TBT: Polly
Do you remember Polly?
On November 12, 1989, NBC aired a re-telling of Disney’s 1960 Hayley Mills classic Pollyanna. This version transposed Eleanor Porter’s classic novel Pollyanna and its white characters into a middle-class black community in the Alabama of the 1950s, and transformed the drama into a show-stopping musical.
The story is timeless. It’s about a “Glad Girl” that brings along a contagious spirit of happiness and optimism when she visits her wealthy aunt one summer.
Keshia Knight Pulliam starred as the “Glad Girl” Polly. Phylicia Rashād was cast as her Aunt Polly. Vanessa Bell Calloway was cast as Nancy, Celeste Holm as Miss Snow and Brandon Adams as Jimmy Bean.
The movie was a sort of family affair. Phylicia Rashād’s younger sister Debbie Allen both directed and choreographed Polly, and was the driving force behind the musical. Debbie also co-wrote with her husband, Norman Nixon, the words and lyrics of the film’s gospel-infused centerpiece, “Stand Up”.
Polly was a ratings hit! Its success prompted Disney to assemble a 1990 sequel, Polly: Comin’ Home!
Here are some of Polly‘s musical numbers: