Tony and Emmy Award-winning Star of Stage and Screen Sings of Her Career from Harlem to Broadway in a Musical Retrospective That Aims for a Future on the Great White Way

Tony and Emmy Award winning actress and singer Leslie Uggams is currently touring her acclaimed biographical show Uptown Downtown in venues across the country. The legendary actress and singer traces her extraordinary career through stories and song in the show that critics have called “dazzling,” “glorious,” “splendid,” and “absolutely stunning.” Stephen Holden, music critic for the New York Times, called Uggams “a show-biz trouper with sawdust in her blood” whose voice and style are reminiscent of an earlier musical giant, Lena Horne.

In Uptown Downtown, accompanied by a swinging eight-piece pop-jazz quintet, Uggams puts her own personal stamp on classic songs which mark milestones in her Uptown (Harlem) and Downtown (Broadway) careers. “Born in a Trunk” tells of her beginnings as a nine-year-old opening for greats like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington. “My Own Morning” and “Being Good” recall her Tony-winning performance in Hallelujah, Baby! in which she made her Broadway debut at the age of 24.

Despite her long and distinguished career as a stage actress, concert performer and recording artist, Uggams is probably best known for her history-making role as Kizzy in the unforgettable television series, Alex Haley’s “Roots.” Gaining worldwide recognition as a dramatic actress as a result of her remarkable portrayal, Uggams earned the Critics Choice Award, an Emmy nomination, and a Golden Globe nomination. She later starred in the NBC miniseries “Backstairs at the White House” which is available on DVD.

Uptown Downtown has earned the LA Drama Critics Circle Award, NAACP Theatre Award, IRNE Award, and Broadway World People’s Choice Award. Uggams hopes to bring the show to Broadway in the near future. She also recently starred in the Broadway-bound Stormy Weather: The Lena Horne Story at the Pasadena Playhouse in California.

To book Uptown Downtown please call Grahame Pratt, Kelvin-Pratt Inc. at 212-582-6557.