Vivian Reed

Though Vivian Reed earned far greater acclaim as a Broadway performer than as a recording artist, the New York native known professionally as “Ms. Bubblin’ Brown Sugar” nevertheless maintained a long if modest presence in the music industry. Born to Lucille Reed and the late Clyde Reed, she originated the role of Queenie in the Broadway production of Bubbling Brown Sugar and later appeared in off-Broadway stagings of the show in Toronto, Paris, and additional cities. Her stage work brought a Tony nomination along with the Drama Desk Award for outstanding featured actress in a musical, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the NAACP Award, and numerous additional honors. In the early 1990s she received the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her work in The High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club.

Reed began making records in the 1960s. Her strongest chart entry, the 1968 Epic single “Yours Until Tomorrow,” preceded the label’s release of her self-titled album the following year. A follow-up single, “Let Me Be Yours Til Tomorrow,” registered modest regional interest chiefly around New York City. Subsequent LPs included the 1976 H & L soundtrack album Brown Sugar, the 1979 United Artists release Another Side, and the 1980 United Artists album Ready and Waiting, the first of the two United Artists projects produced by Jeff Lane. None of these efforts achieved significant sales, nor did their accompanying singles. Aside from her Epic debut and the United Artists titles, Reed’s recordings largely followed a middle-of-the-road approach that found scant favor with contemporary listeners.

Even as her recording prospects remained limited, Reed continued to perform, appearing as late as 1996 in a Rhythm & Blues Revue alongside Freda Payne and Bunny Sigler. She has headlined leading nightclubs worldwide. A devoted churchgoer, she has sought to relaunch her long-dormant recording career within the gospel genre.