Strange Fruit (2002)

Director: Joel Katz

In 1937, after seeing a photo depicting the lynching of a black man in the south, Bronx-born high school teacher Abel Meeropol wrote a poem entitled "Strange Fruit" that begins with the words: "Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root." He set the poem to music and a few years later convinced Billy holiday to record it in a legendary heartbreaking performance. Intertwining jazz genealogy, biography, performance footage, and the history of lynching, director Joel Katz fashions a fascinating discovery of the lost story behind a true American classic. Written by Excerpted from Coolidge Corner Theatre Program Update

Cast

Dorothy Thigpen

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Milton Gabler

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Farah Jasmine Griffin

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Pete Seeger

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Ethel Rosenberg

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Julius Rosenberg

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Billie Holiday

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Cassandra Wilson

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