Best Of: Actor Leslie Uggams / Martha's Vineyard's Indigenous Past & Present
Fresh Air
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From Family Roots to Stage Lights
This chapter explores the speaker's early influences in the performing arts, shaped significantly by their family's legacy, particularly the achievements of their mother and aunt. Recounting their own experiences performing at renowned venues like the Apollo Theater, they reflect on lessons gleaned from music legends like Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Additionally, the chapter touches on the socio-economic contrasts of childhood friendships and the cultural significance of a groundbreaking variety show launched in 1969.
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