Shuffle Along
Encyclopedia
Shuffle Along is the first major successful African American
musical
. Written by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles, with music and lyrics by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, the musical premiered on Broadway
in 1921.
, the more desirable an African American
woman is.
Act II
on May 23, 1921 and closed on July 15, 1922 after 484 performances. It was directed by Walter Brooks, with Eubie Blake playing the piano. The cast included Lottie Gee as Jessie Williams, Adelaide Hall
as Jazz Jasmine, Gertrude Saunders as Ruth Little, Roger Matthews
as Harry Walton, and Noble Sissle as Tom Sharper. Gertrude Saunders was replaced by Florence Mills
. Josephine Baker
, who was deemed too young at age 15 to be in the show, joined the touring company in Boston, and then joined the Broadway cast when she turned 16. Bessie Allison
's first professional performance was in Shuffle Along. The orchestra included William Grant Still
and Hall Johnson
.
Other productions
chronicler James Weldon Johnson
, the 1921 musical revue
Shuffle Along marked a breakthrough for the African-American musical performer and made musical theatre history. This revue legitimized the African-American musical, proving to producers and managers that audiences
would pay to see African-American talent on Broadway.
The musical brought black actors back to Broadway after a 10-year absence during a time when the prominent black actors and producers of the day had retired and/or died. Shuffle Along also brought black audiences to orchestra seats rather than being relegated to the balcony
, and featured the first sophisticated African-American love story. Moreover, Shuffle Along laid the foundation for public acceptance of African-American performers in other than burlesque or minstrel roles.
The impact of Shuffle Along rippled through Broadway, with nine African-American musicals opening between 1921 and 1924. For the next few years, black theatre would pioneer several "firsts." In 1928, the first edition of Lew Leslie
's Blackbirds featured Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
as the first black dance star on Broadway. In 1929, Harlem, a drama by Wallace Thurman
and William Rapp, introduced the Slow Drag
, the first African-American social dance
to reach Broadway.
As scholar James Haskins noted, Shuffle Along "started a whole new era for blacks on Broadway, as well as a whole new era for blacks in all creative fields." Loften Mitchell, author of Black Drama: The Story of the American Negro in the Theatre, credits Shuffle Along with launching the Harlem Renaissance
.
According to theatre historian and teacher John Kenrick
, "Judged by contemporary standards, much of Shuffle Along would seem offensive
... most of the comedy relied on old minstrel show stereotypes. Each of the leading male characters was out to swindle the other."
President Harry Truman chose the Shuffle Along song "I'm Just Wild About Harry
" for his campaign anthem
.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. Written by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles, with music and lyrics by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, the musical premiered on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1921.
Plot
Sam and Steve both run for mayor in Jimtown, USA. If either one wins, he will appoint the other his chief of police. Sam wins with the help of a crooked campaign manager. Sam keeps his promise to appoint Steve as chief of police, but they begin to disagree on petty matters. They resolve their differences in a comic 20-minute fight scene. As they fight, their opponent for the mayoral position, Harry Walton, vows to end their corrupt regime, underscored in the song “I’m Just Wild about Harry.” Harry wins the next election as well as the girl and runs Sam and Steve out of town. One character explains that the lighter the skinHigh yellow
High yellow, occasionally simply yellow , is a term for very light-skinned persons of Black descent. It is a reference to the golden yellow skin tone of some mixed-race people...
, the more desirable an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
woman is.
Songs
Act I- I'm Simply Full of Jazz - Ruth Little and Syncopation Steppers
- Love Will Find a Way - Jessie Williams and Harry Walton
- Bandana Days - Alderman and Company
- Sing Me to Sleep, Dear Mammy - Harry Walton and Board of Aldermen
- (In) Honeysuckle Time (When Emmaline Said She'd Be Mine) - Tom Sharper
- Gypsy Blues - Jessie Williams, Ruth Little and Harry Walton
Act II
- Shuffle Along - Jimtown Pedestrians and Traffic Cop
- I'm Just Wild About HarryI'm Just Wild About Harry"I'm Just Wild About Harry" is a song written in 1921 with lyrics by Noble Sissle and music by Eubie Blake for the Broadway show Shuffle Along. "I'm Just Wild About Harry" was the most popular number of the production, which was the first financially successful Broadway play to have...
- Jessie Williams and Jimtown Sunflowers - Syncopation Stenos - Mayor's Staff
- Good Night Angeline - Board of Aldermen
- If You Haven't Been Vamped by a Brownskin, You Haven't Been Vamped at All - Steve Jenkins, Sam Peck and Jimtown Vamps
- Uncle Tom and Old Black Joe - Uncle Tom and Old Black Joe
- Everything Reminds Me of You - Jessie Williams and Harry Walton
- Oriental Blues - Tom Sharper and Oriental Girls
- I Am Craving for That Kind of Love/ Daddy (Won't You Please Come Home) - Ruth Little
- Baltimore Buzz - Tom Sharper and Jimtown's Jazz Steppers
- African Dip - Steve Jenkins and Sam Peck
Productions
The musical premiered on Broadway at the Daly's 63rd Street TheatreDaly's 63rd Street Theatre
Daly's 63rd Street Theatre was a Broadway theater, which was active from 1921 to 1941. It was built in 1914 as the 63rd Street Music Hall and had several other names between 1921 and 1938. The building was demolished in 1957.-History:...
on May 23, 1921 and closed on July 15, 1922 after 484 performances. It was directed by Walter Brooks, with Eubie Blake playing the piano. The cast included Lottie Gee as Jessie Williams, Adelaide Hall
Adelaide Hall
Adelaide Hall was an American-born U.K.-based jazz singer and entertainer.Hall was born in Brooklyn, New York and was taught to sing by her father...
as Jazz Jasmine, Gertrude Saunders as Ruth Little, Roger Matthews
Roger Matthews
Roger Matthews is a British criminologist. He is currently Professor of Criminology at the University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.Matthews is one of the key figures in left realism, a criminological critique of both the dominant administrative criminology and the left...
as Harry Walton, and Noble Sissle as Tom Sharper. Gertrude Saunders was replaced by Florence Mills
Florence Mills
Florence Mills, born Florence Winfrey , known as the "Queen of Happiness," was an African American cabaret singer, dancer, and comedian known for her effervescent stage presence, delicate voice, and winsome, wide-eyed beauty.-Life and career:A daughter of former enslaved parents, Nellie and John...
. Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....
, who was deemed too young at age 15 to be in the show, joined the touring company in Boston, and then joined the Broadway cast when she turned 16. Bessie Allison
Bessie A. Buchanan
Bessie Allison Buchanan of Manhattan in New York City became the first African-American woman to hold a seat in the New York State Legislature when she was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1954....
's first professional performance was in Shuffle Along. The orchestra included William Grant Still
William Grant Still
William Grant Still was an African-American classical composer who wrote more than 150 compositions. He was the first African American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major...
and Hall Johnson
Hall Johnson
Hall Johnson was one of a number of American composers and arrangers—including Harry T. Burleigh, R. Nathaniel Dett, and Eva Jessye—who elevated the African-American spiritual to an art form, comparable in its musical sophistication to the compositions of European Classical...
.
Other productions
- Road versions toured successfully throughout the country up to 1924.
- The show was revived at the Mansfield Theatre, New York City, from December 26, 1932 to January 7, 1933, closing after seventeen performances.
- In 1933 Blake, Sissle, Miller, and Lyles reunited but the production was not met with critical success.
- A 1952 revival, starring Sissle and Blake, Avon LongAvon LongAvon Long was an American Broadway actor and singer.-Life:Long was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He performed in a number of Broadway shows, including Black Rhythm , Porgy and Bess , and Beggar's Holiday...
and Thelma CarpenterThelma CarpenterThelma Carpenter was a jazz singer and actress, best known as "Miss One", the Good Witch of the North in the movie The Wiz.-Career:...
and choreographed by Henry LeTangHenry LeTangHenry LeTang was an American theatre,film, and television choreographer and a dance instructor.-Biography:Born in the Harlem neighbourhood of Manhattan, LeTang was the second son of Clarence, born in Dominica, and his wife Marie, who emigrated from St. Croix. The couple owned and operated a radio...
, was also unsuccessful. It opened at the Broadway TheatreThe Broadway TheatreThe Broadway Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1681 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan....
on May 8, 1952 and closed after 4 performances, but was recorded in an abridged form by RCA Victor, combined with selections from Blackbirds of 1928Blackbirds of 1928Blackbirds of 1928 was a hit Broadway revue with music by Jimmy McHugh and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. It contained the songs "Diga Diga Do", the duo's first hit, "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", and "I Must Have That Man" all sung by Adelaide Hall....
. - An excerpt of the show, the musical fight between the two leading characters, was made into a short talkie film by Warner Bros in the early 1930s. It, and another similar short featuring Miller and Lyles, were found in the Warner Bros archives in 2010, where they'd been misfiled. The titles are "The Mayor of Jimtown" and "Jimtown Cabaret".
Historical effect and response
According to the HarlemHarlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
chronicler James Weldon Johnson
James Weldon Johnson
James Weldon Johnson was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is remembered best for his leadership within the NAACP, as well as for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and...
, the 1921 musical revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
Shuffle Along marked a breakthrough for the African-American musical performer and made musical theatre history. This revue legitimized the African-American musical, proving to producers and managers that audiences
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
would pay to see African-American talent on Broadway.
The musical brought black actors back to Broadway after a 10-year absence during a time when the prominent black actors and producers of the day had retired and/or died. Shuffle Along also brought black audiences to orchestra seats rather than being relegated to the balcony
Mezzanine (architecture)
In architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors of a building. Often, a mezzanine is low-ceilinged and projects in the form of a balcony. The term is also used for the lowest balcony in...
, and featured the first sophisticated African-American love story. Moreover, Shuffle Along laid the foundation for public acceptance of African-American performers in other than burlesque or minstrel roles.
The impact of Shuffle Along rippled through Broadway, with nine African-American musicals opening between 1921 and 1924. For the next few years, black theatre would pioneer several "firsts." In 1928, the first edition of Lew Leslie
Lew Leslie
Lew Leslie was a Broadway writer and producer. Although white, he was the first impressario to present black artists on stage...
's Blackbirds featured Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
Bill Robinson
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was an American tap dancer and actor of stage and film. Audiences enjoyed his understated style, which eschewed the frenetic manner of the jitterbug in favor of cool and reserve; rarely did he use his upper body, relying instead on busy, inventive feet, and an expressive...
as the first black dance star on Broadway. In 1929, Harlem, a drama by Wallace Thurman
Wallace Thurman
Wallace Henry Thurman was an American novelist during the Harlem Renaissance. He is best known for his novel The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life, which explores discrimination among black people based on skin color.-Early life:...
and William Rapp, introduced the Slow Drag
Slow drag (dance)
The Slow drag is an American social dance originally performed to ragtime music, and has been resurrected as part of blues dancing.-History:Ragtime composers, including Scott Joplin, wrote a number of slow-tempo tunes appropriate for the dance...
, the first African-American social dance
Social dance
Social dance is a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing...
to reach Broadway.
As scholar James Haskins noted, Shuffle Along "started a whole new era for blacks on Broadway, as well as a whole new era for blacks in all creative fields." Loften Mitchell, author of Black Drama: The Story of the American Negro in the Theatre, credits Shuffle Along with launching the Harlem Renaissance
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...
.
According to theatre historian and teacher John Kenrick
John Kenrick (theatre writer)
John Kenrick is an American author, teacher and theatre and film historian. Kenrick is an adjunct teacher of musical theatre history at New York University, Brind School – University of the Arts and The New School, and lectures frequently on the subject elsewhere...
, "Judged by contemporary standards, much of Shuffle Along would seem offensive
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
... most of the comedy relied on old minstrel show stereotypes. Each of the leading male characters was out to swindle the other."
President Harry Truman chose the Shuffle Along song "I'm Just Wild About Harry
I'm Just Wild About Harry
"I'm Just Wild About Harry" is a song written in 1921 with lyrics by Noble Sissle and music by Eubie Blake for the Broadway show Shuffle Along. "I'm Just Wild About Harry" was the most popular number of the production, which was the first financially successful Broadway play to have...
" for his campaign anthem
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
.