Micki Grant

Micki Grant
Micki Grant (right) with Barbara Rodell on Another World, 1968
Born June 30[1]
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Occupation Actress, composer

Micki Grant (born June 30, 1941)[2] is an American singer (soprano), actress, writer and composer. She performed in Having Our Say (as Sadie Delaney), Tambourines to Glory and Jericho-Jim Crow, The Gingham Dog, Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope and has received three Tony Award nominations for her writing.[1]

Early life

Born on June 30 in Chicago, Illinois to Gussie and Oscar Perkins. Oscar was a self taught pianist & master barber, while Gussie worked for Stanley Products. Grant first took piano lessons at the age of eight, and the next year took acting lessons with Susan Porché. After high school, her cousin Jeni Le Gon took her under her wing when Grant moved out to Los Angeles.[1]

Theatre career

While in Los Angeles, she was cast in Fly Blackbird by James V. Hatch and C. Bernard Jackson. The show was successful and it moved to New York City, as did Grant. She would graduate college, Summa Cum Laude from Lehman College.[1] In the early 1960s, she appeared off-Broadway in Jean Genet's "The Blacks" (with James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson), and in "Brecht on Brecht", in which she sang (among other things) "Pirate Jenny". In 1964, Grant appeared as 'Ella Hammer' in Howard da Silva's off-Broadway revival of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock, opposite Jerry Orbach and Rita Gardner. In 1965, Micki Grant became one of the first African-American cast members of a daytime soap opera (preceded by Rex Ingram on The Brighter Day), when she played the role of legal secretary Peggy Harris Nolan on NBC's Another World. She later appeared on ABC's The Edge of Night, replacing Billie Allen as Ada Chandler.

Much of her early work was done with director Vinnette Carroll,[3] the first African-American woman to direct on Broadway. They collaborated on Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope and Your Arms Too Short to Box With God, both enjoying critical acclaim and long Broadway runs. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Writing credits

  • Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope (1971) – musical – music and lyrics, performer
  • Croesus and the Witch (1971) - musical - music and lyrics
  • Step Lively, Boy (1973) - musical - music and lyrics
  • The Prodigal Sister (1974) - musical - music and lyrics
  • Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1976) – musical – additional music and lyrics
  • The Ups and Downs of Theophilis Maitland (1976) - musical - music and lyrics
  • I'm Laughing but I Ain't Tickled (1976) - musical - music and lyrics
  • Alice (1978) - musical - music and lyrics
  • Working (1978) – musical – music and lyrics with Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, James Taylor, Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead
  • Eubie! (1978) - musical revue - additional lyrics
  • It's So Nice to Be Civilized (1980) – musical – book, music and lyrics
  • Phillis (1986) - musical - music and lyrics
  • Step Into My World (1989) - revue - music and lyrics
  • Carver (Don't Underestimate A Nut) (1996) - music, lyrics, & book[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 http://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/micki-grant-41
  2. ↑ Dictionary of the Black Theatre by Allen Woll, Greenwood Press, 1983, ISBN 0-313-22561-3, pg 210
  3. ↑ A Century of Musicals in Black and White by Bernard L. Peterson, Jr, Greenwood Press, 1993, ISBN 0-313-26657-3, pg 111.
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgDB48esu1g&t=145s
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.