The run closed May 10, 1952
- Opened
- May 23, 1921
- Closed
- May 10, 1952
- Performances
- 504
- Previews
- —
- Theatre
- 63rd St. Music Hall
Of the 2,148 productions we hold that opened in the 1920s and record a performance count, this is the 25th longest. That is a rank within what we hold, not within everything that was staged.
Other stagings of Shuffle Along 3 more that season
| 1932 | Mansfield Theatre Revival · Walter Brooks | 17 perf. |
| 1952 | Broadway Theatre Revival · George Hale | 4 perf. |
| 2016 | Revival Revival · George C. Wolfe | 100 perf. |
Who was in it45 named
A E Baldwin
Edna Battles
Mildred Brown
Hazel Burke
Goldie Cisco
Arthur Cooper
Richard Cooper
Jennie Day
Ina Duncan
Paul Floyd
Bea Freeman
Marion Gee
C Wesley Hill
Evelyn Irving
Bernard Johnson
Lucia Johnson
Robert Lee
Mamie Lewis
Snippy Mason
F E Miller
Arthur Porter
Marie Roberts
Ruth Seward
Paula Sullican
Marguerite Weaver
Theresa West
Mattie Wilks
Beatrice Williams
Billy Williams
Lillian Williams
Miles Williams
Lula Wilson
Arthur Woodson
Florence Mills
Paul Robeson
10 of these 45 names have a person record behind them and link to one. The other 35 are set from the identifier in the cast list, which is a slug of the name — so hyphens and full stops are lost and a few come out wrong. We hold nothing else about them. Nobody here is matched to a character: the cast list records who was in the company and not what they played.
Creative team
- Director
- Walter Brooks
- Choreographer
- Lawrence Deas
- Producer
- Nikko Producing Co. (Al Mayer)
A producer is one string on this record, however many people or companies it names. Directors and choreographers are held both as text and as identifiers; where an identifier exists the name links to a page.
Tony Awardscategories not held
0 wins from 1 nomination. Which categories is not on this record.
Around this production
Opening Date: May 8, 1952; Closing Date: May 10, 1952 Performances: 4 The Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals Dan Dietz Hardcover 2014 Rowman Lit, p. 254
- Shuffle Along became the first successful musical written, directed, and acted by black people. Broadway Musicals Show By Show Green Stanley Green Kay 5th Ed Rev and Updated By, p. 58
- There have been a few exceptions, such as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962) and Nine (1982), but the odds are against success: over three dozen musicals set wholly (or partially) in Italy have floundered on Broadway, Off-Broadway, or on the road. Seven alone opened during the 1950s; besides The Liar… Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals the Dan Dietz, p. 61
- Shuffle Along was the fourth; most record books classify it as a revival of the 1921 musical, but the revised version had a completely new book and retained only the original’s title plus three songs. By comparison, Music in the Air and Of Thee I Sing enjoyed long runs: Shuffle Along managed just four performances. Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals the Dan Dietz, p. 205
- There were diminishing returns for the Shuffle Along series. The first was a long-running smash hit which opened at the 63rd Street Music Hall on May 23, 1921, for 504 performances. Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals the Dan Dietz, p. 254
- On September 20, 1978, Eubie! , a musical tribute to Blake, opened on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre for 439 performances; the revue’s cast included Gregory and Maurice Hines, and offered a number of songs from the 1921 and 1932 productions of Shuffle Along (the cast recording was released on Warner Brothers LP # H… Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals the Dan Dietz, p. 256
Passages naming this production, found by keyword across 178 books. Where it turns up in the literature, not curated notes about it.
What this page does not know
- No photograph of this staging. 48 of 13,459 productions hold one.
- No character names. We can say who was in the company and not who they played.
- No recording is held for Shuffle Along at all.
- Reviews, box office, running order, understudies and designers: none of it is held for any production.