'The Great MacDaddy' Surveys a Century of Black Experience
When “The Great MacDaddy” premiered in 1974, it emerged at a crossroads: the waning of the Civil Rights movement and the rise of blaxploitation. With an original cast that included Phylicia Rashad, Cleavon Little, Hattie Winston, and Al Freeman Jr., the musical used two grand traditions—Greek epics and African folktales—in a lofty attempt to survey the African-American experience across the ce…