When Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle’s Shuffle Along made its Broadway debut in 1921, it ran for an amazing 504 performances and launched the careers of Josephine Baker, Adelaide Hall, Florence Mills, Fredi Washington and Paul Robeson, and became such a hit that it caused “curtain time traffic jams” on New York City’s West 63rd Street.
Now a vividly re-imagined revival—Shuffle Along: Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All that Followed—is drawing rave reviews and appreciative audiences at the 1,009-seat Music Box Theatre which, coincidentally, also debuted in 1921 at 239 W. 45th St.
Having opened April 28, the adaptation by director George C. Wolfe has already been nominated for 10 Tony Awards.
Its production notes describe the story and the musical’s impact on the Gotham’s Great White Way: “New York City was still in the throes of the Depression of 1920. And despite being celebrated vaudeville performers, Miller and Lyles and Sissle and Blake had never performed on Broadway, much less written a musical. But with an infectious jazz score and exuberant dancing, Shuffle Along [which contained the hit “I’m Just Wild About Harry”] ignited not just Broadway but all of New York City. George Gershwin, Fanny Brice, Al Jolson, Langston Hughes, and famed critic George Jean Nathan were among the many fans who repeatedly flocked to West 63rd Street to
