9/20/25 O&A NYC SATURDAY MORNING CONCERT: The Harlem Sandman

That’s Reelblack Entertainment brings us another classic scene of Black entertainment excellence from the 1943 The Harlem Sandman. The venerable cast included Nick Stewart, Count Basie, Jack Williams, Dorothy Dandridge, Ernest Morrison and Pops & Louie as featured in Hit Parade of 1943. Continue reading

8/18/25 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Sammy Davis Jr. – Daddy’s Lecture The Rhythm of Life (Sweet Charity 1969)

Sammy Davis Jr. plays Big Daddy in Sweet Charity, performing the iconic hit “Rhythm of Life” as Charity (Shirley MacLaine) and Oscar (John McMartin) join the strange new church! Continue reading

4/22/25 O&A NYC REVIEW: Macbeth in Stride

By Walter Rutledge

For those of us that believe “Hell has no fury like a women scorned”. And for those of us who know firsthand you do not mess with a Black woman who “ain’t feeling it”. Leave your Elizabethan mindset at home and head to the Harvey Theater to experience MacBeth in Stride – Shakespeare from a sistah’s point of view. Written and performed by Obie- Award winner Whitney White the production takes Shakespeare and female empowerment to a new level. This soulful contemporary rendition of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Macbeth runs for only five remaining performances through April 27 at the Harvey Theater located at 651 Futon Street in downtown Brooklyn. Continue reading

3/17/25 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Carmen Jones- Gypsy Song – Beat Out Dat Rhythm on a Drum

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In the groundbreaking black version of Carmen Jones there is a wonderful club scene Gypsy Song -Beat Out Dat Rhythm on a Drum featuring three sepia divas, Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll. But there are at least three more present and future stars in the scene. As Carmen enters the club, the stunning woman with the pony-tail is famous beauty/dancer Carmen De Lavallade. Next two are fabled drummer Max Roach, and albeit just for a couple of seconds, Alvin Ailey! Continue reading

3/7/25 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Stormy Weather- Lena Horne, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Cab Calloway, Nicholas Brothers, Katherine Dunham and dancers

Shall We Dance Friday

Stormy Weather is a 1943 film musical produced and released by 20th Century Fox. The movie is considered one of the best Hollywood musicals with an all African-American cast and serve to  showcase of some of the top African-American performers of the time. Continue reading

12/25/24 O&A NYC MERRY CHRISTMAS: March of the Wooden Soldiers

Babes in Toyland is a Laurel and Hardy musical film released on March 10, 1934. The film is also known by its alternate titles Laurel and Hardy in Toyland, Revenge Is Sweet (the 1948 European reissue title), March of the Wooden Soldiers and Wooden Soldiers (in the United States). Continue reading

7/19/24 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: The Wiz-A Brand New Day (Everybody Rejoice)


With Evillene (Mable King*) dead, her powerful spells. Soon all her sweat shop workers and prisoners are free from her hold over them and “strip” way their hideous wicked witch skin. They all celebrate with Dorthy (Diana Ross), Scarecrow, (Michael Jackson), Tin Man (Nipsey Russell), and Cowardly Lion (Ted Ross*). This large cast dance member is the brain child of choreographer Louis Johnson, whose high energy, and interdisciplinary vocabulary captures the energy of the song lead by The Wiz Singers Adult Choir member Luther Vandross. Continue reading

4/15/24 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Chicago

Winner of 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and based on the hit Broadway musical, CHICAGO is a dazzling spectacle cheered by audiences and critics alike. Continue reading

2/2/24 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: It Don’t Mean a Thing! Phyllis Hyman, Hinton Battle and Gregg Burge.

On March 1 1981, Sophisticated Ladies debuted on Broadway. The show run for 767 performances  and garnered two Tony Awards for Willi Kim for Best Costume and Hinton Battle for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. It Don’t Mean a Thing! featuring the sultry Phyllis Hyman, Hinton Battle and Gregg Burge.  Continue reading

12/26/22 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Be A Clown From The Pirate- Gene Kelly and The Nicholas Brothers

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In The Pirate (1948) both Gene Kelly and Judy Garland fought to get The Nicholas Brothers (Fayard Nicholas and Harold Nicholas) included in the movie. They succeeded, but the Be a Clown sequence was cut by exhibitors in Memphis and other U.S. cities in the South because it included The Nicholas Brothers, who were black.  Continue reading