Earl Wilson, Jr. "LET MY PEOPLE COME" A Sexual Musical 1975 Village Gate Photo

Description

This is a rare glossy 8" X 10" inch press photograph of the Off-Broadway cast of the
EARL WILSON, Jr. Sexual Musical "LET MY PEOPLE COME" at the Village Gate Theatre in New York City. (The production opened January 8th, 1974 and ran for 1327 performances. The show transferred to the Morosco Theatre on June 14th, 1976 and played 128 preview performances, but never officially opened as the producer wanted to avoid having the show reviewed by the New York critics.) .....
Let My People Come,
according to its creator, EARL WILSON, Jr., "is a musical revue about Sex, ... with some nudity and a lot of X-rated language." A review of the Original Off-Broadway production stated that the show "broke all barriers - simulated sex, orgies, Lesbianism, Homosexuality, simulated oral sex and Bisexuality, all celebrated, all hilariously carefree." The show enjoyed long runs in Philadelphia at Grendel's Lair Cabaret Theatre (10 years) and Toronto at the Basin Street Cabaret Theater (8 years) and productions were mounted in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Boston, Seattle and Chicago, and internationally in Madrid, London, Paris, Melbourne and Sydney. The Original Cast recording was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1974. The show featured songs with titles like "I'm Gay", "Come In My Mouth", "Fellatio 101", "Poontang" and "The Cunnilingus Champion of Company C", which was the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit by MCA Records in 1976. MCA claimed wrongful appropriation of their copyrighted song, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". Earl Wilson, Jr. claimed that the song was a parody on "Bugle Boy" and that any similarity between the two songs was permissible fair use. The court ruled in MCA's favor and later pressings of the cast album replaced the song with "Whatever Turns You On." (Reprinted in part from Wikipedia.) ..... The Off-Broadway cast included ROBIN CHARIN, RAY COLBERT, TOBIE COLUMBUS, DAINA DARZIN, LORRAINE DAVIDSON, MARTY DUFFY, TYE JOHNSON, JOE JONES, JAMES MORGAN, IAN NAYLOR, PEACHENA, SHEZWAE POWELL, CHRISTINE RUBENS and DEAN TAIT ..... CREDITS: Music and Lyrics by EARL WILSON, Jr.; Musical arrangements by BILLY CUNNINGHAM; Choreographed by IAN NAYLOR; Produced and Directed by PHIL OESTERMAN
..... DETAILS: This glossy press photo measures 10" X 8" inches and is stamped Jun. 23, 1975 on the backside
(second scanned image) ..... CONDITION: With the exception of minor creasing in the margins, this photograph is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.