She was busy on Broadway and off, including in "Maggie Flynn" (1968) with Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, "The Me Nobody Knows" (1970), "Via Galactica" (1972) with Raul Julia, and the original 1978 cabaret show of "Ain't Misbehavin'" with Nell Carter and André DeShields.Ĭara made her TV debut as the original Daisy on the soap "Love of Life" (1970-1971), and was a regular on "Electric Company" (1971-1972). Her early start in performing led to talk show appearances, and she also launched a recording career aimed at the Latin children's market. After competing in the Little Miss America Pageant as a child, she studied piano and dance, appearing on Spanish-language TV. Moose also indicated a memorial for fans would be "planned at a future date."Ĭara was born in the Bronx on March 18, 1959, to a Puerto Rican father and Cuban-American mother. Her cause of death is currently unknown and will be released when information is available." Moose wrote, "It is with profound sadness that on behalf of her family I announce the passing of Irene Cara. In a somber announcement made from her official Twitter, the late singer's publicist Judith A. ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER 1970Ģ000s (16) 2010s (6) 2020s (3) 40s (8) 50s (20) 60's (85) 70's (139) 70s (1) 80's (26) 90's (15) 90s (1) Agnes Moorehead (2) Alan Alda (3) Alan Arkin (2) Alan Bates (4) Alan J.Irene Cara, who won an Oscar for Best Original Song and starred in the 1980 box-office phenomenon "Fame," has died at 63.Without McKee, Sparkle becomes a little too light for its own good. McKee's sad eyes and nicely rendered tough-girl stance carry with them a kind of authentic emotional gravitas. Indeed, had Lonette McKee been given the opportunity to be the kind of dominant presence in the film as she is in the lives of her sisters, I think the audience would have found itself mourning her absence along with the characters on the screen. A more intuitive director than Sam O'Steen (editor of Rosemary's Baby, making his feature film directorialĭebut) might have sensed how strongly the prolonged absence of the film's mostĭimensional and dynamic character would have on Sparkle's overall impact. Good that the temperature of the film drops several degrees for every minute that (for "Flashdance…what a Feeling"), it's Lonette McKee who gives my favorite Star in later years as actress, recording artist, and Academy Award-winning songwriter Studio, the financial prospects of an Aretha Franklin album must have appearedĪ great deal more lucrative than that of a soundtrack album to a modest filmĮxclusive Motown choreographer whose routines for musical acts like The Supremes and The Temptations were the inspiration for Lester Wilson's work in SparkleĪlthough the delectably fresh-faced Irene Cara emerged the bigger The film's cast interpretation of the songs, one has to imagine that, to the Although I've read conflictingĪccounts over the years as to the whys of this decision, and while I personally prefer The songs, as sung by the film's cast, are all so well-performed that there was an outcry from fans when the soundtrackĪretha Franklin taking over the vocals exclusively. Staple of girl-group performances for years. The stylized, often witty, gesture/posing dance style that became an identifying Riffs on the early R&B/Soul sound of Motown, while Wilson's choreography captures Mayfield's songs are pop/funk, '70s-style Self-effacing Sparkle Williams (Irene Cara)…i.e., the obvious heroine of theĪs a fan of musicals, Sparkle's primary appeal for me has always been Curtis Mayfield's catchy musical score and the sleek, '60s girl-group choreography of Lester Wilson. Self-assured, and headed-for-certain-trouble Sister Williams (Lonette McKee), one-third of the gospel-singing Williams sisters, consisting of woke, budding Black-Power radical, Delores Williams (Dwan Smith) and sweet-natured, "I want the big time!" conveniently asserts beautiful, Sparkle is a '50s girl group take on the oft-told show-biz saga of gifted performers from humbleīeginnings who discover, only too late, that the road to fame is paved with The beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement. And the songs prefigure the emergent voices of inner-city youth and Seedy R&B/soul circuit pay homage to the Black roots of rock The small-time show-biz milieu of Harlem jazz clubs and the They represent as conflicting symbols of Black upward mobility andĬrossover success. The girl-group plotline evokes The Supremes and all
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