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Friday July 25th 2008 |
a non-profit education organization | |
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Friday July 25th 2008 |
a non-profit education organization | |
November 6
From Keyport, New Jersey, she was educated in the public school system there and she developed her voice while singing in the local Catholic church choir. Hall attended Juilliard School of Music in New York City. As a teenager she was married to Clement Hall who died in 1920. Her first successful performance was Julie in Show Boat in 1928. Hall appeared in Green Pastures in 1930 with the Hall Johnson Choir and eventually became the assistant choir director. She extender her director abilities to included the Works Progress Administration Chorus from 1935 to 1944, The Westchester Chorale and Dramatics Association 1941 to 1942 and her own choir, The Juanita Hall Choir in 1942. Hall’s voice could be heard on radio too, with Rudy Vallee and Kate Smith. She sang on Broadway from 1943 to 1947 in The Pirate, Sing Out, Sweet Land, Saint Louis Woman, Deep Are the Roots, and Street Scene. Hall sang on the nightclub circuit and was discovered by Richard Rogers. He cast her in the roll of Bloody Mary in South Pacific in 1949 where she won the Donaldson Award for her supporting role. She performed in her one-woman show, A Woman and the Blues and was also cast as the Chinese lady Madam Liang in Flower Drum Song. All of the characters Hall played were done convincingly. Complications of diabetes caused the death of Juanita Hall on February 28, 1968. Reference: Black Women in America An Historical Encyclopedia Volumes 1 and 2, edited by Darlene Clark Hine Copyright 1993, Carlson Publishing Inc., Brooklyn, New York ISBN 0-926019-61-9 To become an Actress
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The African American Registry®, The African American Registry® Copyright 2005, 2006
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