BWW Flashback: We've Got the Broadway Blues... SHUFFLE ALONG Takes Final Bow Tonight

SHUFFLE ALONG will play its final Broadway performance today, July 24, 2016, the day six-time Tony-winning star Audra McDonald was already set to depart the production for a multi-month maternity leave. SHUFFLE ALONG began performances on March 15, 2016 and officially opened on April 28 at the Music Box Theatre. It will have played 38 previews and 100 regular performances by the time it ends. Below, BroadwayWorld takes you back through the show's Broadway journey!

Presenting elements from the 1921 musical itself, as well as detailing the events that catalyzed the songwriting team of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, and librettists F.E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles, to create this ground-breaking work, SHUFFLE ALONG has a new book by George C. Wolfe, is choreographed by Savion Glover, and is directed by Mr. Wolfe. SHUFFLE ALONGmarks the first time that the writer/director and choreographer have worked together since their 1996 hit Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk.

SHUFFLE ALONG stars six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, Tony Award winners Brian Stokes Mitchell and Billy Porter, and Tony Award nominees Brandon Victor Dixon and Joshua Henry.

In May 1921, the new musical Shuffle Along became the unlikeliest of hits, significantly altering the face of the Broadway musical as well as that of New York City. By the time Shuffle Along stumbled into town after a back-breaking pre-Broadway tour, it was deeply in debt and set to open at a remote Broadway house on West 63rd Street. In a season full of spectacles, such as Sally - a Ziegfeld musical - and another edition of George White's Scandals, Shuffle Along's failure was almost a foregone conclusion. New York City was still in the throes of the Depression of 1920. And despite being celebrated vaudeville performers, Miller and Lyles and Sissle and Blake had never performed on Broadway, much less written a musical. But with an infectious jazz score and exuberant dancing, Shuffle Along ignited not just Broadway but all of New York City. George Gershwin, Fanny Brice, Al Jolson, Langston Hughes, and famed criticGeorge Jean Nathan were among the many fans who repeatedly flocked to West 63rd Street to see a cast which - during its run of 504 performances - featured such incipient luminaries as Josephine Baker, Paul Robeson, Florence Mills, Fredi Washington, and Adelaide Hall. Because of Shuffle Along, Uptown and Downtown met and became one.

---

SHUFFLE ALONG started performances this spring at the Music Box and ran for 38 previews before opening night. Scroll down for stunning production shots (by Julieta Cervantes)!

The final opening of the 2015-16 theatre season, SHUFFLE ALONG celebrated its official opening night on April 28. See the company's first bows below (photos by Walter McBride)!

SHUFFLE ALONG went on to win the New York Drama Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards for Best Musical, along with the Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Choreography (Savion Glover), Outstanding Costume Design (Ann Roth), and Outstanding Wig and Hair Design (Mia M. Neal). It was nominated for ten 2016 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

On May 4, the 2016 Tony nominees flocked to the Paramount Hotel, where they met with the press, including Brandon Victor Dixon, nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical - check out a photo of him at the meet & greet below, plus footage with the rest of the show's nominees and highlights from the musical!

---

This June, SHUFFLE ALONG performed "Broadway Blues," featuring Brandon Victor Dixon, Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell, as part of the 70th Annual TONY AWARDS. Watch a montage from the Tony-nominated musical below!

---

SHUFFLE ALONG may have to "Shuffle Off" for now, but we'll remember its remarkable dancing and show-stopping talents for years to come!

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!