I think it would be hard to come up with a definitive answer. Are we counting stage time, time speaking and/or singing, or exactly what?
The other nominees, apart from Cooper, would be Dee Dee Bridgewater for The Wiz, Adriane Lenox for Doubt, and possibly Harry Belafonte for John Murray Anderson's Almanac, although I think Belafonte probably wins just an honorable mention in this particular contest. There may be other people I'm not thinking of, but those are the people who come to mind for me.
My guess is that it's probably Bridgewater, but I hedge because I don't know The Wiz very well. |