{"id":17802,"date":"2023-02-19T18:01:53","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T18:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/?p=17802"},"modified":"2025-04-21T07:16:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T07:16:19","slug":"billy-wilson-orbit-a-night-at-the-cotton-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/2023\/02\/19\/billy-wilson-orbit-a-night-at-the-cotton-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Wilson Orbit: A Night at the Cotton Club\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Billy Wilson and <i>A Night at the Cotton Club 1989<\/i><\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_18815\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18815\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/TheConstellationProject\/BillyWilson\/index.html#thisisCOTTONCLUB\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-18815\" src=\"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/billywilsonUthumb-300x171.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"171\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/billywilsonUthumb-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/billywilsonUthumb-230x131.png 230w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/billywilsonUthumb-350x200.png 350w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/billywilsonUthumb-480x274.png 480w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/billywilsonUthumb.png 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18815\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/TheConstellationProject\/BillyWilson\/index.html#thisisCOTTONCLUB\">Return Back to Billy Wilson&#8217;s orbit in The Constellation Project<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Billy Wilson was a director for a musical titled <em>A Night at the Cotton Club<\/em>, a hit show in Amsterdam with three of his dancers. He later hired his daughter, Alexis Wilson as a featured dancer in that show and she later took over as dance captain.\u201d <em>A Night At The Cotton Club<\/em> tells the story of Black artists who are not forgotten in the memory and who will be resurrected on stage tonight. The music of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller to name a few, the showgirls and the &#8216;Harlem Orchestra&#8217; welcome you tonight at the Cotton Club, once Harlem&#8217;s most exciting address and now its hottest new musical show [ &#8230;].&#8221;- (Summary from the program booklet of the German premiere)<\/span><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17803 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"414\" height=\"326\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC-800x630.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC-300x236.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC-768x605.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC-920x725.jpeg 920w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC-230x181.jpeg 230w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC-350x276.jpeg 350w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC-480x378.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 414px) 100vw, 414px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sources:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.notsoblackandwhite.com\/dancing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dancing \u00ab ALEXIS WILSON<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.notsoblackandwhite.com\/my-father\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Billy Wilson, Not So Black and White<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/release\/7862976-Various-A-Night-At-The-Cotton-Club\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Night At The Cotton Club (1989, CD) &#8211; Discogs<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/theatricalia.com\/play\/5x5\/the-cotton-club\/production\/cw9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Production of The Cotton Club | Theatricalia<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.musicallexikon.eu\/inhalte\/Cotton%20Club\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Night At The Cotton Club \u2014 Musicallexikon<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12800\" src=\"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare-800x48.jpg 800w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare-300x18.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare-1024x61.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare-768x46.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare-1536x92.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare-830x50.jpg 830w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare-230x14.jpg 230w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare-350x21.jpg 350w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare-480x29.jpg 480w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/starflare-600x36.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>More About\u00a0<em>A Night at the Cotton Club <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-17804\" src=\"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC2.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC2-420x420.jpeg 420w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC2-100x100.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC2-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC2-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC2-230x230.jpeg 230w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC2-350x350.jpeg 350w, https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NACC2-480x480.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cotton Club is a building at the corner of Lenox Avenue and 142nd Street in Harlem. In the 1920s, the Cotton Club was a Harlem nightclub that hosted the best jazz musicians of the era. The Club was decorated with the idea of creating a \u201cstylish plantation environment\u201d for its entirely white clientele while entertainers and most of the staff were African American. Exceptions made in the case of prominent white entertainment guest stars and the dancers. Dancers at the Cotton Club were held to strict standards; they had to be at least 5\u20196\u201d tall, light skinned with only a slight tan and under twenty-one years of age.<\/span><br \/>\n<strong>Sources:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu\/?q=program\/night-cotton-club-music-duke-ellington-harold-arlen-cab-calloway\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Night at the Cotton Club: Music of Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen &amp; Cab Calloway<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackpast.org\/african-american-history\/cotton-club-harlem-1923\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cotton Club of Harlem (1923- )<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18269\" src=\"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Screen-Shot-2022-12-06-at-5.00.54-PM-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"124\" \/>Daisy Rosalez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Billy Wilson and A Night at the Cotton Club 1989 Billy Wilson was a director for a musical titled A Night at [&hellip;]<\/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-17802","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\/17802","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=17802"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18824,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17802\/revisions\/18824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}