Your Arms Too Short to Box with God
- Your Arms Too Short to Box with God
Infobox Musical
name= Your Arms Too Short
to Box with God
subtitle=A Soaring Celebration in Song and Dance
caption=
music= Alex Bradford
Micki Grant
lyrics= Alex Bradford
Micki Grant
book= Vinnette Carroll
basis= The Book of Matthew
productions= 1976 Broadway
1980 Broadway revival
1982 Broadway revival
awards=
"Your Arms Too Short to Box with God", subtitled "A Soaring Celebration in Song and Dance", was a Broadway musical based on the Biblical Book of Matthew, with music and lyrics by Alex Bradford and a book by Vinnette Carroll, who also directed. Micki Grant was credited for "additional music and lyrics".
Original production
Produced by Frankie Hewitt and the Shubert Organization, it opened December 22, 1976 at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre in New York City. It moved to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on Nov. 16, 1977, and closed January 1, 1978, after 429 performances.
With this musical, Carroll became the first African-American woman to direct for Broadway theatre. It was also the Broadway debut of star Jennifer Holliday.
Revival
"Your Arms Too Short to Box with God" was revived twice on Broadway, first at the Ambassador Theatre and the Belasco Theatre (June 2-Oct. 12, 1980), then at the Alvin Theatre (Sept. 9-Nov. 7, 1982). During the 1982 run, Al Green appeared with Patti Labelle in the show.
Legacy
The phrase has survived in modern culture and is sometimes used in hip-hop songs. "Your lungs is too small to hotbox with God" is a line used by rapper Xzibit in Eminem's "Bitch Please 2". Xzibit had used a variation of the line ("Your little lungs is too weak to hotbox with God") on an earlier work with rapper Talib Kweli. The phrase also appears in the Black Star song "Thieves in the Night," in the line "your firearms are too short to box with God." It is additionally the opening line of the Killah Priest hip-hop album "Heavy Mental". The line also appears in "Drunk Daddy" by the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, "It's All Real" by Pitch Black, and "Mortal Combat" by Big Daddy Kane. Nas also used the line in his song "You're The Man" from his 2001 classic album Stillmatic.
Awards and nominations
Delores Hall won the 1977 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Carroll earned Tony nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Direction of a Musical, with Talley Beatty nominated for Best Choreography.
ee also
*List of African-American firsts
References
*
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
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