Productions4 on Broadway
| 1921 | 63rd St. Music Hall Original. May 23, 1921 · Walter Brooks | 504 performances |
| 1932 | Mansfield Theatre Revival. December 26, 1932 · Walter Brooks | 17 performances |
| 1952 | Broadway Theatre Revival. May 8, 1952 · George Hale | 4 performances |
| 2016 | Revival Theatre not recorded. · George C. Wolfe | 100 performances |
Every Broadway staging held in broadway-data, sourced to IBDB. West End runs are not yet held.
Licensing not confirmed
| Rights | — We have not been able to confirm the publisher. |
Read from the licensor's own pages and catalogues. Rights move, and an empty row means we have not confirmed a publisher, not that the show cannot be licensed.
In the literature40 passages
Shuffle Along became the first successful musical written, directed, and acted by black people. book:broadway-musicals-show-by-show-green-stanley-green-kay-5th-ed-rev-and-updated-by#p58
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… book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p61
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. book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p205
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. book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p254
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… book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p256
The classification of Shuffle Along is problematic; it could be classified as a revival and also as a new book musical with mostly new songs (most sources treat the production as a full-fledged revival). From the original 1921 production, the new version retained the show’s title and three songs; a new book was written… book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p873
Passages naming this show, found by keyword across 178 books. Where this show turns up in the literature, not curated trivia about it.