Leonard Harper (producer)

Leonard Harper
Leonard Harper, ca 1890s
Born(1899-04-09)April 9, 1899
DiedFebruary 13, 1943(1943-02-13) (aged 43)
Occupation(s)Producer, stager, and choreographer

Leonard Harper (April 9, 1899, Birmingham, Alabama – February 4, 1943, Harlem, New York) was a producer, stager, and choreographer in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s.[1][2]

Harper's works spanned the worlds of vaudeville, cabaret, burlesque and Broadway musical comedy.[3] As a dancer, choreographer and studio owner, he coached many of the country's leading performers, including Ruby Keeler, Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire, and the Marx Brothers.[4][5][6] He produced floor shows and theatrical revues both uptown in Harlem and downtown on Broadway's Great White Way.[7] He co-directed and staged the ensemble segments of The Exile and the short film Darktown Revue with Oscar Micheaux. Harper staged for Broadway Hot Chocolates at the Hudson Theatre and was the premiere producer who opened up the Cotton Club. He also produced Lindy Hop revues and an act called Harper's Lindy Hoppers at the Savoy Ballroom, as detailed in his biography Rhythm For Sale.[8]

  1. ^ Reid, Grant Harper (2014). Rhythm for Sale.
  2. ^ Williams, Kam (October 29, 2014). "Rhythm for Sale by Dr. Grant Harper Reid". Maryland Daily Examiner.
  3. ^ Beckerman, Jim (February 16, 2014). "Pioneering African American Film Comes Back to Fort Lee Where it All Began". North Jersey. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  4. ^ Variety, July 2, 1924, Billboard, August 23, 1924.
  5. ^ Lawrence, A. H., Duke Ellington and His World, pp. 34–36.
  6. ^ Taylor, Erica L. (February 14, 2014). "Little Known Black History Facts: Leonard Harper and the Harpettes". Black America Web.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Vaudeville was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Hinckley, David, "He Lived the Nightlife Entertainer and Impresario Leonard Harper Was a New York Original Whose Story Deserves Telling", New York Daily News, March 19, 1998; Nicholson, Stuart, Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First Lady of Jazz, Updated Edition, Routledge, 2004.