This doesn’t even seem real. It’s like we keep having to ask ourselves what did we do to deserve this. And by “this” we mean, Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Joshua Henry, Brandon Victor Dixon, Savion Glover, & George C. Wolfe all working on the same show. As previously announced that show is the upcoming Broadway musical Shuffle Along, Or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed.
The production, with a new book and direction by George C. Wolfe and choreography by Savion Glover, will present the landmark 1921 African-American musical revue Shuffle Along alongside the behind-the-scenes details that led the songwriting team of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake and librettists F.E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles to create this groundbreaking work. We were previously unsure about what role Mitchell would be playing but now we know that he will take on the role of F.E. Miller and Porter takes on the role of Aubrey Lyles, with Dixon and Henry as Blake and Sissle, and, as previously announced, McDonald as performer Lottie Gee. This actually might be the first time Dixon & Henry are in the same show together and not actually replacing each other. Also, both actors played the role of Heywood Patterson in major mountings of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s musical The Scottsboro Boys.
Shuffle Along marks a reunion for several different cast members including Glover and Wolfe, both of whom won Tony Awards for the 1996 hit Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk. It will also be the first time that McDonald and Mitchell have worked together since the original Broadway production of Ragtime.
Previews for Shuffle Along, Or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed begin on March 14, 2016, at the Music Box Theatre, with official opening set for April 21.
The new production traces the path to unexpected success and the creative legacy of the 1921 all-Black revueShuffle Along, which was conceived by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles and featured music by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, four celebrated vaudeville performers who met at a 1920 NAACP benefit. As one of the first all-Black Broadway musical hits that was also written by Blacks, Shuffle Along significantly altered the face of the Broadway musical as well as that of New York City. The show opened the door for Black performers and writers on the stage during the period in the 1920s known as the Harlem Renaissance.
Notwithstanding its success, Shuffle Along was not without its challenges. By contemporary standards, it remains problematic: some actors performed in blackface and the score included a song about how lighter-skinned Black women are more attractive than women with darker skin. Shuffle Along arrived in Depression-era New York mired in debt from a pre-Broadway tour, set to open at a remote Broadway house on West 63rd Street. And despite being celebrated vaudeville performers, Miller and Lyles and Sissle and Blake had never performed on Broadway, much less written a musical.
However, Shuffle Alongimmediately caught on with its jazzy score and exuberant song-and-dance styles. “It was a groundbreaking moment – they were creating these dances in the streets,” Mr. Glover said. “I’m hoping to reignite that sense of exuberance – that sense of joy through expression.” The plot involved two old friends who run against one another for the office of mayor of their town, each promising to hire the other if elected. Once in office, however, the two find themselves at odds. “I’m in love with these characters, and I’m in love with their bravery – brilliant, astonishing, extraordinary artists created a show that redefined rhythm and entertainment and vitality on Broadway,” Mr. Wolfe said.Shuffle Along ran for over 480 performances, helping to launch the careers of such artists as Josephine Baker, Adelaide Hall, Florence Mills, Fredi Washington and Paul Robeson.
Creative team includes Daryl Waters (musical supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations), Santo Loquasto (scenic design), Ann Roth (costume design), Scott Lehrer (sound design), Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer (lighting design), and Shelton Becton (musical director).
