{"id":18488,"date":"2026-03-11T06:11:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T06:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/guideposts-classics-leslie-uggams-on-lending-a-helping\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:05:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:05:54","slug":"guideposts-classics-leslie-uggams-on-lending-a-helping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/entertainment\/movies-and-tv\/guideposts-classics-leslie-uggams-on-lending-a-helping\/","title":{"rendered":"Guideposts Classics: Leslie Uggams on Lending a Helping Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Intermission at a recent concert of mine in California. I was touching up my makeup and hair when someone delivered a note to me in my dressing room. \u201cI\u2019m out here watching you tonight, and I couldn\u2019t be prouder.\u201d Signed, Mrs. Nehrens.<\/p>\n

\"Mrs.\u200bIn an instant I was whisked back more than 40 years to the Professional Children\u2019s School in New York. There was my math teacher, Mrs. Nehrens, her smile brighter than a spotlight and her voice like a trumpet in a jazz band. You had to listen. Still, my mind wandered sometimes\u2014especially during geometry, which I couldn\u2019t make heads nor tails of\u2014and I\u2019d cut up. I loved to do my imitation of Johnny Ray crooning \u201cCry.\u201d It brought down the house at the Apollo. Mrs. Nehrens was not amused.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeslie,\u201d she said, \u201cthis is not a stage. This is a place of serious study.\u201d<\/p>\n

BROWSE OUR SELECTION OF BOOKS ON POSITIVE THINKING<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Professional Children\u2019s was a private school for young performers. In the hallway before homeroom you\u2019d catch a ballerina sewing ribbons on her toe shoes or a violinist studying a score. It was understood that sometimes we had to dart out for auditions and rehearsals. I\u2019d already been excused to sing on Milton Berle\u2019s show and Arthur Godfrey\u2019s. But there was no skipping out on academics. We had to keep up with our schoolwork.<\/p>\n

Algebra had been a breeze. But geometry? I couldn\u2019t figure out the difference between an equilateral triangle and an isosceles triangle\u2014or were they the same thing? Many times Mrs. Nehrens stayed late with me after school. She guided me through the theorems and proofs and equations. One summer she even tutored me. She didn\u2019t want me to flunk out.<\/p>\n

We never would have been able to afford the school if it weren\u2019t for Aunt Eloise. She was a performer too. She\u2019d been one of the Blackbirds of 1928 on Broadway and sang in Porgy and Bess.<\/em> \u201cYou\u2019ll go to Professional Children\u2019s,\u201d she announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have the money for that,\u201d my mom replied. She\u2019d quit her job to accompany me on auditions and rehearsals, and Dad had already taken on two other jobs in addition to his regular work as an elevator operator to make up the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll help out,\u201d Aunt Eloise said.<\/p>\n

We lived in Washington Heights in upper Manhattan, and I sang at St. James Presbyterian Church on 141st Street. Our choir director was always urging me to blend in better. \u201cDon\u2019t be so loud, Leslie,\u201d she said. Well, I didn\u2019t want to hold back. There was no hiding my talent under a bushel. \u201cThis little light of mine, I\u2019m gonna let it shine,\u201d I sang out. The Lord himself seemed to be doing a good job of letting that happen.<\/p>\n

Until I turned 12. I wasn\u2019t a cute kid anymore, but a gangly adolescent. Work dried up. I still took singing lessons and dance classes, but that was all the performing I did besides my doo-wopping in the hallway at school.<\/p>\n

The biggest blow came that fall. One day Mom sat me down and said, \u201cLeslie, I have some bad news. We can\u2019t afford tuition at Professional Children\u2019s anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about Aunt Eloise?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork has been slow for her too,\u201d Mom said. \u201cIt won\u2019t be so bad. You can go to George Washington right here in the neighborhood. A lot of your friends are there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut how will I be able to go on auditions? How will I get my career going again?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom shook her head. In that instant I saw that light of mine go out. I would never step onstage again. All I could imagine ahead were years of drudgery. Had all the performing I\u2019d done as a youngster been just a fluke?<\/p>\n

Both of my grandfathers were ministers, and I was used to hearing their graces before dinner, prayers that went on and on until our food was cold. That night I got down on my knees and started praying like they prayed.<\/p>\n

\u201cDear Father God, I am so grateful for all you\u2019ve given me: Mom and Dad and Aunt Eloise. And my singing voice and my acting. You\u2019re going to have to help me, God, because I want to keep going to this school that helps me do all that…\u201d<\/p>\n

But the first day of school I was trudging up the hill to George Washington, not shooting downtown on the subway to Professional Children\u2019s.<\/p>\n

That afternoon I sat at the kitchen table, staring at my homework. The phone rang, and I didn\u2019t bother to answer it. I didn\u2019t want to talk to anyone. \u201cYes, yes,\u201d I heard my mother say. \u201cThank you so much. We can never repay you for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom came into the kitchen, tears in her eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was Mrs. Nehrens,\u201d she said. Why was my old teacher calling us? \u201cShe called this morning and wanted to know why you weren\u2019t in school,\u201d Mom continued. \u201cI told her we couldn\u2019t afford Professional Children\u2019s anymore. Well, she just found a scholarship for you from the Presbyterian Church. It will cover your tuition for the rest of the school year.\u201d<\/p>\n

I jumped up and gave Mom a huge hug. And back at Professional Children\u2019s, I gave Mrs. Nehrens a hug too.<\/p>\n

That year turned out to be an important one for me. I landed a spot on the TV show Name That Tune<\/em> and won twenty-five thousand dollars. Record producer and songster Mitch Miller heard me do \u201cThe Lord\u2019s Prayer\u201d on the show and signed me to Columbia Records. Later, I was a regular on Mitch\u2019s popular sing-along TV show. And that eventually led to Broadway.<\/p>\n

So when I read Mrs. Nehrens\u2019s note in my dressing room, I knew I had a huge debt of gratitude to repay. I stepped back onstage and announced, \u201cFolks, I want you to meet the lady who made it possible for me to get where I am today.\u201d I had the crew shine the spotlight on Mrs. Nehrens, because as I discovered more than 40 years ago, nobody\u2019s light can shine all on its own. It takes help from people like my old math teacher. \u201cThank you, Mrs. Nehrens,\u201d I said. \u201cTake a bow.\u201d<\/p>\n

She deserved it. She taught me a lot more than just geometry.<\/p>\n

For more inspiring stories, subscribe to <\/em>Guideposts<\/strong><\/a> magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Intermission at a recent concert of mine in California. I was touching up my makeup and hair when someone delivered a note to me in my dressing room. \u201cI\u2019m out here watching you tonight, and I couldn\u2019t be prouder.\u201d Signed, Mrs. Nehrens. \u200bIn an instant I was whisked back more than 40 years to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[266,51,80],"ppma_author":[1646],"class_list":["post-18488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies-and-tv","tag-black-history-month","tag-inspirational-stories","tag-stories-of-hope"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGuideposts Classics: Leslie Uggams on Lending a Helping Hand - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guideposts Classics: Leslie Uggams on Lending a Helping Hand\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Intermission at a recent concert of mine in California. 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