R&H Goes Pop!, while normally offering new renditions of Rodgers and Hammerstein tunes, spotlights "The Lady Is a Tramp" by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, in celebration of the pair's 100th anniversary of collaborating together. Watch the special performance from Jelani Alladin and Christiani Pitts above.
The music video also showcases a tap dance by fellow Broadway alum Richard Riaz Yoder (Hello, Dolly!). The updated take features music direction and arrangements are by Bryan Carter, with Bryan also on drums and Russell Hall on bass.
"We wanted to share with the world a moment of Black joy, filled with Black excellence and class," says Alladin of the project. "The song was originally written to be performed by a female in the 1937 musical Babes in Arms, about a free-spirited, independent woman who rejected the pretensions of high society. Over the course of time, the word 'tramp' took on a more negative connotations. Christiani and I wanted to use our duet to reclaim the song's original intention and celebrate strong, empowered women."
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Rodgers and Hart's Poor Little Ritz Girl opened on Broadway in the summer of 1920, kicking off a partnership that would see them create over 500 songs and 28 musicals, including Pal Joey, The Boys From Syracuse, and A Connecticut Yankee.
Past editions of the series have included Alladin and Matt Doyle singing "We Kiss in a Shadow" from The King and I (the pair reunited virtually in June to perform on the spin-off series R&H Goes Live!), Katrina Lenk performing "Something Good," and Ashley Park singing "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music.
