July 25
Born Today:
Buddy Bradley
As an African-American dancer/choreographer Buddy Bradley (1905-1972) received very little recognition for his work in the United States. Although he staged routines for Ruby Keeler (1909-1993), Eleanor Powell (1912-1982) , and brother-sister team Fred and Adele Astaire (1899-1987/1896-1981), Bradley remained uncredited. His lone Broadway credit was for staging dances for the Broadway musical Hello, Daddy (1928), but he apparently show-doctored many more, fixing them after audiences failed to respond positively. Bradley relocated to London soon after touring with the show Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds in 1926 and he often worked with British musical theatre star Jessie Matthews (1907-1981), particularly for her stage show (1930) and the film Evergreen (1934). He also collaborated with ballet choreographer Frederick Ashton (1904-1988) on a jazz ballet High Yellow (1932). Bradley directed a school from 1933-1967 and continued choreographing for musical theatre productions overseas, returning to the United States in 1967.
Also Born Today: Ballet dancer/choreographer Heinrich Kroller (1880-1930) created contemporary-leaning ballets for the Munich Opera, Berlin State Opera, and the Vienna State Opera, sometimes concurrently. Ballerina Debra Austin (1955-) is best known for being the first black dancer to be promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer in the United States. She danced for the Pennsylvania Ballet from 1982-1990.
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Broadway Premiere: A Chorus Line (1975) ran for 6,137 performances until April 28, 1990