Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Strickler, Fred.

Description

1. 6 sound cassettes (5 hr., 15 min.) +

Summary

1. Cassette 1. Recorded Feb. 11, 1997. Mr. Reed discusses his childhood; getting into show business; learning the charleston; competing in dance contests; performing with Lassus White's minstrel show; the Hoofers' Club; the importance of the Whitman Sisters' show in helping develop young talent; touring with Travis Tucker; performing with the Whitman Sisters; how the shim sham developed; leaving the Whitman Sisters show; producing shows at Dave's Café in Chicago; Eddie Rector's dance act; touring with Cholly Atkins; and Cholly's innovations as a producer of nightclub shows. He recites dialogue from his new show called Show people, and then describes meeting and proposing to his wife; Barbara da Costa; racism in the Professional Golf Association; and getting married.
2. Cassette 2. Recorded Feb. 11, 1997. Mr. Reed reminisces about his friendship with the prizefighter Joe Louis; going into the restaurant business; being in a car accident; producing the 1937 Cotton Club show; some of the acts in that show; stealing ideas from other producers and artists; the flash dancer Dynamite Hooker; the difference between show girls and "ponies"; his ancestry; racism in various parts of the United States; and working as a carnival barker. He explains what a "bally" is and then discusses managing striptease artists, his voice student, Angela Teek; and his philosophy of performer etiquette.
3. Cassettte 3. Recorded Feb. 18, 1997. Mr. Reed discusses his first jobs in Los Angeles; producing a show at Shep's Playhouse; his songwriting; creating unusual theatrical effects; his admiration for the dancing of his partner Willy Bryant; dance routines of the past compared to those of the present; the structure of a variety show; leaving show business; the decrease in nightclub activity after World War II; doing an act with Joe Louis; his teaching; managing striptease artists. He plays piano and sings songs from Show People, which he writes and directs, and then discusses New York's Apollo Theatre.
4. Cassette 4. Recorded Mar. 27, 1997. Mr. Reed discusses stealing danc steps from other dancers; the rhythms of shim sham; the debate about the originator of the shim sham; and criticizes improvising in performance. He explains what a "cutting contest" is and then describes the act [of Carnell Lyons, L.D. Jackson, and Cecil Groves] called The Three Gentlemen of Rhythm; his three marriages; his experience of racism in show business; auditioning participants of the Quincy Jones workshop; being financially supported by women; his one professional regret; hosting a television variety and talk show.
5. Cassette 5. Recorded Mar. 27, 1997. He continues discussing his television show; describes his first foster parents; surviving as a runaway; being raised by his second foster father; his admiration for the dancer Johnny Nit; theaters and clubs in 1920s Harlem; his admiration for the trio King, King and King; the dancing of Eddie Rector; the origins of Rector's routine to the song Bambalina; the dancers John Bubbles and Harry Mayes; his admiration for the dancing of his partner, Willie Bryant; the activities of the Theater Owners Booking Association; the Whitman Sisters; and his responsibilities as a producer.
6. Cassette 6. Recorded Mar. 27, 1997. (Side A only, 10 min.) Mr. Reed discusses the Cotton Club Boys.

Donor/Sponsor

1. National Initiative to Preserve American Dance.

Alternative title

1. Dance Oral History Project.
2. Dance Audio Archive.

Subject

1. Rector, Eddie
2. Atkins, Cholly
3. Bryant, Willie
4. Nit, Johnny
5. Bubbles, John W
6. Hoofers' Club
7. Whitman Sisters (Dance group)
8. Cotton Club
9. Apollo Theater (New York, N.Y. : 125th Street)
10. Charleston (Dance)
11. Shim sham (Dance)

Call number

1. *MGZMT 3-2098 (transcript)

Note

1. Interviewed by Fred Strickler, Feb. 11-Mar. 27, 1997, at Mr. Reed's home in West Covina, Calif.
2. For transcript, see: *MGZMT 3-2098.

Access (note)

1. Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Author

1. Reed, Leonard. Interviewee

Title

1. Interview with Leonard Reed [sound recording]

Imprint

1. 1997.

Local note

1. Preservation master cassettes: *MGZTCO 3-2098.
2. Archival transcript: *MGZMTO 3-2098.
3. Interview funded by the National Initiative to Preserve American Dance (NIPAD)

Restricted access

1. Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Local subject

1. Variety dancing -- United States.
2. Audiotapes -- Reed. L.
3. Audiotapes -- Strickler, F.

Added author

1. Strickler, Fred. Interviewer

Research call number

1. *MGZMT 3-2098 (transcript)
2. *MGZTC 3-2098 (sound cassette)