Shuffle Along previews

[@z5]

After seeing what some people said about it last night, I was kind of worried about going tonight, but it was really amazing. I usually have a hard time sitting through long shows but not  this one! It clocked in at almost 3 hours and 15 mins.  It was very well done and the dancing is phenomenal. Sat in the mezz which is good for the way the staging is done, especially at the top of the stage. 

Audra signed afterwards tonight as well as Porter and other leading cast members. Definitely is an awesome signed playbill to have by Audra and billy Porter!

 

[CarlosAlberto]

OMG....I'm going to have to slit my wrists for all you queens who had to be subjected to this show....how will all of you recover!!!!! 

[phan24]

Seomething else I noticed after looking at the cast list today, is that the actor JL Williams who had unfortunately gone missing last month has left the company (or at least the current cast).

[ACL2006]

and in one day, they've already trimmed the show down by 15 minutes. Again, I'm assuming by next week the show will be under 3 hours. Plus that week off they have will really help cut out any unnecessary numbers, of at least cut them in half.

[dave1606]

I am late to the party, but I saw the first preview. Glad to hear it that they have already trimmed it a bit since then. Shuffle Along was a strange experience. I felt like I was watching, a directors, cut, a dvd extra and a sequel all rolled into one. There is a great show hidden inside all of that muddle, so I hope they are able to weed out the filler and find it by the time opening happens. 

The show could end after act 1 and while there were issues I there too I thought it would have been perfectly enjoyable to end there. But Act 2 is strange trip through random side characters and Wikipedia facts featuring historical figures, a strange detours, that I looked at my watch and it was 11:00pm and I realized I had no idea where the show was going or how they would wrap it up.

By the end, it felt like it sort of just stumbled into an ending. I liked the sentiment that was expressed, but it had been so long since we had seen anything about the actual musical Shuffle Along it felt like an afterthought.

Thankfully, the shows saving grace is its cast.  Audra McDonald anchors the show and is such a delight in every scene. She’s clearly got a bit of Lady Day in this performance and it think it works well. Its frustrating because the characters in this show are all rather minor. Audra has very little to work with, but she’s Audra and makes it work. Billy Porter has a great number in act 2, but it didn’t feel earned because his character mainly just spouts one-liners at the audience without much of an emotional arc. Everyone else is left by the wayside as well, particularly Brian Stokes Mitchell and Joshua Henry. One piece that I actually loved was the “Uptown Noir” scene with Audra and Brandon Victor Dixon scatting on the piano. One that I wouldn’t be surprised if they cut, but still it was a delight.

This ensemble has to be one of the hardest working casts I have ever seen. It felt like there was a HUGE tap number in nearly every scene of Act 1. I was exhausted just watching them. The tap scenes involving the suitcases in act 1 were thrilling and one of my favorite things of the whole evening.

Yes, I know the show will change quite a bit, and I am definitely curious to see it again, hopefully towards the end of the preview period.

[Bettyboy72]

I have no problem with the length of the show, but the girth.

[nasty_khakis]

Any rush reports yet? I'm thinking about trying tomorrow morning.

[round2]

I thought that George C. Wolfe, the author of The Colored Museum and director of Caroline, or Change and The Normal Heart, together with this powerhouse cast, would bring a strong spotlight into this show on the racist history of the U.S., and of Broadway. It could be said that Broadway has evolved a bit ahead of the mainstream culture, but the history of Broadway still reflects a very marginalized, often invisible position of Black people. I'd expected an upswell of the Black Lives Matter movement to infuse this production in ingenious and powerful ways. Without having yet read every one of the many posts here, it doesn't sound like that has happened. I'd imagined the two distant generations (now's and 1921's) speaking to each other in an exciting kind of wildly theatrical mash-up. Maybe I'm Follies-damaged.

 

[indytallguy]

Bettyboy72 said: "I have no problem with the length of the show, but the girth."

Well-played.  Truthfully insightful and also humorous.

[Scarywarhol]

round2 said: "I thought that George C. Wolfe, the author of The Colored Museum and director of Caroline, or Change and The Normal Heart, together with this powerhouse cast, would bring a strong spotlight into this show on the racist history of the U.S., and of Broadway. It could be said that Broadway has evolved a bit ahead of the mainstream culture, but the history of Broadway still reflects a very marginalized, often invisible position of Black people. I'd expected an upswell of the Black Lives Matter movement to infuse this production in ingenious and powerful ways. Without having yet read every one of the many posts here, it doesn't sound like that has happened. I'd imagined the two distant generations (now's and 1921's) speaking to each other in an exciting kind of wildly theatrical mash-up. Maybe I'm Follies-damaged.

 

It's hinted at, but never goes that far onstage. It opens with what feels like a conjuring of ghosts from the theatre into the present, very much like Follies. But the racial politics explored head-on feel almost safely specific to the period. After hearing Wolfe's TimesTalk, it sounds like he intends the audience to be the other half of that conversation and engage with the piece through history, but I hope he is able to sharpen that side of the show and nudge us more. 

 

[WhizzerMarvin]

Yes, he does hint at it, but in the most opaque of ways. Brian Stokes Mitchell's character mentions several times that the plot of Shuffle Along deals with elections and every time he speaks the word he adds a little gravity to it and sort of looks at the audience like he's trying to make a connection to today's political proceedings. One of the problems were are never told at any time what the actual plot of Shuffle Along is- the most detailed description is that there are elections and there's a love story between an African American man and woman. If Wolfe wants us to draw a parallel between the crooked elections of Shuffle Along and what's going on today with Trump/Cruz/whomever he needs to make clear the plot of the musical before the audience can make a connection.  

[Scarywarhol]

Agreed again that we need a better idea of what the original show IS. I'm reading the libretto before seeing it again down the road when it's frozen. 

[WhizzerMarvin]

Why don't they just put on Shuffle Along and Shuffle Along, Or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed on in rep for the ultimate experience. We see the actual show one night and then watch the special features the following evening. 

[QueenAlice]

Is the libretto available somewhere?

[WhizzerMarvin]

It's on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1515232484?keywords=shuffle%20along&qid=1458235049&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

 

The plot description on wikipedia is unfortunately rather thin.  

[Scarywarhol]

I actually found it in full on the NYPL website when I was trying to google the lyrics to the title song. 

http://static.nypl.org/MOTM/ShuffleAlong/ShuffleAlong.pdf

[Kad]

Is it safe to say that there is no way this can be considered a revival?

[Scarywarhol]

No legitimate way for sure. 

[PalJoey]

 

Reading that PDF at the NYPL link that Scarywarhol posted is sure eye-opening.

 

[billyelliotfan123]

I rushed today. I got there at 9:40 and I'd say their were 25 people in front of me in line. When I got to the box office all rush tix were sold out but they sold me "modified rush" for $69. Orchestra Row D on the left side. 

[uncageg]

My apologies if this has been answered already but what was the running time for the original production of Shuffle Alomg? Was it a 2 hour show?

[WhizzerMarvin]

The original production was two acts so one can assume it was probably at least two hours long. Shuffle Along only had two revivals (in 1933 and 1952), the latter of which only ran 4 performances. At this point I doubt we will ever see a revival of the show on Broadway, but it would be nice to see Encores give it a go. 

[newintown]

"...the history of Broadway still reflects a very marginalized, often invisible position of Black people."

 

No one in their right mind will deny that racism has been endemic in this country - but invisible on Broadway?

 

Shuffle Along

Keep Shufflin'

In Dahomey

Four Saints in Three Acts

The Swing Mikado/The Hot Mikado

Hot Chocolates

Swingin' The Dream

Porgy and Bess

A Raisin In The Sun

Hello Dolly! replacement cast

Guys and Dolls 1976 revival

Raisin

Ain't Misbehavin

Fences

Seven Guitars

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Joe Turner's Come and Gone

The Piano Lesson

Two Trains Running

King Hedley II

Gem of the Ocean

Radio Golf

Big Deal

Timbuktu

Black and Blue

Sophisticated Ladies

The Tap Dance Kid

Dreamgirls

Memphis

Hairspray

Caroline Or Change

The Color Purple

The Wiz

Passing Strange

Bring In 'da Noise Bring In 'da Funk

Sarafina!

Cabin In The Sky

Once On This Island

The Emperor Jones

Purlie Victorious

Treemonisha

Motown

Ragtime

Thurgood

 

And that's just a partial list of Broadway only. So repressed, yes. Invisible, no. Hyperbole is rarely a helpful rhetorical tool, but clarity is always great.

[neonlightsxo]

I think many of us were thinking this would be more of a revival of the original Shuffle Along than it actually is. Definitely would be a great time for Encores to pick it up.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Yes, with all the talk beforehand about whether or not this would be considered a new musical or revival I think most of us thought it would be like a Crazy For You type musical. Shuffle Along, but with other Eubie Blake songs inserted and a brand new book by Wolfe. Of course that turned out not to be the case at all. This is a behind the scenes making of musical. The first act is basically 42nd St and it has more in common with that show than any other. 

 

At least in 42nd St and Kiss Me Kate we get to see a good deal of the show within a show the company is putting on. 

[amandaelevator]

Would anyone going to previews be willing to grab me an extra playbill and send it my way? I'm really sad the art is changing!