She's Got Love! Watch Melba Moore Talk About Purlie & Her Incredible Career

Although Tony winner Melba Moore has not been on Broadway in a while, she has been performing concert engagements and releasing music (most recently the album The Day I Turned To You in 2019). On a recent episode of The Broadway Show, she sat down with Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek for a chat at Cafe Fiorello.

A New York native, Moore attended Newark Arts High School in New Jersey and began a recording career in 1967. She made her Broadway debut in the original staging of Hair as Dionne. She then replaced Diane Keaton as Sheila in 1969. The following year brought Purlie, a musical based on Ossie Davis' 1961 play Purlie Victorious. Nominated for Best Musical, Best Choreography and Best Direction, the production made Tony winners of performers Cleavon Little and Moore.

"One of the great things about Purlie, I had my then manager/husband ask Philip Rose, who directed and produced it, to put it on film so people could continue to see it," she said. "Otherwise, a lot of people would not know about it at all." The 1981 television adaptation was directed by Rudi Goldman for Showtime.

Moore returned to Broadway in Timbuktu!, Inacent Black and the original production of Les Misérables. She was nominated for Grammy Awards in 1970 for Best New Artist, Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance - Female for the song "Lean on Me" in 1976 and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1985 for "Read My Lips."

Wontorek asked Moore what she remembers of her big Tony night on April 19, 1970. "Not a lot, but I play the tape," she said with a laugh.

Watch the interview below, and head here to check your local listings for The Broadway Show. Hosted by Emmy-winning anchor Tamsen Fadal, it is the only nationally syndicated weekly theater news program.