’54 Sings Shuffle Along’ – Smokin’

By Alix Cohen

Shuffle Along opened May 23, 1921 at the 63rd Street Music Hall, far north of the established Broadway theater district. Its creators were four Black vaudevillians: Eubie Blake — music, Noble Sissle — lyrics, Flournoy Miller — book and performer, Aubrey Lyles — book and performer.

Blake’s score brought ragtime, jazz, and syncopation to the Broadway musical genre. Choreography helped establish the jazz-and-tap vocabulary that would dominate popular entertainment during the 1920s. The songs “I’m Just Wild About Harry” and “Love Will Find a Way” debuted.

Florence Mills, Paul Robeson, Adelaide Hall and, on tour, Josephine Baker were in the cast.The show’s over 500 performances offered Black thespians and musicians unprecedented exposure to Broadway establishment and white audiences breaking innumerable barriers. Its Black cast did, however, feature Miller and Lyles, both Black men, in blackface- a vaudeville tradition.

Tonight’s concert version of the musical celebrates the 10th anniversary of George Wolfe’s Tony/Drama Desk Award-winning 2016 iteration. Under the aegis of producer/Host (and Mayor of Hackensack, New Jersey!) Caseen Gaines, a dazzling constellation of talent succeeds one another.

Izaiah Harris opens with a Puckish version of “Shuffle Along”, sufficiently high wattage to light up the stage. Quick, tight tapping accompanies. We all sit up straighter. Harris’s “Honeysuckle Time” is hap, hap, happy. “When I come along with Emaline a-struttin’my stuff/Hot dog, my soul, goin’-a knock ’em cold/I’ll be worth my weight in gold…” he boasts, hands clasped, hips in modest rotation; exiting with a hum.

“I’m Just Simply Full of Jazz” arrives with evangelistic pleasure by way of 2016 cast member, Afra Hines. The lady can mooove as well as sing. Arms rise as if inflated. Up-tempo drums (Kent Williams) kick in. Hines bounces and shimmies, shaking her curls in what seems like guileless celebration.

Ezekiel Andrew and Hines duet “Love Will Find a Way.” Inspired by Victor Herbert, the ballad is winsome and plumy. Agile harmony floats. The performers invitingly sing to each other (not a given.) Andrew’s “Good Night Angeline” emerges resonant and sincerely lovelorn.

Loose-limbed virtuoso John Manzari, sings and dances “Bandana Days*/How You Gonna Keep’Em Down on The Farm (After They’ve Seen Paree?)” Oom-pah rhythm segues into freewheeling tap. Arms windmill, legs kick and slide. Whoa! Whoosh! *Bandanas evoke the traditional clothing worn by enslaved people and Black laborers.

“Shuffle Along originated a female chorus that sang and danced rather than just being ornamental,” Gaines tells us. Josephine Baker disrupted the line of ladies by (perhaps unwittingly) over exaggerating choreography, eliciting jealousy by commandeering press. The host intermittently steps in with brief, illuminating facts. A film clip of Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle singing “Affectionate Dan” is an added treat.

“If You’ve Never Been Vamped by a Brown Skin (You’ve Never Been Vamped at All)” emerges a scene-in-one with dialogue, animated song, and highjinks – filled dance. (Move that fanny!) Dwayne Washington’s triple threat presentation is terrific fun! This is charisma.

Kristin Bria Hopkins’ “Daddy, Won’t You Please Come Home?” is sheer, candied seduction. A whoa wha oah trombone
(Taj Graves-Parker) smolders. “There’s lots of other new sheiks who would like to be sheikin′/Haven′t slipped yet, but I’m liable to weaken/Daddy, daddy, won′t you please come home?” She’s adorable.

Davon Williams conjectures that “Ain’t Cha Coming Back, Mary Ann, to Maryland?” is, in fact, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” before Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” (by Terry Britten/ Graham Lyle) The performer is committed, expressive, a bit lyrically puzzled.

The 2016 revival was Zurin Villanueva’s Broadway debut. Her rendition of “I’m Craving For That Kind of Love” is besotted. Shoulders rise up and down with notes; nose crinkles, wide eyes flutter. A little side to side dance entices. She’s Betty Boop without appearing cartoonish and wowza, what a voice!

“Shuffle Along sparked a renaissance that lead to 12 all Black Broadway shows. There were more Black performers on Broadway in the 1920s than there are in the 2020s,” Gaines notes.

“Memories of You” is a richly arranged foxtrot. Kimberly Marable kneads lyrics (like bread) straining high notes. Melvin Abston and Marable then duet a sweet version of “Everything Reminds Me of You.” The vocalists play with it. Adding flute (Aveion Walker- reeds) is a welcome touch.

“Low Down Blues” erupts from Melody A. Betts by way of a power vocal that fans out like a vaulted cathedral ceiling. The New Orleans sound is aided and abetted by mellow trumpet. Rhythm might be a bump n’grind stroll or Gospel. Frustrated by lack of rehearsal, Betts insists on repeating part of the song a capella. She has the chops. It’s lustrous and penetrating: “…It seems like my soul is sinkin’ through my shoes…” Betts is a force of nature.

Cindy Wilson closes with “I’m Just Wild About Harry”, the main hit of the musical. Verses glide instead of bounce. John Manzari uncoils additional superb choreography on a slice of stage barely able to contain his talent.

The show glides like silk. ‘A wonderful evening.

Also featuring the excellent John Feliciano- bass

Photos- Alix Cohen

54 Sings Shuffle Along
Produced and Directed by Caseen Gaines
Music Direction- Brandon Jackson
54 Below 254 West 54th Street https://54below.org/

The stars of the 2016 Broadway production of Shuffle Along are reuniting for a special concert presentation on September 26, 2026, featuring Audra McDonald, Billy Porter, and Brian Stokes Mitchell. The event takes place at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater.