Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Fayard Nicholas [sound recording].

Author

Nicholas, Fayard.

Publication

2001.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Hill, Constance Valis.
• Oral history archive.

Found In

Popular Balanchine collection.

Description

2 sound discs (ca. 76 min.) : digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Disc 1 (ca. 60 min.). Constance Valis Hill speaks with Fayard Nicholas about her role [in researching the musical comedy Babes in arms as part of the Popular Balanchine project ] and the purpose of the interview; Nicholas speaks briefly with Hill about the dancer Dan Daily; Hill states the particulars of the interview including the presence of Nicholas' wife, Katherine Hopkins Nicholas, and speaks briefly about the musical comedy Babes in arms and the roles of the Nicholas Brothers [Fayard Nicholas and his brother, Harold Nicholas] in it; Nicholas speaks with Hill about the Ziegfeld follies, which was the occasion of his first meeting George Balanchine, including the reason Josephine Baker was not happy with the choreography of her act in the show; the Nicholas Brothers' act in the show, including a performance anecdote; John Murray Anderson; Balanchine's recruiting of the Nicholas Brothers for the show; working with Balanchine on their part in the Johnny One-note scene; the song Peter's Journey and Duke McHale's dancing; an anecdote about the song Dark people; as Nicholas and Hill look at rehearsal photographs from the show, discussion of the types of dancing and some of the dancers in Babes in arms and other related topics; more on the song Johnny One-note and the dance known as the Egyptian ballet, including Hill's trying to determine, in part based on photographs, at what point the Nicholas Brothers performed their part; Nicholas describes the Egyptian ballet in greater detail; their performing this dance at the Roxy Theatre; Hill plays a contemporary arrangement of the music from the Johnny One-note ballet as well as the following dialog and the song Johnny One-note, accompanied by Nicholas and Hill's continuing discussion; Nicholas speaks about how different the 1939 film Babes in arms was from the musical comedy; Hills and Nicholas watch and discuss Nicholas' "home movies" [of the Nicholas Brothers dancing]; the Nicholas Brothers' speaking parts in Babes in arms as their first acting role on Broadway; Balanchine's praising of their performance; both Balanchine's and Betty Bruce's remarking that their dancing showed the influence of ballet; the manner in which they worked with Balanchine; Nick [Nicholas] Castle, as a dancer and as a choreographer; Balanchine's influence on their dancing in later films; Hill and Nicholas speak while looking at additional photographs [ends abruptly].
• Disc 2 (ca. 16 min.). Fayard Nicholas and Constance Valis Hill continue to speak about the musical comedy Babes in arms while looking at photographs from the show, including the song Dark people and Nicholas' dislike of it; an anecdote about Mitzi Green, Lena Horne, and the song The lady is a tramp; more about the Johnny One-note act; (briefly) his and his brother's friendship with Mitzi Green; not seeing Balanchine again after Babes in arms; the origin of his nickname as Big Mo and Harold's nickname as Little Mo; his gratitude to Balanchine for the ideas he gave them, which they used in later acts.

Donor/Sponsor

Marianna L. Collins, 2010-2011.

Alternative Title

Popular Balanchine collection Audio materials.

Subject

• Balanchine, George
• Nicholas, Fayard
• Nicholas, Harold
• Rodgers, Richard, 1902-1979
• Nicholas Brothers
• Tap dancing
• African Americans in musical theater
• Musicals. Babe in arms
• Audiotapes > Nicholas, F
• Audiotapes > Nicholas, K.H

Note

• Interview with Fayard Nicholas conducted by Constance Valis Hill on Jan. 12, 2001, at the office of the Balanchine Foundation in New York City, regarding the role of the Nicholas Brothers in the musical comedy Babes in arms. The interview was conducted as part of Hill's researching of Babes in arms in connection with the Popular Balanchine project. Nicholas' wife, Katherine Hopkins Nicholas, is also present but does not participate substantively in the interview. Nancy Reynolds may be present as well, but does not participate.
• Sound quality is excellent.

Funding (note)

• Preservation was funded by Marianna L. Collins, 2010-2011.

Source (note)

• George Balanchine Foundation.

Linking Entry (note)

• Forms part of: Popular Balanchine collection. Audio materials.

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2712

OCLC

755633521

Author

Nicholas, Fayard. Interviewee

Title

Interview with Fayard Nicholas [sound recording].

Imprint

2001.

Original Version

Original format : 2 sound cassettes (ca. 76 min.; 1 7/8 in. per sec.; 2 channels). Originally recorded in 2001.

Funding

Preservation was funded by Marianna L. Collins, 2010-2011.

Linking Entry

Forms part of: Popular Balanchine collection. Audio materials.

Local Note

Related materials including a transcript of all or part of this interview may be found in the Library's archival collections cataloged under the subheading Babe in arms, in Popular Balanchine dossiers, 1927-2004; call number: *MGZMD 146. The transcript was prepared by the George Balanchine Foundation and may have been edited.

Archive original: *MGZTCO 3-2712 no. 1-2

Source

Gift. George Balanchine Foundation.

Added Author

Hill, Constance Valis. Interviewer

George Balanchine Foundation. Donor

Oral history archive.

Added Title

Popular Balanchine collection Audio materials.

Found In:

Popular Balanchine collection.

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2712