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WHO'S WHO IN THE CAST

CLEAVANT DERRICKS (Charley) received the 1982 Tony and Drama Desk awards as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in Michael Bennett's hit musical Dreamgirls. His vocal arrangements for that show earned him the L.A. Critics' Circle Award. He also appeared on Broadway in I Have a Dream, the revivals of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar, and as The Preacher in the revival of Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. His films include Paul Mazursky's Moscow on the Hudson; Hair; Nashville; Fort Apache, The Bronx and the current Off Beat for Disney Productions. His television credits include "Miami Vice" and the movie "Ambush Murders." He is the composer and musical director of PBS-TV's "When Hell Freezes Over I'll Skate."

LORETTA DEVINE (Lilly) created the role of Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls. Her previous Broadway credits have included Comin' Uptown with Gregory Hines, the revival of Hair and Gower Champion's A Broadway Musical. She has appeared in more than 16 Off-Broadway productions, and most recently in P. J. Gibson's Long Time Since Yesterday. Miss Devine began her acting career in Houston, where she founded numerous theatre groups. She is an M.F.A. graduate of Brandeis University in Theatre Arts. A composer/lyricist as well, Miss Devine has performed her own material in her highly successful cabaret act with musical director Loni Berry at Greene Street, Les Mouches, Studio 54, The Red Parrot, The Ballroom and Don't Tell Mama. During the summer of 1984 she co-starred with Liliane Montevecchi in the Radio City Music Hall extravaganza Gotta Getaway! She can also be seen in the television movie "Anna and the Infinite Power."

ALAN WEEKS (Willie) created the role of Daddy Bates in The Tap Dance Kid and has also been featured on Broadway in Sophisticated Ladies; Ain't Misbehavin'; Rockabye Hamlet; Hallelujah, Baby! and as the title character in The Wiz. He was the narrator in the original Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and received the NAACP Award in Los Angeles for Best Performance by an Actor in Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope. Television audiences will remember Alan as Leroy Johnson's father on "Fame" and his film credits include roles in The French Connection, Shaft, Truck Turner, Black Belt Jones and the forthcoming Brighton Beach Memoirs. Mr. Weeks has worked extensively as a director/choreographer and is currently represented by the choreography for the long running Off-Broadway hit Mama, I Want to Sing.

LARRY MARSHALL (Slick) received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for his portrayal of Sportin' Life in the 1976 Broadway revival of Porgy and Bess, a success he repeated at Radio City Music Hall and on national tour. Mr. Marshall's Broadway credits include the title role in Gower Champion's Rockabye Hamlet, Hair, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Inner City, Comin' Uptown and Puck in the Lincoln Center production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. His film credits include Panic in Needle Park, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Cotton Club, in which played Cab Calloway. Mr. Marshall was featured soloist in Leonard Bernstein's Mass, both at the opening of the Kennedy Center and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. He has also been a soloist with the New York Philharmonic in its tribute to George Gershwin and with the Boston Symphony. In 1969 Mr. Marshall appeared at the world-famous Apollo Theatre and was the first act to be held over in 26 years.

ALDE LEWIS, JR. (Otis), a native of Flint, Michigan, made his Broadway debut as a featured tap dancer in the original company of My One and Only. Alde has also been featured in Francis Ford Coppola's film The Cotton Club, the 

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BROADWAY THEATRE

WHO"S WHO IN THE CAST

pre-Broadway show Mahalia, Cab Calloway's Cotton Club Revisited, with the Sounds in Motion Dance Company, and at Resorts International in Atlantic City. Mr. Lewis also has the distinction of winning amateur night at the famed Apollo Theatre. He is also a tap choreographer. "I give all the glory and praises to my Lord for my talents and one of his many miracles, my daughter Makaela."

DESIREE COLEMAN (Phoebe) created the lead role of Doris Winter in the hit Off-Broadway musical Mama, I Want to Sing, a part she performed to critical acclaim for three years. A native New Yorker, Desiree is a graduate of the High School of Music and Art, but began her musical career in the church choir at the age of six. She has appeared at Sweetwater's and other New York cabarets, was featured in the PBS-TV special of James Baldwin's "Go Tell It on the Mountain," and won the title "Miss Teenage Universe" in 1981. Ms. Coleman is co-managed by L. Armstead Edwards and singer Patti LaBelle, and will record her first album shortly for MCA Records. Big Deal marks her Broadway debut. She dedicates this performance to her mother and gives God all of the glory and praise for her talents.

MEL JOHNSON, JR. (Sunnyboy) recently co-starred with John Ritter and James Coco in The Unvarnished Truth at the Ahmanson Theater in L.A. He has appeared on Broadway in Eubie!, On the Twentieth Century and The Rink. His Off-Broadway credits include Rap Master Ronnie; Shakespeare's Cabaret; Love, Love; Do Lord Remember Me; Spell #7 and Hamlet. His regional theatre credits include The Actors Theatre of Louisville, Seattle's A.C.T. and the Hartford Stage Company. On television he has appeared on "Gimme a Break," "Ryan's Hope," "The Guiding Light," "The Patchwork Family," "Anyone for Tennyson" and "Eubie!"

GARY CHAPMAN (Kokomo/Dancin' Dan) has been featured in Dancin', Sophisticated Ladies and The Tap Dance Kid. This is the first time he has created a role on Broadway. TV credits include performer and assistant choreographer for several Oscar shows. He is a winner of the L.A. Drama-Logue Critics Award for Evolution of the Blues. Films include The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Stayin' Alive and Funny Lady. Gary was appoined musical ambassador to the Soviet Union by President Ford.

WAYNE CILENTO (First Narrator) received a Tony nomination for his role in Bob Fosse's Dancin', and he also created the role of Mike Costa in A Chorus Line. He has also appeared on Broadway in Seesaw, Irene, Perfectly Frank and The Act with Liza Minnelli. Wayne received a Tony nomination for his choreography for the musical Baby and also choreographed Liza Minnelli's Carnegie Hall concert and 1985 tour. His choreography is currently on display in the Jerry Herman musical Jerry's Girls at The St. James Theatre. Thanks to God for my wife and three sons: Brian, Keith and Doug.

BRUCE ANTHONY DAVIS (Second Narrator) made has Broadway debut in Bob Fosse's Dancin', in which he appeared for three and a half years, and was also featured in Bob Fosse's All That Jazz. Mr. Davis was a principal in the international company of Sophisticated Ladies and was recently featured on Broadway in Song & Dance. Mr. Davis also performed for President Carter three times while teaching Amy Carter at the Stevens Elementary School in Washington, D.C. Bruce is a native of Dayton, Ohio, and dedicates this performance to his son, Bruce Anthony Davis, Jr.

VALARIE PETTIFORD (First Shadow/Pearl) was featured in the first national company of Bob Fosse's Dancin' before making her Broadway debut with the original company of Sophisticated Ladies