When Harry Met Sidney: A Celebration of Friendship through Stories and Songs

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2024 ; Far too many black trailblazing entertainers are mere footnotes in history. Contemporary American show business was shaped and refined by the talents of black artists, many of whom were not permitted to eat or drink where they performed for a sea of white faces. These early entertainers often suffered silently and elegantly onstage while they fought for civil rights, equality, fair wage, and dignity backstage. Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier are perhaps two of the more distinguished and decorated performers of the mid twentieth century, but few people really know the depth of their relationship or that Sidney got his start as Harry’s understudy. When Harry Met Sidney: A Celebration of Friendship through Stories and Songs is an ode to the memory of these legendary figures. This monodrama details their early years at the American Negro Theatre in New York City, their paralleling rises to fame, and their harrowing journey from Newark, New Jersey to Greenwood, Mississippi at the dangerous height of the Civil Rights Movement to transport $70,000 in cash to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a protest organization on the frontlines.