Theatre Register

Pearl Primus

Shows · Pearl Primus

Composer 1919–1994 On stage 1946

Pearl Eileen Primus (November 29, 1919 – October 29, 1994) was an American dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences. Early in her career she saw the need to promote African dance as an art form worthy of study and performance. Primus' work was a reaction to myths of savagery and the lack of knowledge about African people. It was an effort to guide the Western world to view African dance as an important and dignified statement about another way of life.

On stage 1 production

1946 Show Boat Ziegfeld Theatre · Revival · directed by Hassard Short 418 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

In the literature3 passages

  • Cast: Jan Clayton, Ralph Dumke, Carol Bruce, Charles Fredericks, Buddy Ebsen, Colette Lyons, Kenneth Spencer, Pearl Primus, Talley Beattyebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • "No Shoes" dance number in Show Boat, with (center) Laveme French as Sam, Pearl Primus as Sal, and Helen Dowdy as Queenie. New York, Ziegfeld Theatre, 1946. [Culver Pictures]theatre-pdfs/McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama, v. 3 (I-N).txt
  • LES BLANCS By Lorraine Hansberry; Director, Mitchell Weiss; Choreography, Pearl Primus; Scenery, Frank J. Boros; Costumes, Jeffrey N. Mazor,theatre-pdfs/Theatre World/Theatre World, 1979-80 Season, v. 36 (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.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — composer — 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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