Conceived for stage or screen the musical “Big City Blues” is the story of a Black boy, born in a parlour in the infamous red light district of “Storyville”, New Orleans in the early 1900s. As a gifted boy he develops a love of writing and after winning a
competition in a magazine he is invited to journey to New York to study under the wing of the elusive white philanthropist, Hans Van Der Bijl. There he finds himself caught up in the colourful, diverse and bohemian “Harlem Renaissance” movement of the 1920’s.
Embraced by this cultural revival of black aspiring writers, poets and painters, he makes some interesting inroads into this culture unraveling the unfairness of the publishing world of the time. Within a backdrop of cabaret, jazz, ragtime and swing we follow how Emile’s journey is eventually aided by a white father he never knew he had.
All rights reserved
/
Search inscriptions
