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| 'The Wiz' star Stephanie Mills backs Halle Bailey, the new 'Little Mermaid,' amid racial backlash | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 12:57 pm EDT 05/30/23 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 12:49 pm EDT 05/30/23 | |
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| Disney's new live-action ''The Little Mermaid'' was a big box-office hit over the weekend, grossing $163 million worldwide. But it also elicited some racial backlash and review bombing because it stars an African-American actress as Ariel. Stephanie Mills, who played Dorothy in ''The Wiz'' (1975), wrote an open letter of support to Bailey. Mills, a Drama Desk nominee for her musical, recalls: ''I got so much hate mail, I was told Judy Garland ‘is turning over in her grave.’ All because a little Black girl was playing a [role], that was once played by a white girl. ... They told me I would never make it on Broadway, they told me I couldn’t sing, they told me I was too dark.'' Mills added: ''It’s sad to see the same thing is happening to this beautiful, talented, smart and intelligent actress. Halle, God put you in this place and time….So let your light shine. Hold your head up high, walk in your peace, and celebrate the greatness that you are.'' |
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| Link | Deadline.com: Stephanie Mills Likens Her Experience on 'The Wiz' to Halle Bailey's in 'The Little Mermaid': 'I Got So Much Hate Mail' |
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| re: 'The Wiz' star Stephanie Mills backs Halle Bailey, the new 'Little Mermaid,' amid racial backlash | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 01:10 pm EDT 05/30/23 | |
| In reply to: 'The Wiz' star Stephanie Mills backs Halle Bailey, the new 'Little Mermaid,' amid racial backlash - WaymanWong 12:49 pm EDT 05/30/23 | |
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| God bless Stephanie Mills. A remarkable voice. And that was a very different time, and the unspoken, aesthetic guidelines for how our female stars could look was very different, in so many ways. | |
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| Gee, 'Wiz': I wonder why Mills didn't get a Tony nomination | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 04:12 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 04:04 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
| In reply to: re: 'The Wiz' star Stephanie Mills backs Halle Bailey, the new 'Little Mermaid,' amid racial backlash - lordofspeech 01:10 pm EDT 05/30/23 | |
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| Given what a star-making turn it was, and how she got a Drama Desk nomination, it's surprising to me that she wasn't Tony-nominated as well. ''The Wiz'' became a hit with 8 nominations and won 7 of them, and launched her on a career that led to Grammy-winning R&B success in the '80s. Was Mills edged out because the other Best Actress nominees were better-known? You had Angela Lansbury, who won for ''Gypsy,'' plus Bernadette Peters (''Mack and Mabel,'' 66 performances); Ann Reinking (''Goodbye, Charlie,'' 101 performances) & Lola Falana (''Doctor Jazz,'' 5 performances!). Granted, Mills was below the title, but the Tonys sometimes boosted below-the-title performers. Jerry Orbach (''Promises, Promises'') was below the title, but won for Leading Actor (in the same season William Daniels of ''1776'' turned down his Featured nomination as the show's lead). If Mills were categorized as Featured, it's still baffling she didn't get one of the 6 slots, like her ''Wiz'' co-star Dee Dee Bridgewater, who won. (I once read somewhere there was some confusion among the Tony nominators about the ''Wiz'' actresses; anyone ever hear that?) Anyway, 2025 will be ''The Wiz's'' 50th anniversary. I hope the Tonys invite Mills to celebrate that historic occasion! |
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| Link | NBC Flashback (1977): Stephanie Mills on auditioning for 'The Wiz' (and if she and Michael Jackson are a romantic couple) |
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