Shuffle Along: The 1921 Broadway Musical: Complete Libretto

by Flournoy Miller, Aubrey Lyles, Noble Sissle

Complete libretto to the 1921 ground breaking musical. One of the most significant musicals of the 20th Century, “Shuffle Along” was a rarity, written, produced, and acted wholly by African Americans. For the first time racially diverse audiences celebrated the uniqueness of this musical together. While the New York Times praised Eubie Blake "swinging and infectious score," it panned the rest of the production “as extremely crude—in writing, playing and direction." That didn’t matter. New Yorkers, including George Gershwin and Fanny Brice, flocked to it and it soon became the most popular production of the season with record breaking sales. Its influences were felt throughout the 1920s when "Shuffle Along" type musicals became all the vogue.

Genres: Plays

58 pages, Paperback

First published July 25, 2015

Reviews

[Kaia Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
Compared to modern day musicals, Im just simply not a fan. A great work if you want a glimpse into the historical time period but the writing was just ok in my opinion and the songs always felt surface level and slightly out of place. I chuckled though with the quote along the lines of
“Can you keep a secret? Of course I can. Im a women” LOL
I’m just simply full of jazz, jazz, jazz
Realizing I would have liked it more if I got to see the dynamic dance numbers

[Callista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe not a great musical by contemporary measurements, but an important and poignant historical document, one where we can see change enacted in the musical's inherent contradictions, how it seems to straddle the minstrel shows that came before and the art of the Harlem Renaissance that came after, how the show explores what it means to be a Black performer in 1921. Worth the read.

[aubrey]

Read for History of American Musical Theatre