Theatre Register

Lew Leslie

Shows · Lew Leslie

Director 1888–1963

Lew Leslie (born Lewis Lessinsky; April 15, 1888 – March 10, 1963) was a Jewish American writer and producer of Broadway shows. Leslie got his start in show business in vaudeville in his early twenties. Although white, he was the first major impresario to present African American artists on the Broadway stage. He had two well-known wives, torch singer Belle Baker and Ziegfeld Follies showgirl Irene Wales.

Also credited on2 works

Blackbirds Of 1928
Ziegfeld Follies

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature4 passages

  • Compare and contrast with Gilbert and Harry B. Smith. Miss Fields and Jimmy McHugh wrote the song for Lew Leslie’s International Revue in 1930. Twenty years earlier it would never have occurred to Smith or any other theatre lyricist to rhyme across the quatrains: ‘hat’/‘doorstep’/‘pitter-pat’/‘your step’. Or to structure a middle eight so…ebooks/Steyn, Mark/Broadway Babies Say Goodnight_ Musicals Then and Now - Mark Steyn.txt
  • Waters appeared in several all-black revues, Africana (1927), Lew Leslie's Blackbirds (several editions, 1927-30), and Rhapsody in Black (1931), singing her blues and dancing. During this period she also made her movie debut in the film musical On with the Show! (1929), singing "Am I Blue?" and "Birmingham Bertha" while wearing a bandanna…ebooks/Viagas, Robert/I'm the Greatest Star_ Broadway's Top Musical Legends from 1900 to Today - Robert Viagas.txt
  • duced by Lew Leslie and was a sensation in its time. It starred Adelaide Hall, Tim Moore, Mantan Moreland, and Bill Robinson. Musical numbers: "Shuffle Your Feet," "Dbcie," "Diga, Diga, Do," "I Can't Give You Anything but Love," "Bandana Babies," "Porgy," "Doin' the New Low Down," "I Must Have That Man," "Here Comes My Blackbird," "The Ca…theatre-pdfs/McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama, v. 3 (I-N).txt
  • GEORGIA BURKE, 107, Georgia-bom character actress, died November 28, 1985 in New York City. Made Bdwy debut in Lew Leslie's "Blackbirds," followed by "Five Star Final." "Savage Rhythm," "In Abraham's Bosom," "Old Man Satan," "They Shall Not Die," "Mamba's Daughters," "Cabin in the Sky." "No Time for Comedy," "Sun Fields," "Anna Lucasta,"…theatre-pdfs/Theatre World/Theatre World, 1985-86 Season, v. 42 (Willis).txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Any staging. This name appears in no production cast list we hold — 1,877 of 7,139 people are in that position, most of them writers, composers and designers rather than performers.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — director — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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