Joyce Bryant In Performance - 1951

Alternately intimate and startling, Joyce Bryant's 4.5 octave range is on full display here. This brief excerpt from the documentary in-progress, Joyce Bryant: The Lost Diva, is from a kinescope recently discovered and archived by the filmmaker. It captures the 23-year-old, west coast singer at the time of her 1951 breakthrough NYC performance at Bill Miller's Riviera, prompting powerful entertainment columnist Walter Winchell to call her "The Voice You'll Always Remember." The gown is among the very first Bryant wore by African American designer Zelda Wynn, who was interviewed by the filmmaker prior to her passing in 2001. Intrigued by the 'buzz' surrounding Bryant's performance, Wynn arrived at The Riviera to find the singer dressing rather modestly in 'off-the-rack' gowns. The designer returned the next night to gift Bryant with three gowns from her existing collection, including the silk taffeta creation seen here (according to period coverage, it featured an iridescent bronze sheath, with a beige bodice and petal motif overskirt with bronze sequins). Gowned exclusively by Wynn from this juncture, Bryant quickly blossomed into her better-known persona as a sultry song-siren. Wynn was just the person for the task, as she was later acclaimed for designing the prototype Playboy 'Bunny' costume (1959), and as the costumer for Dance Theater of Harlem from its inception. For more clips and excerpts from the documentary in-progress, Joyce Bryant: The Lost Diva, please visit: www.JoyceBryant.net