Vivian Reed (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor and singer. She is most known for her performances in the Broadway productions of ''
Bubbling Brown Sugar'' for which she won a
Drama Desk Award and received her first
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
nomination and for "''The High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club''" for which she received her second
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
nomination. Reed has also recorded several albums on the
Epic Records and the
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B.
History Genres
In 1959, ...
labels.
Early life and career
Vivian Reed began formal voice training at the age of eight at the Pittsburgh Musical Institute, later continuing at New York's
Juilliard School of Music, followed by years of extensive dance training. She became a polished performer under the guidance of
Honi Coles and Bobby Schiffman of the
Apollo Theater. In 1968, she had regionally popularized a
Gerry Goffin and
Carole King composed tune called "
Yours Until Tomorrow", which achieved some success. She received critical acclaim for her work in ''
Bubbling Brown Sugar'' on Broadway and Europe. She captured the attention of
Pierre Cardin
Pierre Cardin (, , ), born Pietro Costante Cardino (2 July 1922 – 29 December 2020), was an Italian-born naturalised-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He preferred geometric sha ...
, who booked her into his theater and held her over for several weeks. Through Cardin she went to Japan for the first time and later made her first European television special. Later, she was invited by the Prince and Princess of Monaco to perform in
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
.
Television
She has appeared on many television variety and talk shows, both nationally and internationally, including ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
'', ''
The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...
'' and the ABC-TV daytime drama, ''
One Life to Live''. She has shared the bill with
Bill Cosby
William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...
,
Patti LaBelle,
Brian Stokes Mitchell,
Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four act ...
,
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, best known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films a ...
,
Alan King,
Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director.
At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...
,
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
,
Ashford & Simpson
Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946).
Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, ...
,
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...
and others. Her film credits include ''
Headin' for Broadway
''Headin' for Broadway'' is a 1980 American drama film directed by Joseph Brooks and written by Joseph Brooks, Larry Gross, and Hilary Henkin. The film stars Rex Smith, Terri Treas, Vivian Reed, Paul Carafotes, Gary Gendell and Benjamin Rayso ...
'', ''L'Africain'' with
Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (, , ), is a French actress as well as an occasional singer, model, and producer, considered one of the greatest European actresses. She gained recogni ...
and ''La Rumba'', in which she portrayed
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...
. She produced and starred in a short film, 'What Goes Around' written by Angela Gibbs. She has also done voiceover work and television commercials.
Fashion
Reed has been featured in
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
,
Elle
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...
,
Paris Match
''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly news magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features.
History and profile
A sports news magazine, ''Match l'intran'' (a play on '' L'Intransigeant ...
,
People
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
,
Ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
, and the covers of
Jet and
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
magazines. She was named on Mr. Blackwell's Best Dressed Women List and selected by People magazine as one of the '25 Most Intriguing People of the Year.' She is a professional photographer and scarf designer. Her line is called VJR scarves.
Theatre
She appeared in ''
Sophisticated Ladies
''Sophisticated Ladies'' is a musical revue based on the music of Duke Ellington. The musical ran on Broadway in 1981–83, earning 2 awards and 8 nominations at the 35th Tony Awards.
Production
''Sophisticated Ladies'' opened on Broadway at th ...
,'' ''
The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', ''
Blues in the Night'', ''
Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope
''Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope'' is a musical revue first staged in 1971 with music, lyrics and book by Micki Grant. It was originally produced by Edward Padula.
Background and productions
The all-singing, all-dancing show focuses on the Afric ...
'', ''High Rollers,'' ''
Show Boat
''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...
'', in which she portrayed the role of "Queenie" and ''
Tintypes
''Tintypes'' is a musical revue conceived by Mary Kyte with Mel Marvin and Gary Pearle.
Description
With its time frame set between the turn of the 20th century and the onset of World War I, this chamber piece with a cast of five provides a mus ...
.'' She has also appeared in ''
Blues for an Alabama Sky,'' ''
Crumbs from the Table of Joy'' and ''Pork Pie and Cookin' at the Cookery.'' She was featured in ''
Marie Christine
''Marie Christine'' is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It opened on Broadway in 1999. Set in 1890s New Orleans and then 5 years later in Chicago; the story is loosely based on the Greek play ''Medea'', and uses ...
'' at
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
and portrayed
Lena Horne in a new piece, ''More Than a Song'', with the
Pittsburgh Ballet at the Benedum Theater in Pittsburgh. She appeared in the Lena Horne Awards Show hosted by Bill Cosby, honoring
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American comedian, television producer, actress, author, and television personality. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series '' Star Search'' ...
and with
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
at the
Ford Center for the Performing Arts in New York and appeared in ''Three Mo' Divas,'' the follow-up to ''Three Mo Tenors at the
San Diego Repertory Theatre
The San Diego Repertory Theatre is a performing arts company in San Diego, California.
History
The company grew out of Indian Magique, a street theater group of actors, writers, directors, and producers, some of whom were theater graduates from ...
and
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...
in Washington, DC. She also played "Gloria Franklin" in ''The Second Tosca,'' written by Tom Rowan. She has been performing her one-woman shows to sold out houses and concluded two book musical workshops, ''One For My Baby'' and ''The Countess of Storyville''. She has created four one-woman shows.
Music
Reed's nightclub act has appeared at events for Mercedes Benz, IBM, Top Fashion Designers Gala at the
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the
American Film Festival
American Film Festival is a film festival held annually in October in Wrocław, Poland. The first festival was held from 20 to 24 October 2010. The festival is organized by Stowarzyszenie Nowe Horyzonty and co-funded by the Wroclaw Municipality a ...
in
Deauville
Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film F ...
. She appeared at the
Viña del Mar International Song Festival
, image =
, caption =Overture to the closing night of LI Viña del Mar International Song Festival (2010)
, location =Viña del Mar, Chile
, years_active =1960-present
, founders =
, dates =3rd week of February
, ...
in Chile and received the coveted 'Torch Award,' an honor bestowed by the mayor and citizens of
Viña. She has also made six albums.
Honors and awards
Reed awards or nominations include two
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
s, a
Drama Desk Award,
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...
,
Outer Critics Circle Award, Dance Education of America Award,
NAACP Award, Mabel Mercer, Adelco, Torch Award from South American song festival and others. In 2014, she received the 'Kingdom of Excellence Award' an honor bestowed by Dr. Michelle Harris, CEO of Vindicated Magazine for her lifetime of achievements.
Teaching
Reed taught at the
Berklee College of Music in Boston. While there she established an annual concert event called "Singer's Night." She is a vocal professor on the staff of
Marymount Manhattan College
Marymount Manhattan College is a private college on the Upper East Side of New York City. As of 2020, enrollment consists of 1,571 undergraduates with women making up 80.1% and men 19.9% of student enrollment. The college was founded in 1936.
Hi ...
in New York City.
External links
*
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Vivian
Living people
20th-century African-American women singers
Drama Desk Award winners
African-American actresses
American musical theatre actresses
1947 births
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women
Actresses from Pittsburgh
Singers from Pennsylvania