USA: MICHE BRADEN STARS AS SINGER BESSIE SMITH IN BROADWAY PLAY

Record ID: 391125

  • Title: USA: MICHE BRADEN STARS AS SINGER BESSIE SMITH IN BROADWAY PLAY
  • Date: 8th March 2001
  • Summary: BLACK AND WHITE STILLS OF BESSIE SMITH /POSTER
  • Embargoed: 23rd March 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAETTLNG9G817L9HR9J79MWA80G
  • Story Text: Empress of the Blues Bessie Smith, who's music changed the course of history, died in 1937, in a tragic road accident. Today, New York's Melting Pot Theater resurrects the life of the incredibly talented woman, with a play titled "The Devil's Music."
    In real life, Bessie Smith was a crude, violent woman, who went on to become one of the greatest American classic blues singers of the 1920s. The legendary hard-living, Klan defying woman rescued Columbia Records from bankruptcy and earned $1500 dollars (USD) a week during her heyday, more than her white male counterparts, with her first record, "Downhearted Blues" selling more than 750,000 copies.
    She also became a symbol of artistic emancipation, becoming an inspiration to black artists in a white dominated industry.
    Now Broadway brings Bessie Smith's story to life, in a play titled "The Devil's Music." The uniquely qualified Miche Braden plays the title role of Bessie, "The Empress of the Blues."
    Aside from her music, Bessie earned a reputation for being a wild woman. She had several high profile affairs with both men and women, was an alcoholic and occasionally smoked marijuana.
    Her death in 1937 as a result of a car accident gave rise to the sensationalist story that she died because a whites-only hospital refused to treat her injuries.
    Although her music went unheard for decades, the public will now hear all of Bessie Smith. A British record label plans to release a CD set with Ms Smith's entire output, to mark the phenomenal, exciting career, of the woman who changed blues forever.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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