Vinyl recording
On this date in 1961, "Black Nativity" opened on Broadway. Langston Hughes’ self-described “gospel song play” was staged at New York City's Lincoln Theater.
The Christmas story performed in dialog, narrative, pantomime, gospel song, and folk spirituals is an expression of Hughes' late-in-life interest in African American spirituality and the oral traditions of the African American church.
Reference:
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History
Volume 1, ISBN #0-02-897345-3, Pg 175
Jack Salzman, David Lionel Smith, Cornel West
