''One Mo' Time'' is a musical revue conceived by

Vernel Bagneris Vernel Martin Bagneris (born July 31, 1949) is an American playwright, actor, director, singer, and dancer. Early life Bagneris was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. He is the third child of Gloria Diaz Bagneris and Lawrence Bagneris, Sr. ...

. It is an evening of 1920s African-American vaudeville, set in the Lyric Theatre of New Orleans in 1926. The Lyric Theatre was on the black vaudeville circuit known as the

Theatre Owners Booking Association Theatre Owners Booking Association, or T.O.B.A., was the vaudeville circuit for African American performers in the 1920s. The theaters mostly had white owners, though there were exceptions, including the recently restored Morton Theater in Athens, G ...

(T.O.B.A.). The

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production opened in New York at the Village Gate Theatre in October 1979. At the

23rd Annual Grammy Awards The 23rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1981, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1980. Album of the Year went to Mic ...

in 1980, the show's recording was nominated for Best Original Cast Show Album. One of the members in the orchestra was the legendary trumpeter

Jabbo Smith Jabbo Smith (born Cladys Smith; December 24, 1908 – January 16, 1991) was an American jazz musician, known for his virtuoso playing on the trumpet. Biography Smith was born in Pembroke, Georgia, United States. At the age of six he went into ...

, who was a rival of Luis Armstrong in the late 1920s. Smith can be heard frequently in the musical's recording. The 1981 West End production, at the

Cambridge Theatre The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site". Design and construction It was des ...

, was nominated for the

Olivier Award for Best New Musical The Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in ...

. The musical was revived for a short Broadway season at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was desi ...

in 2002.

References

{{Portal bar, Theatre, Music 1979 musicals Off-Broadway musicals Broadway musicals West End musicals