Langston Hughes's Little Ham
by Judd Woldin, Dan Owens, Langston Hughes, Eric Krebs, Richard Engquist

Langston Hughes's Little Ham Book Cover — Langston Hughes's Little Ham Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

1930sRole(s) for Black Actor(s)Exterior SetContemporary Costumes/Street Clothes

Awards & Recognition

National Alliance of Musical Theatre-Festival Musicals

Synopsis

The downtown mob is threatening to take over the uptown numbers game.

Only Hamlet Hitchcock Jones, known as Little Ham, stands in their way.

A smooth operator with big dreams and fast feet, Little Ham rallies his neighbors and wins his lady love.

At the height of the Harlem Renaissance, downtown mobters threaten to take over a numbers game played in the streets.

With the promise of big money, the gangsters coerce smooth and witty Little Ham into helping the shakedown.

But when he's assigned to shake down Tiny Lee's Beauty Shop, he's faced with an agonizing choice between double-crossing the mob or hurting the woman he loves.

Press Reviews

"An uptown Guys and Dolls... A jazzy musical bauble with sass and charm… a high-spirited, melodic score with terrific lyrics. The level of sophistication is through the roof."
— The New York Times

"Snappy score, energy to spare, rousing numbers."
— New York Daily News

"The effortlessly tuneful score is the best of its kind in years!"
— Time

"A gem! A musical extravaganza ... [with] marvelous lyrics and foot-tapping music. Delicious!"
— New York Amsterdam News

"A wonderful off-Broadway musical... Fun!"
— Fox TV

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Madame Lucille Bell Proprietress of the Paradise Shine Parlor	—	—	Proprietress of the Paradise Shine Parlor
Opal Tiny Lee's manicurist	—	—	Tiny Lee's manicurist
Larchmont A chauffeur	—	—	A chauffeur
Leroy Lucille's main man	—	—	Lucille's main man
Mrs. Dobson A feisty grandmother	—	—	A feisty grandmother
Amanda A pretentious matron	—	—	A pretentious matron
Hamlet Hitchcock Jones A shoe-shiner with ambition	—	—	A shoe-shiner with ambition
Tiny Lee A hairdresser and business woman	female	—	A hairdresser and business woman
Louie “The Nail” Mahoney A gangster	—	—	A gangster
Rushmore Louie's “accountant”	—	—	Louie's “accountant”
Jimmy Sugar Lou's dresser and manager	—	—	Sugar Lou's dresser and manager
Sugar Lou Bird A showgirl	—	—	A showgirl
Policeman A white man	—	—	A white man
Bradford Louie's Wall Street contactThe White Policeman and Bradford should be played by the same actor.	—	—	Louie's Wall Street contactThe White Policeman and Bradford should be played by the same actor.
Clarence A janitor	—	—	A janitor