Artist:Diahann Carroll
Song:A Sleepin' Bee
Album:House of Flowers: Original Broadway Cast
Diahann Carroll is probably best known for her TV and film appearances. But she also recorded and appeared on Broadway. So she was very versatile. House of Flowers was her first Broadway show in 1955. It didn't do well but there is an original cast album and a clip of Diahann performing A Sleepin' Bee. So I thought that was interesting. She was born Carol Diann Johnson July 17, 1935 in New York City. She grew up in Harlem. Diahann remembered her parents enrolled her in singing and dance lessons. By age 15, she was modeling at Ebony Magazine. She attended Music and Art High School. She entered TV talent contests as Diahann Carroll while studying sociology at New York University. He big break came when she appeared on a 1954 episode of Chance of a Lifetime and won top prize of $1,000. She started singing in nightclubs and appeared in the 1954 film Carmen Jones as a friend to the lead character played by Dorothy Dandridge. Then she was cast in the 1955 Broadway musical House of Flowers. House of Flowers was based on a Truman Capote short story. Capote wrote the songs with Harold Arlen. Pearl Bailey was the star. Diahann was billed fourth. It's about two neighboring bordellos. A Sleepin' Bee was Diahann's big song in the show. Barbra Streisand performed the song on her 1961 TV debut on The Jack Paar Show. And jazz pianist Bill Evans performed it regularly. Though House of Flowers was panned by critics and failed at the box office, Columbia Masterworks released an original cast album which was released on CD in 2003. A Sleepin' Bee was included on Diahann's 1957 album Diahann Carroll Sings Harold Arlen Songs with The Ralph Burns Orchestra. Diahann did record occasional albums but she was better known for TV and film especially the late 60s show Julia. But House of Flowers is where her career began. Here's Diahann Carroll performing A Sleepin' Bee 1955.
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