Move Over Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia Is Not The Only One Determined To Make Us Love Her
Audiences adore Fantasia Barrino in Oprah's "The Color Purple"; now the "American Idol" songstress is in talks to extend her time on Broadway with a new show.
Rush And Molly is reporting that the sistah is in negotiations to star in a big musical based on the life of Ada (Bricktop) Smith, an African-American expatriate in Paris in the 1920s who became a nightlife queen.
Sometimes we forget, family, how many stories about us still have not been told.
Bricktop's is a great story. Known for her fire-red hair and freckles, Smith rose from humble beginnings in Alderson, W. Va., to become the toast of Paris in the Roaring '20s.She was first employed overseas by American composer and songwriter extraordaire Cole Porter to teach dances such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom at his parties.
By 1929, she owned her own nightclubs such as The Music Box, Le Grand Duc and her famous Chez Bricktop, where she entertained Porter, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Porter wrote "Miss Otis Regrets" for her.
Smith's proteges included Duke Ellington, Mabel Mercer and Josephine Baker. She even worked with Langston Hughes when he was still a busboy.