Love will find a way! The all-star (and sold-out) reunion concert production of Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed will be broadcast on television and available to stream in 2027.
It was revealed onstage September 27 at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater that the 10th anniversary reunion concerts, held September 27 and 28, are being captured for PBS’ Tony Award-winning Great Performances series. The air date of the recording, and its position within the 2027 Great Performances slate, is forthcoming.
The concerts feature much of the 2016 musical’s original Broadway cast reprising their performances, including Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Adrienne Warren, Brandon Victor Dixon, Brooks Ashmanskas, Amber Iman, Darius de Haas, JC Montgomery, Arbender J. Robinson, and Christian Dante White, along with ensemblists Afra Hines, Curtis Holland, Adrienne Howard, Erin N. Moore, Janelle Neal, Karissa Royster, Pamela Yasutake, and Richard Riaz Yoder. The performances also feature Norm Lewis, stepping in for original cast member Joshua Henry; Lamont Brown; and Lisa La Touche.
Shuffle Along, which kickstarted the Harlem Renaissance in 1921, was one of the first commercially successful mainstream all-Black Broadway sensation. In 2016, the musical was partially revived under the extensive title above, using the music of the original production too explore the history of the work and the lives of those who made it. The original work made its groundbreaking debut at the 63rd Street Music Hall near San Juan Hill in 1921 and was the first Broadway hit with an all-Black cast and creative team. Blending elements of ragtime, jazz, and traditional European operetta, it helped usher in a thriving era of Black creativity that continues to have ripple effects to this day.
The 2016 version features the electrifying original songs by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle and portions of Shuffle Along’s original book by F.E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles, with additional music and lyrics by Daryl Waters and George C. Wolfe. The choreography was by Savion Glover. It ran on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre for 38 previews and 100 performances, a little under five months.
Staged as a part of the Legacies of San Juan Hill Festival, the Shuffle Along reunion is directed by Wolfe and features acclaimed tap dancer and choreographer Savion Glover. Lisa Dawn Cave is production supervisor, with Johnny Milani serving as stage manager and Brandon Allmon-Jackson as assistant stage manager.
For more information on the full Legacies of San Juan Hill festival, visit LincolnCenter.org. See photos from the 2016 Broadway production below.