pitkin recalls all the times in his life that he "understood" and realizes he has been played

6478-580: Is one of those rare revivals that remind us what a hit show from long was originally all about. The joy of Mr. Rando's production is in its air of erotic effortlessness." The first London production of On the Town opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on May 30, 1963, and ran for 63 performances. It was directed and choreographed by Joe Layton and starred Elliott Gould and Don McKay. The main female roles were taken by two Americans, Carol Arthur and Andrea Jaffe, and an English actress, Gillian Lewis . It

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6636-558: Is rich in dance ... and winning performances (particularly from Tony Yazbeck as the lovelorn sailor Gabey, and a scenery-devouring Andrea Martin as a nutso-dipso voice teacher), but it's richest of all in music. There are several ballet sequences, instant reprises, jazzy pop songs, classical spoofs, and soaring ballads." A production of On The Town opened in June 2013 at Barrington Stage Company in Massachusetts. John Rando directed

6794-597: Is studying to do all the things they said she was, she is nothing more than a "cooch dancer" at Coney Island. When Madame Dilly leaves to refill her flask, Gabey enters. He asks Ivy to go out with him, and to his surprise, she accepts. Gabey leaves ecstatically. Madame Dilly advises Ivy to break the date as "sex and art don't mix" ("Carnegie Hall Pavane") Ozzie accompanies Claire back to her apartment, where he meets Claire's fiancé, Pitkin W. Bridgework. They try desperately to explain what they are doing together, but Pitkin does not mind ("I Understand"). He leaves them alone to go to

6952-515: The 1956 film version . In 1957, he conceived, choreographed, and directed West Side Story . West Side Story is a contemporary version of Romeo and Juliet , set on the Upper West Side . The show, with music by Leonard Bernstein, marked the first collaboration between Robbins and Stephen Sondheim , who wrote the lyrics, as well as Arthur Laurents , who wrote the book. Because book, music, and dance were envisioned as an organic whole,

7110-463: The Adelphi Theater on December 28, 1944, directed by George Abbott and with choreography by Jerome Robbins. It closed on February 2, 1946, after 462 performances. The production starred John Battles (Gabey, who replaced Kirk Douglas before tryouts), Cris Alexander (Chip), Nancy Walker (Hildy), Sono Osato (Ivy), Betty Comden (Claire), and Adolph Green (Ozzie). The musical director

7268-612: The City University of New York and an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from New York University in 1985. Jerome Robbins was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1979. Robbins was inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame 10 years later, in 1989. In 1995, Jerome Robbins instructed the directors of his foundation to establish

7426-677: The Forrest Theatre to see Tobacco Road , the New York City Aquarium , and the Woolworth Building ) are either no longer in existence or no longer notable. The only place Hildy wants to take Chip is her apartment ("Come Up to My Place"). Uperman joins the lady and the cop in the chase, implying Hildy stole the cab. Ozzie goes to the museum but mistakenly arrives at the Museum of Natural History instead of

7584-601: The House Un-American Activities Committee . Although he gave this testimony only after years of pressure, and threats to make public his sexual orientation, his naming names caused resentment among some of his artistic colleagues, including blacklisted actors Jack Gilford and Zero Mostel , who, while working on Fiddler on the Roof "openly disdained Robbins". Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents worked with him on West Side Story only

7742-528: The Imperial Theatre on October 31, 1971, and closed on Jan 1, 1972, after 73 performances. Donna McKechnie , Phyllis Newman , and Bernadette Peters co-starred as Ivy, Claire, and Hildy. The director and choreographer were Ron Field . Peters received a nomination for the 1972 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In his review for the New York Times , Clive Barnes wrote:

7900-831: The London Symphony Orchestra and an all-star, crossover cast of opera and theater performers in a semi-staged concert version produced by Deutsche Grammophon and recorded for both CD and video release. The video was also aired on the PBS series Great Performances , and in the UK on both BBC Two and BBC Radio 3 in January 1994. Participants included Frederica von Stade , Thomas Hampson , Tyne Daly , Cleo Laine , David Garrison , Samuel Ramey , and, as both narrators and performers, Comden and Green themselves. The resulting recordings included material cut at various stages of

8058-472: The Museum of Modern Art . There he meets a budding anthropologist, Claire de Loone. She is amazed at his resemblance to a prehistoric man and asks him for his measurements. He mistakes her scientific interest for romantic interest, but as she explains, she is engaged to be married to the famous Judge Pitkin W. Bridgework. Pitkin has taught her to learn to know men scientifically, but she, like Ozzie, often gets "Carried Away." The two of them accidentally knock over

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8216-468: The "Tradition" number from Fiddler on the Roof . He was awarded a fifth Tony Award for it. Following a bicycle accident in 1990 and heart-valve surgery in 1994, in 1996 he began showing signs of a form of Parkinson's disease , and his hearing was quickly deteriorating. He nevertheless staged Les Noces for City Ballet in 1998, his last project. Robbins suffered a stroke in July 1998, two months after

8374-512: The "top brackets". Holiday could not sing as often during Shaw's shows as she could in Basie's; the repertoire was more instrumental, with fewer vocals. Shaw was also pressured to hire a white singer, Nita Bradley, with whom Holiday did not get along but had to share a bandstand. In May 1938, Shaw won band battles against Tommy Dorsey and Red Norvo , with the audience favoring Holiday. Although Shaw admired Holiday's singing in his band, saying she had

8532-416: The 1940s, their name was legally changed to Robbins. Robbins began studying modern dance in high school with Alys [CK] Bentley, who encouraged her pupils to improvise steps to music. Said Robbins later: "What [she] gave me immediately was the absolute freedom to make up my own dances without inhibition or doubts." After graduation he went to study chemistry at New York University (NYU) but dropped out after

8690-698: The 1950s, Holiday's drug use, drinking, and relationships with abusive men caused her health to deteriorate. She appeared on the ABC reality series The Comeback Story to discuss attempts to overcome her poor choices. Holiday first toured Europe in 1954 as part of a Leonard Feather package. The Swedish impresario Nils Hellstrom initiated the "Jazz Club U.S.A." (after the Leonard Feather radio show) tour starting in Stockholm in January 1954 and then Germany, Netherlands, Paris and Switzerland. The tour party

8848-590: The 1970s. Robbins became ballet master of the New York City Ballet in 1972 and worked almost exclusively in classical dance throughout the next decade, pausing only to stage revivals of West Side Story (1980) and Fiddler on the Roof (1981). In 1981, his Chamber Dance Company toured the People's Republic of China. The 1980s saw an increased presence on TV as NBC aired Live From Studio 8H: An Evening of Jerome Robbins' Ballets with members of

9006-416: The 2014 Broadway revival). The three break up, Gabey to Carnegie Hall , Ozzie to the Museum of Modern Art , and Chip to the "subway people." The three imagine what Miss Turnstiles must be like, and a ballet is performed in which Ivy demonstrates all the many different, contradictory, skills she has. The little old lady finds a policeman and the two chase after the sailors. A young female cabbie named Hildy

9164-470: The Bernstein songs, keeping four, including "New York, New York," and replaced the others with new songs with music by Roger Edens and lyrics by Comden and Green. A quartet of dockyard workers mourns the start of a new workday ("I Feel Like I'm Not Out of Bed Yet"). The whistle blows at 6 AM, and three sailors emerge: Ozzie, Chip, and Gabey, excited for 24 hours of shore leave ("New York, New York"). Chip

9322-458: The Blues , published in 1956, is inconsistent regarding details of her early life, but much was confirmed by Stuart Nicholson in his 1995 biography of the singer. Holiday frequently skipped school which resulted in her being brought before the juvenile court at age nine. She was sent to the House of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school for girls, where the nuns locked her in a room with

9480-485: The Blues" (her lyrics accompanied a tune by pianist Herbie Nichols ). The liner notes for this album were written partly by Gilbert Millstein of the New York Times , who, according to these notes, served as narrator of the Carnegie Hall concerts. Interspersed among Holiday's songs, Millstein read aloud four lengthy passages from her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues . He later wrote: The narration began with

9638-641: The Bright Spot. As her reputation grew, she played in many clubs, including the Mexico's and the Alhambra Bar and Grill, where she met Charles Linton, a vocalist who later worked with Chick Webb . It was also during this period that she connected with her father, who was playing in Fletcher Henderson 's band. Late in 1932, 17-year-old Holiday replaced the singer Monette Moore at Covan's,

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9796-523: The Child" and "Now, Baby or Never". The loss of her cabaret card reduced Holiday's earnings. She had not received proper record royalties until she joined Decca, so her main revenue was club concerts. The problem worsened when Holiday's records went out of print in the 1950s. She seldom received royalties in her later years. In 1958, she received a royalty of only $ 11. Her lawyer in the late 1950s, Earle Warren Zaidins, registered with BMI only two songs she had written or co-written, costing her revenue. By

9954-451: The Child". A review of the album was published by Billboard magazine on December 22, 1956, calling it a worthy musical complement to her autobiography. "Holiday is in good voice now", wrote the reviewer, "and these new readings will be much appreciated by her following". "Strange Fruit" and "God Bless the Child" were called classics, and "Good Morning Heartache", another reissued track on the LP,

10112-557: The Congacabana at the suggestion of Claire, but on their way out, they run into Pitkin. Ozzie and Claire try to explain the situation, but as before, all Pitkin says is "I Understand (reprise)." The gang leaves for the Congacabana while Pitkin stays behind to pay the check. At the Congacabana, Dolores Dolores (the same performer as "Diana Dream") sings the same sad song as before, in Spanish. Hildy interrupts her, saying she had gotten

10270-613: The Ebony Club, which was against the law. Her manager, John Levy, was convinced he could get her card back and allowed her to open without one. "I opened scared", Holiday said, "[I was] expecting the cops to come in any chorus and carry me off. But nothing happened. I was a huge success." Holiday recorded Gershwin's " I Loves You, Porgy " in 1948. In 1950, Holiday appeared in the Universal short film Sugar Chile Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet , singing "God Bless

10428-688: The New York City Ballet, and a retrospective of Robbins's choreography aired on PBS in a 1986 installment of Dance in America . The latter led to his creating the anthology show Jerome Robbins' Broadway in 1989 which recreated the most successful production numbers from his 50-plus year career. Starring Jason Alexander as the narrator (a performance that would win Alexander a Tony), the show included stagings of cut numbers like Irving Berlin 's Mr. Monotony and well-known ones like

10586-523: The Roof (1964). The show starred Zero Mostel as Tevye and ran for 3242 performances, setting the record (since surpassed) for longest-running Broadway show. The plot, about Jews living in Russia near the beginning of the 20th century, allowed Robbins to return to his religious roots. He continued to choreograph and stage productions for both the Joffrey Ballet and the New York City Ballet into

10744-643: The Roof . Robbins was a five-time Tony Award -winner and a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors . He received two Academy Awards , including the 1961 Academy Award for Best Director with Robert Wise for West Side Story and a special Academy Honorary Award for his choreographic achievements on film. A documentary about Robbins's life and work, Something to Dance About , featuring excerpts from his journals, archival performance and rehearsal footage, and interviews with Robbins and his colleagues, premiered on PBS in 2009 and won both an Emmy and

10902-429: The Scotch", released on November 11, sold 5,000 copies. Hammond was impressed by Holiday's singing style and said of her, "Her singing almost changed my music tastes and my musical life, because she was the first girl singer I'd come across who actually sang like an improvising jazz genius." Hammond compared Holiday favorably to Armstrong and said she had a good sense of lyric content at a young age. In 1935, Holiday had

11060-402: The art that was hers. I was very much moved. In the darkness, my face burned and my eyes. I recall only one thing. I smiled." The critic Nat Hentoff of DownBeat magazine, who attended the Carnegie Hall concert, wrote the remainder of the sleeve notes on the 1961 album. He wrote of Holiday's performance: Throughout the night, Billie was in superior form to what had sometimes been the case in

11218-537: The band, it was really just a matter of getting her tunes like she wanted them, because she knew how she wanted to sound and you couldn't tell her what to do." Some of the songs Holiday performed with Basie were recorded. "I Can't Get Started", " They Can't Take That Away from Me ", and "Swing It Brother Swing" are all commercially available. Holiday was unable to record in the studio with Basie, but she included many of his musicians in her recording sessions with Teddy Wilson. Holiday found herself in direct competition with

11376-428: The book and lyrics...have ease and a decent few laughs...The music...has worn less well, too many of the nostalgic ballads sound like sub-Puccini filtered through Glenn Miller...Mr. Field has staged the musical numbers with zest and imagination, but, with respect, he is no great shakes as a choreographer...Where Mr. Field is most successful is in the performances of his six principals, and the women are markedly better than

11534-545: The book quickly from a series of conversations with the singer in the Duftys' 93rd Street apartment. He also drew on the work of earlier interviewers and intended to let Holiday tell her story in her own way. In his 2015 study, Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth , John Szwed argued that Lady Sings the Blues is a generally accurate account of her life, but that co-writer Dufty was forced to water down or suppress material by

11692-472: The career of Shirley MacLaine , and created, choreographed, and directed the Mary Martin vehicle, Peter Pan (which he re-staged for an Emmy Award-winning television special in 1955, earning himself a nomination for best choreography). He also directed and co-choreographed (with Bob Fosse ) Bells Are Ringing (1956), starring Judy Holliday . Robbins recreated his stage dances for The King and I for

11850-478: The cast, in a Broadway first, had to be equally skilled as actors, singers, and dancers. To help the young cast grow into their roles, Robbins did not allow those playing members of opposite gangs (Jets and Sharks) to mix during the rehearsal process. He also, according to dancer Linda Talcott Lee, "played psychological games" with the cast: "And he would plant rumors among one gang about the other, so they really hated each other." Although it opened to good reviews, it

12008-577: The celebrated "Small House of Uncle Thomas" ballet in addition to other dances, and the revue Two's Company, starring Bette Davis. He also performed uncredited show doctoring on the musicals A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951), Wish You Were Here (1952), Wonderful Town (1953), and choreographed and directed several sketches for The Ford 50th Anniversary Show , starring Mary Martin and Ethel Merman on CBS. In 1954, Robbins collaborated with George Abbott on The Pajama Game (1954), which launched

12166-495: The charts was "Lover Man" in 1945. Holiday sang 32 songs at the Carnegie concert by her count, including Cole Porter 's " Night and Day " and her 1930s hit, "Strange Fruit". During the show, someone sent her a box of gardenias . "My old trademark", Holiday said. "I took them out of box and fastened them smack to the side of my head without even looking twice." There was a hatpin in the gardenias and Holiday unknowingly stuck it into

12324-553: The controversial song sold well, though Gabler attributed that mostly to the record's other side, " Fine and Mellow ", which was a jukebox hit. "The version I recorded for Commodore", Holiday said of "Strange Fruit", "became my biggest-selling record". "Strange Fruit" was the equivalent of a top-twenty hit in the 1930s. Holiday's popularity increased after "Strange Fruit". She received a mention in Time magazine. "I open Café Society as an unknown", Holiday said. "I left two years later as

12482-499: The dances he created for Ballets USA were N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz and Moves. In 1950, Robbins was called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), suspected of Communist sympathies. Robbins, though willing to confess to past party membership, resisted naming names of others with similar political connections; he held out for three years until, according to two family members in whom he confided, he

12640-482: The emotion was highly skillful. Their first collaboration included " What a Little Moonlight Can Do " and " Miss Brown to You ". "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" has been deemed her "claim to fame". Brunswick did not favor the recording session because producers wanted Holiday to sound more like Cleo Brown . However, after "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" was successful, the company began considering Holiday an artist in her own right. She began recording under her own name

12798-564: The film received 10 Academy Awards for the 1961 award year, Robbins won two, one for his Direction and one for "Brilliant Achievements in the Art of Choreography on Film". In 1962, Robbins directed Arthur Kopit 's non-musical play Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad . The production ran over a year off-Broadway and was transferred to Broadway for a short run in 1963, after which Robbins directed Anne Bancroft in

12956-414: The final note, all lights went out, and when they came back on, Holiday was gone. Holiday said her father, Clarence Holiday , was denied medical treatment for a fatal lung disorder because of racial prejudice, and that singing "Strange Fruit" reminded her of the incident. "It reminds me of how Pop died, but I have to keep singing it, not only because people ask for it, but because twenty years after Pop died

13114-410: The first members of New York City's newly formed Actors Studio , attending classes held by founding member Robert Lewis three times a week, alongside classmates including Marlon Brando , Maureen Stapleton , Montgomery Clift , Herbert Berghof , Sidney Lumet , and about 20 others. In 1948 he added another credit to his resume, becoming co-director as well as choreographer for Look Ma, I'm Dancin'! ;

13272-536: The fool by everyone, including Claire ("Pitkin's Song (I Understand)"). He also bonds with Lucy and the two of them join the chase along with the little old lady, the police officers, Figment, and Uperman. Riding the subway, Gabey dreams about Coney Island and Ivy. An extended dance sequence occurs with Ivy and a dream Gabey in a boxing match ("Subway Ride/The Great Lover Displays Himself/The Imaginary Coney Island"). The other four have just missed Gabey and are riding another subway car. They wonder about their future after

13430-496: The ground. "He began lapping me and loving me like crazy", she said. A woman thought the dog was attacking Holiday. She screamed, a crowd gathered, and reporters arrived. "I might just as well have wheeled into Penn Station and had a quiet little get-together with the Associated Press , United Press , and International News Service ", she said. Ed Fishman (who fought with Joe Glaser to be Holiday's manager) thought of

13588-407: The hospital, narcotics police came to her hospital room and placed her under house arrest for narcotics possession. On July 15, she received last rites . Holiday died at age 44 at 3:10 am on July 17, 1959, of pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver. In her final years, Holiday had been progressively swindled out of her earnings by McKay and she died with US$ 0.70 in

13746-438: The idea of doing the ballet, I watched sailors, and girls, too, all over town." Robbins commissioned the score for the ballet from Leonard Bernstein , who was a relatively unknown composer at the time. He also enlisted Oliver Smith as set designer. Later that year, Robbins conceived and choreographed On the Town (1944), a musical partly inspired by Fancy Free , which effectively launched his Broadway career. Bernstein wrote

13904-460: The imagery of the song reminded her of her father's death and that this played a role in her resistance to performing it. For her performance of "Strange Fruit" at the Café Society, she had waiters silence the crowd when the song began. During the song's long introduction, the lights dimmed and all movement had to cease. As Holiday began singing, only a small spotlight illuminated her face. On

14062-468: The impression that black people created jazz. The attempts failed because in 1947 Biberman was listed as one of the Hollywood Ten and sent to jail. Several scenes were deleted from the film. "They had taken miles of footage of music and scenes", Holiday said, but "none of it was left in the picture. And very damn little of me. I know I wore a white dress for a number I did... and that was cut out of

14220-575: The ironic account of her birth in Baltimore – 'Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen, and I was three' – and ended, very nearly shyly, with her hope for love and a long life with 'my man' at her side. It was evident, even then, that Miss Holiday was ill. I had known her casually over the years and I was shocked at her physical weakness. Her rehearsal had been desultory; her voice sounded tinny and trailed off; her body sagged tiredly. But I will not forget

14378-408: The last years of her life. Not only was there assurance of phrasing and intonation; but there was also an outgoing warmth, a palpable eagerness to reach and touch the audience. And there was mocking wit. A smile was often lightly evident on her lips and her eyes as if, for once, she could accept the fact that there were people who did dig her. The beat flowed in her uniquely sinuous, supple way of moving

14536-415: The late 1930s, Holiday had toured with Count Basie and Artie Shaw, scored a string of radio and retail hits with Teddy Wilson, and became an established artist in the recording industry. Her songs "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and " Easy Living " were imitated by singers across America and were quickly becoming jazz standards . In September 1938, Holiday's single " I'm Gonna Lock My Heart " ranked sixth as

14694-689: The line "God bless the child" from a dinner conversation the two had had. On June 12, 1942, in Los Angeles, Holiday recorded " Trav'lin Light " with Paul Whiteman for a new label, Capitol Records . Because she was under contract to Columbia, she used the pseudonym "Lady Day". The song reached number 23 on the pop charts and number one on the R&;B charts , then called the Harlem Hit Parade. On October 11, 1943, Life magazine wrote, "She has

14852-415: The marriage only lasted a few years. Holiday grew up in Baltimore and had a very difficult childhood. Her mother often took what were then known as "transportation jobs", serving on passenger railroads. Holiday was raised largely by Eva Miller's mother-in-law, Martha Miller, and suffered from her mother's absences and being in others' care for her first decade of life. Holiday's autobiography, Lady Sings

15010-445: The men have to go back to the ship ("Some Other Time"). At Coney Island, Ivy, along with several other girls, dances in a show called Rajah Bimmy's Harem Scarem ("The Real Coney Island"). Gabey sees Ivy and accidentally tears her already skimpy outfit off. She is arrested for indecent exposure as the chasers arrive and demand the others be arrested. Claire hopes Pitkin will get her out of the situation, but he no longer trusts her and has

15168-632: The men. Best of all is Bernadette Peters as the Bronx nasal taxi driver...Phyllis Newman as Claire also danced and sang with just the right style and gusto. Donna McKechnie made a sweet and talented Ivy Smith. The second Broadway revival opened at the Gershwin Theatre on November 19, 1998, and ran for 69 performances. This production began as a summer event at the Public Theater 's Delacorte Theater in Central Park and made use of

15326-411: The metamorphosis that night. The lights went down, the musicians began to play and the narration began. Miss Holiday stepped from between the curtains, into the white spotlight awaiting her, wearing a white evening gown and white gardenias in her black hair. She was erect and beautiful; poised and smiling. And when the first section of narration was ended, she sang – with strength undiminished – with all of

15484-414: The most distinctive style of any popular vocalist, [and] is imitated by other vocalists." Milt Gabler, in addition to owning Commodore Records, became an A&R man for Decca Records . He signed Holiday to Decca on August 7, 1944, when she was 29. Her first Decca recording was " Lover Man " (number 16 Pop, number 5 R&B), one of her biggest hits. The success and distribution of the song made Holiday

15642-420: The most-played song that month. Her record label, Vocalion , listed the single as its fourth-best seller for the same month, and it peaked at number 2 on the pop charts, according to Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories: 1890–1954 . Holiday was in the middle of recording for Columbia in the late 1930s when she was introduced to " Strange Fruit ", a song by Abel Meeropol based on his poem about lynching . Meeropol,

15800-470: The music and Smith designed the sets. The book and lyrics were written by a team that Robbins would work with again, Betty Comden and Adolph Green , and the director was the Broadway legend George Abbott . Because Robbins, as choreographer, insisted that his chorus reflect the racial diversity of a New York City crowd, On the Town broke the color bar on Broadway for the first time. Robbins's next musical

15958-678: The musical's development. Thomas revived this concert edition of the work in 1996 with the San Francisco Symphony , with many of the same performers. On The Town was part of English National Opera 's repertoire, running April 20 – May 25, 2007, at the London Coliseum , with Caroline O'Connor as Hildy, with choreography by Stephen Mear . As part of their 2017 Season, the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre staged On The Town , directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie; it

16116-700: The northeast corner of Madison Avenue . Known as "Jerry" to those close to him, Robbins was given the middle name Wilson reflecting his parents' patriotic enthusiasm for the then-president, Woodrow Wilson . In the early 1920s, the Rabinowitz family moved to Weehawken, New Jersey . His father and uncle opened the Comfort Corset Company in nearby Union City . He graduated in 1935 from Woodrow Wilson High School (since renamed as Weehawken High School ). The family had many show business connections, including vaudeville performers and theater owners. In

16274-474: The old records, you know. Some time I'd sit down and listen to 'em myself, and it sound like two of the same voices ... or the same mind, or something like that." Young nicknamed her "Lady Day", and she called him "Prez". In late 1937, Holiday had a brief stint as a big-band vocalist with Count Basie . The traveling conditions of the band were often poor; they performed many one-nighters in clubs, moving from city to city with little stability. Holiday chose

16432-568: The only existing filmed version of Holiday singing "Strange Fruit". Her final studio recordings were made for MGM Records in 1959, with lush backing from Ray Ellis and his Orchestra, who had also accompanied her on the Columbia album Lady in Satin the previous year (see below). The MGM sessions were released posthumously on a self-titled album, later retitled and re-released as Last Recording . On March 28, 1957, Holiday married Louis McKay,

16590-518: The original Broadway numbers with Hollywood-written substitutes. The show has enjoyed several major revivals. The musical integrates dance into its storytelling: Robbins made several ballets and extended dance sequences for the show, including the "Imaginary Coney Island" ballet. The Jerome Robbins ballet Fancy-Free (1944), with music by Leonard Bernstein, was a hit for the American Ballet Theatre , and Oliver Smith , who designed

16748-564: The outset of her career, she spelled her last name "Halliday", her father's birth surname, but eventually changed it to "Holiday", his performing name. The young singer teamed up with a neighbor, tenor saxophone player Kenneth Hollan. They were a team from 1929 to 1931, performing at clubs such as the Grey Dawn, Pod's and Jerry's on 133rd Street , and the Brooklyn Elks Club. Benny Goodman recalled hearing Holiday in 1931 at

16906-455: The picture, takes it with him. An old lady angrily tells him that she will have him arrested for vandalism and the three run off. Gabey wants to meet Ivy Smith, despite Chip's protests that the city is too big for things like that to happen. Ozzie, recounting an incident where Gabey saved their lives, convinces Chip to help Gabey find her. Chip grudgingly agrees and Ozzie coaches Gabey on what to do once he meets Ivy ("Gabey's Comin'," performed in

17064-412: The picture." She recorded "The Blues Are Brewin'" for the film's soundtrack. Other songs included in the movie are " Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? " and "Farewell to Storyville". Holiday's drug addictions were a problem on the set. She earned more than one thousand dollars per week from club ventures but spent most of it on heroin . Her lover, Joe Guy , traveled to Hollywood while Holiday

17222-405: The point Gilford and his wife often had to borrow money from friends to make ends meet. Because he cooperated with HUAC, Robbins's career did not visibly suffer and he was not blacklisted. In 1960, Robbins co-directed, with Robert Wise , the film adaptation of West Side Story . After about 45 days of shooting, he was fired when the production was considered 24 days behind schedule. However, when

17380-591: The popular singer Ella Fitzgerald . The two later became friends. Fitzgerald was the vocalist for the Chick Webb Band, which was in competition with the Basie band. On January 16, 1938, the same day that Benny Goodman performed his legendary Carnegie Hall jazz concert , the Basie and Webb bands had a battle at the Savoy Ballroom . Webb and Fitzgerald were declared winners by Metronome magazine, while DownBeat magazine pronounced Holiday and Basie

17538-599: The premiere of his re-staging of Les Noces . He died at his home in New York on July 29, 1998. On the evening of his death, the lights of Broadway were dimmed for a moment in tribute. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered on the Atlantic Ocean. Robbins had romantic relationships with a number of people, including Montgomery Clift , Nora Kaye , Buzz Miller , and Jess Gerstein. As a former Communist Party member, he named 10 communists in his testimony before

17696-468: The production and Joshua Bergasse choreographed. The production starred Tony Yazbeck (Gabey), Clyde Alves (Ozzie), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Chip), Alysha Umphress (Hildy), Deanna Doyle (Ivy), Elizabeth Stanley (Claire), Michael Rupert (Judge Pitkin), Allison Guinn (Lucy Schmeeler), and Nancy Opel (Madame P. Dilly). In his review Ben Brantley wrote: "John Rando's production of On The Town, the 1944 musical about three sailors on shore leave in New York City,

17854-627: The records of Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith . In particular, Holiday cited " West End Blues " as an intriguing influence, pointing specifically to the scat section duet with the clarinet as her favorite part. By the end of 1928, Holiday's mother moved to Harlem, New York, again leaving Holiday with Martha Miller. By early 1929, Holiday had joined her mother in Harlem. As a young teenager, Holiday started singing in nightclubs in Harlem. She took her professional pseudonym from Billie Dove , an actress she admired, and Clarence Halliday, her father. At

18012-416: The restaurant. Holiday obliged but soon fell on hard times herself. "I needed some money one night and I knew Mom was sure to have some", she said. "So I walked in the restaurant like a stockholder and asked. Mom turned me down flat. She wouldn't give me a cent." The two argued, and Holiday shouted angrily, "God bless the child that's got his own", and stormed out. With Arthur Herzog, Jr. , a pianist, she wrote

18170-429: The sets; his business partner, Paul Feigay, thought that the ballet could be turned into a Broadway musical. They convinced Robbins and Bernstein, who in turn wanted their friends Comden and Green to write the book and lyrics. When the director George Abbott was added to the project, funding was secured, including funding from the movie studio MGM in return for the film rights. On the Town premiered on Broadway at

18328-517: The ship, eager to have their own adventures in New York City ("New York, New York (reprise)/Finale Act II"). Act I Act II * Cut from the original Broadway production, but in the published vocal score and included in the 2014 Broadway production. Cut Numbers Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan ; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed " Lady Day " by her friend and music partner, Lester Young , Holiday made

18486-439: The side of her head. "I didn't feel anything until the blood started rushing down in my eyes and ears", she said. After the third curtain call, she passed out. On April 27, 1948, Bob Sylvester and her promoter Al Wilde arranged a Broadway show for her. Titled Holiday on Broadway , it sold out. "The regular music critics and drama critics came and treated us like we were legit", she said. But it closed after three weeks. Holiday

18644-593: The songs requested of her or change her style. Holiday was hired by Artie Shaw a month after being fired from the Count Basie Band. This association placed her among the first black women to work with a white orchestra, an unusual arrangement at that time. This was also the first time a black female singer employed full-time toured the segregated U.S. South with a white bandleader. When Holiday faced racism, Shaw would often stick up for his vocalist. In her autobiography, Holiday describes an incident in which she

18802-494: The songs she sang and had a hand in the arrangements, choosing to portray her developing persona of a woman unlucky in love. Her tunes included "I Must Have That Man", "Travelin' All Alone", " I Can't Get Started ", and " Summertime ", a hit for Holiday in 1936, originating in George Gershwin 's Porgy and Bess the year before. Basie became used to Holiday's heavy involvement in the band. He said, "When she rehearsed with

18960-552: The stage. By March 1938, Shaw and Holiday had been broadcast on New York City's powerful radio station WABC (the original WABC, now WCBS ). Because of their success, they were given an extra time slot to broadcast in April, which increased their exposure. The New York Amsterdam News reviewed the broadcasts and reported an improvement in Holiday's performance. Metronome reported that the addition of Holiday to Shaw's band put it in

19118-415: The story along; the words became her own experiences; and coursing through it all was Lady's sound – a texture simultaneously steel-edged and yet soft inside; a voice that was almost unbearably wise in disillusion and yet still childlike, again at the centre. The audience was hers from before she sang, greeting her and saying good-bye with heavy, loving applause. And at one time, the musicians too applauded. It

19276-703: The string ensemble and walked out. The musical director, Toots Camarata , said Holiday was overwhelmed with joy. She may also have wanted strings to avoid comparisons between her commercially successful early work with Teddy Wilson and everything produced afterwards. Her 1930s recordings with Wilson used a small jazz combo; recordings for Decca often involved strings. A month later, in November, Holiday returned to Decca to record " That Ole Devil Called Love ", "Big Stuff", and " Don't Explain ". She wrote "Don't Explain" after she caught her husband, Jimmy Monroe, with lipstick on his collar. Holiday did not make any more records until August 1945, when she recorded "Don't Explain" for

19434-527: The talents of Imogene Coca and Carol Channing ) and some dramatic, topical, and controversial. One such dance, later also performed in New York City at the 92nd Street Y, was Strange Fruit , set to the song of the same name sung by Billie Holiday . In 1940, Robbins joined Ballet Theatre (later known as American Ballet Theatre ). From 1941 through 1944, Robbins was a soloist with the company, attracting notice for his performance as Hermes in Helen of Troy ,

19592-453: The things that killed him are still happening in the South", she wrote in her autobiography. When Holiday's producers at Columbia found the subject matter too sensitive, Milt Gabler agreed to record it for his Commodore Records label on April 20, 1939. "Strange Fruit" remained in her repertoire for 20 years. She recorded it again for Verve . The Commodore release did not get any airplay, but

19750-407: The threat of legal action. According to the reviewer Richard Brody , "Szwed traces the stories of two important relationships that are missing from the book—with Charles Laughton , in the 1930s, and with Tallulah Bankhead , in the late 1940s—and of one relationship that's sharply diminished in the book, her affair with Orson Welles around the time of Citizen Kane . The film version of the book

19908-429: The three men brought to the naval authorities. The girls ask Pitkin if he has ever "committed an indiscretion," which he staunchly refuses. Just then, he sneezes in the same way as Lucy Schmeeler, casting doubt on his claim. As the clock chimes six, the sailors prepare to get back on the ship. Just then, the girls come running to them, telling them that Pitkin understood. They say a fond farewell as three new sailors leave

20066-455: The three women in the sailors' lives, as well as Jackie Hoffman (Madame Dilly), Michael Rupert (Judge Pitkin), and Allison Guinn (Lucy Schmeeler). A cast album was recorded at Audio Paint Studios in New York City in 2014. The production closed, after 28 previews and 368 regular performances, on September 6, 2015. An Encores! staged concert was presented at New York City Center from November 19, 2008, through November 23, 2008, as part of

20224-655: The title role in Petrouchka , the Youth in Agnes de Mille 's Three Virgins and a Devil , and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet ; he also came under the influence of the choreographers Michel Fokine , Antony Tudor , and George Balanchine. During this period, Robbins created Fancy Free , a ballet with a screwball-comedy plot about sailors on leave that combined classical ballet with 1940s social dancing. He performed in it when it

20382-426: The venue in unique ways. Upon its Broadway Transfer, critics disparaged the subsequent production and changes as lifeless and bland by comparison. Lea Delaria 's performance as Hildy the taxi driver (and especially her all-stops-out rendition of "I Can Cook, Too") won wide praise, with Ben Brantley writing "Working through the saucy double-entendres and scat embellishments of I Can Cook Too, Hildy's mating call of

20540-440: The winners. Fitzgerald won a straw poll of the audience by a three-to-one margin. By February 1938, Holiday was no longer singing for Basie. Various reasons have been given for why she was fired. Jimmy Rushing , Basie's male vocalist, called her unprofessional. According to All Music Guide , Holiday was fired for being "temperamental and unreliable". She complained of low pay and poor working conditions and may have refused to sing

20698-403: The world was interested in looking out for me," she said. Dehydrated and unable to hold down food, she pleaded guilty and asked to be sent to the hospital. The district attorney spoke in her defense, saying, "If your honor please, this is a case of a drug addict, but more serious, however, than most of our cases, Miss Holiday is a professional entertainer and among the higher rank as far as income

20856-714: The year after that he teamed with Irving Berlin to choreograph Miss Liberty . While he was forging a career on Broadway, Robbins continued to work in ballet, creating a string of inventive and stylistically diverse ballets, including Interplay , which was set to a score by Morton Gould , and Facsimile , which was set to music by Leonard Bernstein and was banned in Boston [CK]. In 1949 Robbins left Ballet Theatre to join George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein 's newly formed New York City Ballet as Associate Artistic Director. Soon after that he choreographed The Guests,

21014-423: Was Max Goberman . The original production of On the Town was notable for its racially diverse cast and intentional avoidance of racial stereotypes. The Japanese-American dancer Sono Osato starred as Ivy; there were six African-Americans in the cast, who were treated as part of the citizenry; and nine months into the run, the black conductor Everett Lee took over the podium. The first Broadway revival opened at

21172-401: Was " No More ", one of her favorites. Holiday asked Gabler for strings on the recording. Such arrangements were associated with Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. "I went on my knees to him", Holiday said. "I didn't want to do it with the ordinary six pieces. I begged Milt and told him I had to have strings behind me." On October 4, 1944, Holiday entered the studio to record "Lover Man", saw

21330-522: Was Holiday, Buddy DeFranco , Red Norvo, Carl Drinkard, Elaine Leighton (de) (nl) (1926–2012), Sonny Clark , Beryl Booker , Jimmy Raney and Red Mitchell . A recording of a live set in Germany was released as Lady Love – Billie Holiday . Holiday's autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues , was ghostwritten by William Dufty and published in 1956. Dufty, a New York Post writer and editor then married to Holiday's close friend Maely Dufty, wrote

21488-484: Was a jazz-age fable, Billion Dollar Baby (1945). During rehearsals for it, an incident happened that became a part of Robbins – and Broadway – lore: the choreographer, preoccupied by giving directions to the dancers, backed up onstage until he fell into the orchestra pit. Two years later, Robbins received plaudits for his humorous Mack Sennett ballet, High Button Shoes (1947), and won his first Tony Award for choreography . That same year, Robbins would become one of

21646-455: Was a night when Billie was on top, undeniably the best and most honest jazz singer alive. Her performance of "Fine and Mellow" on CBS 's The Sound of Jazz program is memorable for her interplay with her long-time friend Lester Young . Both were less than two years from death. Young died in March 1959. Holiday wanted to sing at his funeral, but her request was denied. Also in 1957, she sang as

21804-455: Was a successful concert performer throughout the 1950s, with two further sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall. Because of personal struggles and an altered voice, her final recordings were met with mixed reaction, but were mild commercial successes. Her final album, Lady in Satin , was released in 1958. Holiday died of heart failure on July 17, 1959, at age 44. Holiday won four Grammy Awards , all of them posthumously, for Best Historical Album. She

21962-504: Was also noted favorably. On November 10, 1956, Holiday performed two concerts before packed audiences at Carnegie Hall. Live recordings of the second Carnegie Hall concert were released on a Verve/HMV album in the UK in late 1961 called The Essential Billie Holiday . The 13 tracks included on this album featured her own songs "I Love My Man", "Don't Explain" and " Fine and Mellow ", together with other songs closely associated with her, including " Body and Soul ", " My Man ", and "Lady Sings

22120-566: Was arrested again on January 22, 1949, in her room at the Hotel Mark Twain in San Francisco by George Hunter White . Holiday said she began using hard drugs in the early 1940s. She married trombonist Jimmy Monroe on August 25, 1941. While still married, she became involved with trumpeter Joe Guy, her drug dealer. She divorced Monroe in 1947 and also split with Guy. In October 1949, Holiday recorded " Crazy He Calls Me ", which

22278-591: Was awarded with five Tony Awards , two Academy Awards (including the special Academy Honorary Award), the Kennedy Center Honors (1981), the National Medal of Arts (1988), the French Legion of Honor , and an Honorary Membership in the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He was awarded three honorary doctorates including an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 1980 from

22436-634: Was born on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia to African American unwed teenage couple Clarence Halliday and Sarah Julia "Sadie" Fagan (née Harris). Her mother moved to Philadelphia at age 19, after she was evicted from her parents' home in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of Baltimore , Maryland, for becoming pregnant. With no support from her parents, she made arrangements with her older, married half-sister, Eva Miller, for Holiday to stay with her in Baltimore. Not long after Holiday

22594-564: Was born, her father abandoned his family to pursue a career as a jazz banjo player and guitarist. Some historians have disputed Holiday's paternity, as a copy of her birth certificate in the Baltimore archives lists her father as "Frank DeViese". Other historians consider this an anomaly, probably inserted by a hospital or government worker. DeViese lived in Philadelphia, and Sadie, then known by her maiden name Harris, may have met him through her work. Harris married Philip Gough in 1920, but

22752-576: Was concerned." She was sentenced to Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia. The drug possession conviction caused her to lose her New York City Cabaret Card , preventing her working anywhere that sold alcohol; thereafter, she performed in concert venues and theaters. Holiday was released early (on March 16, 1948) because of good behavior. When she arrived at Newark , her pianist Bobby Tucker and her dog Mister were waiting. The dog leaped at Holiday, knocking off her hat, and tackling her to

22910-512: Was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. Although she had initially stopped drinking on her doctor's orders, it was not long before she relapsed. By May 1959, she had lost 20 pounds (9.1 kg). Her manager, Joe Glaser, jazz critic Leonard Feather, photojournalist Allan Morrison, and the singer's own friends all tried in vain to persuade her to go to a hospital. On May 31, 1959, Holiday was finally taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York for treatment of both liver and heart disease . While in

23068-441: Was filming and supplied her with drugs. Guy was banned from the set when he was found there by Holiday's manager, Joe Glaser. By the late 1940s, Holiday had begun recording a number of slow, sentimental ballads. Metronome expressed its concerns in 1946 about "Good Morning Heartache", saying, "there's a danger that Billie's present formula will wear thin, but up to now it's wearing well." The New York Herald Tribune reported of

23226-560: Was first). In 1946, Holiday won the Metronome magazine popularity poll. On May 16, 1947, Holiday was arrested for possession of narcotics in her New York apartment. On May 27, she was in court. "It was called 'The United States of America versus Billie Holiday'. And that's just the way it felt", she recalled. During the trial, she heard that her lawyer would not come to the trial to represent her. "In plain English, that meant no one in

23384-710: Was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame . In 2000, she was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence; their website states that "Billie Holiday changed jazz forever". She was named one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR and was ranked fourth on the Rolling Stone list of "200 Greatest Singers of All Time" (2023). Several films about her life have been released, most recently The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021). Eleanora Fagan

23542-409: Was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2010. Gabler said the hit was her most successful recording for Decca after "Lover Man". The charts of the 1940s did not list songs outside the top 30, making it impossible to recognize minor hits. By the late 1940s, despite her popularity and concert power, her singles were little played on radio, perhaps because of her reputation. In 1948, Holiday played at

23700-539: Was never allowed to visit the bar or the dining room as did other members of the band ... [and] I was made to leave and enter through the kitchen." There are no surviving live recordings of Holiday with Shaw's band. Because she was under contract to a different record label and possibly because of her race, Holiday was able to make only one record with Shaw, "Any Old Time". However, Shaw played clarinet on four songs she recorded in New York on July 10, 1936: "Did I Remember?", "No Regrets", "Summertime" and " Billie's Blues ". By

23858-508: Was not a propitious time for new musicals in London, given dramatic developments that year in British popular music. A month earlier, Bock and Harnick 's She Loves Me had opened on Broadway and ran for some 300 performances, but flopped when it came to London in 1964, not least because people thought the title had something to do with the Beatles . In 1992, Michael Tilson Thomas led

24016-431: Was not permitted to sit on the bandstand with other vocalists because of racist policies. Shaw said to her, "I want you on the band stand like Helen Forrest , Tony Pastor and everyone else." When touring the South, Holiday would sometimes be heckled by members of the audience. In Louisville, Kentucky , a man called her a "nigger wench" and requested she sing another song. Holiday lost her temper and had to be escorted off

24174-515: Was not working. Sondheim wrote and Robbins staged an entirely new opening number, "Comedy Tonight", which explained to the audience what was to follow, and the show played successfully from then on. In 1964, he took on a floundering Funny Girl and devised a show that ran 1348 performances. The musical helped turn lead Barbra Streisand into a superstar. That same year, Robbins won Tony Awards for his direction and choreography in Fiddler on

24332-477: Was overshadowed by Meredith Willson 's The Music Man at that year's Tony Awards. West Side Story did, however, earn Robbins his second Tony Award for choreography . The streak of hits continued with Gypsy (1959), starring Ethel Merman . Robbins re-teamed with Sondheim and Laurents, and the music was by Jule Styne . The musical is based (loosely) on the life of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee . In 1956 Robbins's muse, Tanaquil LeClercq , contracted polio and

24490-645: Was paralyzed; for the next decade Robbins largely withdrew from his activities at New York City Ballet, but he established his own small dance company, Ballets USA, which premiered at the inaugural season of Gian Carlo Menotti's Festival of the Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy in June 1958, toured Europe and the US under the auspices of the State Department, and appeared on television on The Ed Sullivan Show. Among

24648-545: Was presented at the Metropolitan Opera as part of the Ballet Theatre's 1944 season. He said that one of his inspirations for this ballet had been Paul Cadmus 's 1934 painting The Fleet's In! , even though it was lighthearted, which the painting decidedly was not. Robbins said in an interview with The Christian Science Monitor : "After seeing ... Fleet's In , which I inwardly rejected though it gave me

24806-503: Was released in 1972, with Diana Ross playing the role of Holiday. To accompany her autobiography, Holiday released the LP Lady Sings the Blues in June 1956. The album featured four new tracks, " Lady Sings the Blues ", " Too Marvelous for Words ", " Willow Weep for Me ", and " I Thought About You ", and eight new recordings of her biggest hits to date. The re-recordings included "Trav'lin' Light" "Strange Fruit" and "God Bless

24964-429: Was threatened with public exposure of his homosexuality. Robbins named the names of persons he said were Communists, including actors Lloyd Gough and Elliot Sullivan, dance critic Edna Ocko, filmmaker Lionel Berman, playwright Jerome Chodorov, his brother Edward Chodorov, Madeline Lee Gilford and her husband Jack Gilford , who were blacklisted for their perceived political beliefs and had their careers suffer noticeably, to

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