African-American dancer Leonard Harper is acknowledged as the father of cabaret. In the 20’s and 30’s, Harper and his dancing Harperettes were an international sensation.
Leonard Harper started off performing in medicine shows (shows that included the selling of various medical remedies during intermissions) as a child. As he got older, he started working with the T.O.B.A., which stood for Theater Owners Booking Association, but was nicknamed “Tough on Black Asses.” Harper and his wife, dancer Osceola Banks, proved their worth by putting together the show Plantation Days.
As a result, Harper was made a producer with the Shubert Circuit and given an unlimited budget. He trained more Harperettes and took the group overseas. When he returned to Harlem, Harper created a show that combined the medicine show with the cabaret. His performances included acts like Snake Hips Tucker or Jazz Lips Richardson, the torso-twister.
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Harper’s talent opened for the biggest clubs in the country, including New York’s legendary Cotton Club. The Harperettes performed in notable shows like Connie’s Hot Chocolates on Broadway in 1929. That same production introduced Louis Armstrong and his hits “Ain’t Misbehavin” and “Black and Blue.”
Harper met Duke Ellington at a boarding house they both lived in and introduced him to the Cotton Club where Ellington raised the stage. He also coordinated sets with Armstrong, Count Basie, Cab Calloway and many other fixtures of the Harlem Renaissance.
Harper lent his talents to popular white acts of the time like
Fred Astaire and the
Marx Brothers and along the way, helped integrate vaudeville. By 1931, Harper had connected with renowned film director
Oscar Micheaux for his new production
, The Exile, the first all-black talking film of its kind which Harper co-directed with Micheaux.
Leonard Harper died at age 44 but by then he had produced over 2,000 shows for stage and screen. Harper’s grandson, Grant Harper Reid, has followed in his grandfather’s footsteps from his earliest years. As a baby, Reid was declared the Apollo Theater’s “New Years Baby” and was carried onstage by Jackie Wilson. Reid has worked as a location scout and supervisor for several major productions including Fame, Mississippi Burning, Angel Heart and A Chorus Line.
To commemorate his grandfather’s legacy, Reid released Rhythm For Sale, a book that tells the incredible story of his grandfather’s meager beginnings in Alabama to his evolution as a legendary performer, producer and choreographer.
(Photo: Grant Harper Reid collection)
