{"id":17759,"date":"2022-12-05T19:17:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T19:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/?p=17759"},"modified":"2025-04-21T07:16:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T07:16:20","slug":"billy-wilson-orbit-jamaica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/2022\/12\/05\/billy-wilson-orbit-jamaica\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Wilson Orbit: Jamaica"},"content":{"rendered":"

Billy Wilson and Jamaica<\/em><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Return Back to Billy Wilson’s orbit in The Constellation Project<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\" \"\"Jamaica<\/em> is a Broadway original which was performed by Billy Wilson alongside Alvin Ailey as an Islander. It was performed at the Imperial Theater in New York City. Set on tropical paradise Pigeon\u2019s Island, Jamaica<\/em> centers around Savannah, a young woman who dreams of leading a life of modernity in New York City. Two suitors vie for her attention: Koli, a handsome but poor fisherman, and Joe Nashua, a Big Apple businessman who has come to the remote island to dive for pearls. Although Savannah is enticed by Joe\u2019s promises that the pair could exchange life on the island for that in the city, she ultimately decides to remain with Koli, after he saves her younger brother during a hurricane.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

From Broadway to Ballet and Back, MOBBallet<\/a><\/strong>
\nRicardo Montalban, Lena Horne, Adelaide Hall, Augustine “Augie” Rios, Ossie Davis and ensemble in the 1957 stage production Jamaica<\/em>, NYPL Digital Collections<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

More about Jamaica<\/em>\u00a0 (1957-1959)<\/b><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Jamaica Playbill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jamaica<\/em> opened on October 31, 1957,\u00a0 at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway. Yip Harburg and Fred Saidy, known for their collaboration on Finian\u2019s Rainbow, wrote the book. Harburg also wrote the lyrics and Harold Arlen composed the music. The two had previously worked together on The Wizard of Oz. \u201cFather of American jazz dance,\u201d Jack Cole choreographed the musical. Oliv<\/span>er Smith <\/span>designed the set; Miles White designed costumes. Actress and activist Lena Horne starred in the musical, which also featured dancers Alvin Ailey<\/a><\/strong>, Barbara Wright<\/a><\/strong>, Jayne Craddock<\/a><\/strong>, Frank Glass, Nat Horne<\/a><\/strong>, Charles Moore<\/a><\/strong>, and Billy Wilson.<\/p>\n

Book by Yip Harburg and Fred Saidy<\/span>
\nLyrics by Yip Harburg<\/span>
\nMusic by Harold Arlen<\/span>
\nChoreography by Jack Cole<\/span>
\nSet design by Oliver Smith<\/span>
\nCostumes by Miles White<\/span><\/p>\n

Jamaica<\/em> was nominated for these awards:<\/span>
\n1958 COSTUME DESIGN<\/span>
\n1958 BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL\u00a0<\/span>
\n1958 SCENIC DESIGN (PLAY OR MUSICAL)<\/span>
\n1958 BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL\u00a0<\/span>
\n1958 BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL\u00a0<\/span>
\n1958 MUSICAL\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

See More<\/a><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/b><\/p>\n

Cole, Jack, Oxford Reference<\/a><\/strong>
\nJamaica on Broadway: The Popular Caribbean and Mock Transnational Performance<\/a><\/strong>
\nJamaica, Playbill<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billy Wilson and Jamaica Jamaica is a Broadway original which was performed by Billy Wilson alongside Alvin Ailey as an Islander. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"universe-template.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[302,253],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-billy-wilson-constellation","category-universe"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17759"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18850,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17759\/revisions\/18850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}