What went wrong with Shuffle Along? — Page 3

At the first preview, the book was truly bad. I know it got a whole lot shorter, but did the libretto ever really improve very much?

"...you have to integrate elements of the actual story from the original production all those years ago..."

I don't really remember much of the story of the original Shuffle Along being presented, except for one scene used to show how this would be the first time white audiences ever saw two black actors in a love scene, and how terrified they were that there would be a riot. I don't know how much veracity there was in any of that, but it was dramatically interesting (not the love scene itself, but Wolfe's invention around it).

The rest of the book (as I recall) dealt rather superficially/tritely with the lives of/relationships between the two songwriters, the two book writers, and the star - superficially, because there wasn't much time for anything else and the production numbers - and the creation of the show, and the disintegration of everything afterwards.

This is a very interesting thread. I will try and keep my reply short because I don't want to get slammed for any errors I make while trying to type on my phone. Lol. Shuffle Along was a project that I worked on for years and in the end it made for one of the greatest experiences of my career so far. I am sure every cast member will have their own opinion about what happened or what went wrong etc. I just want to say a few things from my perspective.



1. I was part of the show for about a year before Audra, Billy, Brian, Brandon and Joshua. The dynamic in the rehearsal, energy from the team, and love for the material or chatacter stories never really changed. It was a matter of deciding what WE as a company wanted to tell, what moved us in rehearsal or what made us say "Hey George... can we tak more about this information I found last night at the library"

2. For many of us, myself included, it was surprising to see what developments came out of or after Shuffle Along and why, even as black performers, we knew very little about them. For example, the Book. Shuffle Along had a book, similar to what we think of as a Book Musical today (still surrounded by a vaudeville type show). That ambitious idea began the shift in Musical Theatre to add a book. Now the book for thw original Shuffle wasn't great at all, but hey it led to something. We tried so hard to keep more scenes from the show..... but trust me... we spared you some agony by todays standards. You wanted more of the book, so now you see how huge that idea was in shaping musical theatre.

3. So much for this being short......lol

4. I felt the main goal of the show, for me, was to resurrect some of these names. Their contribution to the artform was a huge part of the journey that makes it possible for audiences today to enjoy the works of minorities. Prior to this is and the Harlem Renaissance that would not have been the case. So.... if someone leaves the theatre with an interest in any of these people..... then our job is done.

5. I loved that we did something that wasn't traditional. We played, had fun and put something onstage that dared to change what we thought live theatre should or could be. I was sad when we opened because that meant our creative time of play was over. Yet, that too was not the case because we continued to play and learn and rewrite all throught the short run. However, in my opinion, our mission was accomplished because we got to, in a way, pay tribute to those performer's of yesterday..... yesteryear.... history.... (insert a better word for me please!)

6. Best memory was hearing the family of some of these characters say to us "I am so honored that someone cared enough to remember my grandfather" or "I always heard stories about my Aunt Lottie, now I feel like I met her"

7. So commercially it was not successful at all, but many of us took on this impossible project for different reasons. Sometimes we measure success in a different way. However, the fact that this thread exisits shows that we were successful in making people wonder about the show from 1921 called SHUFFLE ALONG.

Saw it in previews and really enjoyed it. I had a ticket for the second week but my performance was cancelled and I went a few weeks later. I had really wanted to see this early on I previews to hopefully see things that they may have ended up cutting especially after seeing the interview with Audra and George and the piece on Sunday Morning.

Having finally been able to compare the choreography with the show that won, It boggles my mind how Shuffle Along did not take the Tony. The choreography and its execution was heart stopping. JMO

thanks for your words, gooftroop! do you have any clue as to whether the cast will eventually record the terrific score?