This may be one of the earliest examples of non-traditional casting and one of the last examples of common culture and/or cultural cross over.
I just found these amazing clips on YouTube of Diana Ross doing some classic Broadway songs from a TV Special. I wish there was more from “Diana Ross and the Supremes Do Funny Girl”, one of the great lost albums from the late 1960’s still not out on CD.
And, god, that woman knew how to wear clothes!
Talk about your “Dreamgirl”…
Diana as “Mame”:
Diana as Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady”:
Diana Ross in “Annie Get Your Gun”:
And as an extra, Diana Ross and the Supremes do “Porgy and Bess”:
Lost in the 21st Century 