JIG SHOW | Leon Claxton’s HARLEM IN HAVANA
A documentary film by Leslie Cunningham
Episode 1: Family Legacy in Lights: From Bally to Brown Skin Showgirls
- Runtime: 14:11 Min | 2025
- Description: Leslie Cunningham interviews her grandmother Shirley Bates, a former exotic dancer, and her father John Cunningham, tracing family stories and performance legacy. Share this episode.
Episode 2: Introducing The Showman
- Runtime: 8:56 Min | 2025
- Description: Explores Claxton’s rise as a pioneering Black producer defying Jim Crow, with Leslie uncovering her own family secret and reclaiming erased history. Share this episode.
Episode 3: Claxton Takes the Stage
- Runtime: 14:43 Min | 2025
- Description: Chronicles Claxton’s early career from Memphis contortionist to a Chicago stage producer, highlighting his success at the 1934 World’s Fair and influence on carnival culture. Share this episode.
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Episode 4: Sisters, Stars & the Birth of Harlem in Havana
- Runtime: (9:21 min | 2025)
- Description: Introduces the Bates Sisters and the creation of Harlem in Havana, blending Afro-Cuban and Black artistry amid wartime shifts. Share this episode.
Episode 5: Jim Crow on the Road & Life on Train Car 66
- Episode 5: (9:41 min | 2025)
- Description: Touring the Jim Crow South aboard Royal American Shows’ Train Car 66, Claxton and his Black and Cuban performers navigate segregation, danger, and resilience at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement. As they dazzle audiences under the big top, a deeper story brews on car 66 and Shirley’s secret slowly begins to unfold, threatening to upend everything they’ve built. Share this episode.
Episode 6: “Behind the Curtain – Change is Coming”
- Runtime: (12:07 min | 2025)
- Description: Meet the stars of Harlem in Havana in the 1950s—Bluesman John Myers, the Cuban Dancing Dolls, and Santería powerhouse Mercedes Valdés. Before the Cuban Revolution and the rise of Civil Rights, they lit up stages across segregated America in a moment of beauty before upheaval. Share this episode.
Episode 7: “The Fall of the Revue”
- Runtime: (9:03 min | 2025)
- Description: This episode uncovers Claxton’s life in Tampa, the revue’s decline, and his bold pivot to business—while risqué acts continued to challenge social norms. Share this episode.
Episode 8: “Legacy in Motion”
- Runtime: (9:11 min | 2025)
- Description: The cast reflect on the personal and cultural legacy of Leon Claxton’s work and Harlem in Havana . Share this episode.
HARLEM IN HAVANA 