Excerpt - Joyce Bryant: The Lost Diva Documentary

In this excerpt from the documentary Joyce Bryant: The Lost Diva, the iconic 1950's torch singer relates how she broke the color barrier for entertainers in the then-critical Miami Beach nightclub scene in December, 1952. Defying threats from the KKK (who burned an effigy of Bryant in advance of her appearance), Bryant's performance at the new multi-million dollar Hotel Algiers made her the first black artist to perform (and also to stay) in a hotel-nightclub on Miami Beach. While black performers were allowed to perform in stand-alone nightclubs in Miami (such as the Clover Club, the Miami Copa, and Martha Rae's 5 O'Clock Club), the 'prestige gigs' - in the show-rooms located within the posh hotels on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach - were previously off-limits to them. Learn how a then 25 year old woman came to integrate this key stop on the nightclub circuit. To see additional excerpts from the documentary, "Joyce Bryant: The Lost Diva," visit www.JoyceBryant.net