Shuffle Along previews

[WhizzerMarvin]

Well, that was a mess. Sometimes a glorious mess, but badly in need of editing and focus. This was my most anticipated show of the spring, and yes Audra was manages to be perfection and the talented cast works hard, but the structure and story-telling often given them an uphill battle.

 

First of all, this is in no way, shape or form a revival of Shuffle Along. It's not even just the story of the making of Shuffle Along as they have somewhat marketed the show. This production is a bio-musical a la Beautiful about the four creators of Shuffle Along (as well as a few of the stars of the original production).

 

For a better comparison, imagine if you will Everything Was Possible: The Musical. The real story is the creation of Follies; even though you would naturally get to hear little snippets of the songs, there would be no time to hear full length performances of Waiting For The Girls Upstairs or Who's That Woman. There wouldn't even be much, if any, time to explain who all the characters are, their relationships or the events of the evening. Luckily for most members on this board we could all put on a one man or woman show of Follies in our living rooms, making it very easy for us to fill in the blanks and enjoy the creative process. The problem with Shuffle Along is that no one really is familiar with the original 1921 production of Shuffle Along and this production shows us precious little of the actual show.

 

To make matters even more confounding, the entire first act takes us through the meeting of the four creators, the inception of the idea, the securing of the funds, the myriad of out of town try-outs and the opening of the show on Broadway. This all in act one! Add an intermission and you already have a complete "Everything Was Possible" show. Act Two then covers everything that happened to the creators after Shuffle Along until their deaths. So in this example in Act Two we would see Sondheim and Prince create Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd- the whole damn lot. After Merrily Steve could have his own track of writing Sunday in the Park while Hal falls on tough times with A Doll's Life and Grind and Roza and (we're here all night folks! literally!). Well, you get the point.

 

This structure creates four lead characters out of Brian Stokes Mitchell and Billy Porter (the team that wrote the book) and Josh Henry and Brandon Victor Dixon (responsible for the lyrics and music respectively). Audra plays the leading lady, Lottie, who also has an affair with Eubie (Dixon). The leads often narrate directly to the audience, telling us now we went to Philadelphia were we added this number and fired this actor. Sometimes a song would start to take off only to be constantly interrupted by narration. For example, during Dixon's first flirtation with McDonald they barely can sing a chorus of Honeysuckle Time without breaking into chatter. They have nice chemistry and the dialogue is funny, but I just wish I could have heard them sing the song.

 

Whenever the (VERY hardworking) ensemble came on to do a big tap number, usually transitioning from one scene to the next, the show really caught on fire. Porter has a big And I'm Telling You moment in act two that went over well. The act one finale, one of the few, if only, full out numbers presented as the original Shuffle Along was amazing. It's too bad we didn't have Encores put on a production of Shuffle Along so we could all acquaint ourselves with the piece before seeing the making of musical.

 

I have similar feelings to Shuffle Along as I did after the first preview of Women on the Verge. This isn't near the disaster that first preview was, but I was equally as excited about that all-star cast only to be mystified by some of what was happening onstage. With a runtime of 3.5 hours this really could have used an out of town try-out and at this stage of the game some serious cutting. Like a good hour of cuts.

 

Even with all of these criticisms it's still worth it for Audra alone, which shows the immense power show can have over a show and the absolute unending brilliance of her talent.

 

I hope they use the preview period well. I'll be back to see what changes they make and wish them the best.

[RippedMan]

How are the production elements? 

[Relevance81491]

Oh dear??

[RippedMan]

And I hate any show that relies heavily on narration. That's just lazy writing. 

[JBroadway]

RippedMan said: "How are the production elements? "

 

Pretty good. Nothing to write home about, other than the choreography. The set, lights, and costumes are all good and service the storytelling well. The lighting in particular is effective. 

 

[WhizzerMarvin]

The production is mostly a bare stage with multiple curtains that come down. No real elaborate set pieces. They are poor artists after all trying to put on a big Broadway show on a shoestring budget. The costumes are fantastic though and there are some interesting lighting effects. (The lights had some miscues in act two, so maybe they were already moving around some scenes from what was rehearsed.)

 

The main draw here are the actors and the choreography. 

[QueenAlice]

Great review Whizzer. It sounds like they just wanted to tell "everything" and they are going to need to pick a more specific direction of  story focus. The 3.5 hour running time is shocking and like I said earlier in the thread, they are going to need to make serious trims immediately or they will lose audiences.

[JBroadway]

Seems like Whizzer and I are very much on the same page here, lol. 

[RippedMan]

Works for me. I'm curious to see it. 

 

Seems like the season of the "understated" set design. Hamilton, Bright Star, Tuck, etc. 

[uncageg]

Well they have about 5 weeks or so to pull it together. I see it next Tuesday. If I like it I may have to get another ticket for closer to opening to see the changes.

 

Out of curiosity, what was the audience reaction at the end?

 

Thanks for the comments Whizzer. I can go to bed now!

[QueenAlice]

A designer friend told me that Jules Fisher actually had some lighting instruments built that could recreate some of the lighting effects as they were truly done in the 1920s which I though sounded neat.

[henrikegerman]

I agree with Whizzer.   A mess.  Its three plus hours seemed like five plus to me.  The first act is endless and pointless.  The second act hits us on the head with multiple conflicts after the success of the 1921 Shuffle Along, including a law suit between the creators which is never adequately explained.  The cast works hard and can't be faulted.  But none of the characters are interesting enough to bear the heavy load.  The best moment is Billy Porter's second act blues number.  It is certainly not a revival.  There is some fantastic dancing and some very fine costumes.  A bad, schematic book.

[RippedMan]

Well I hope they use that week off wisely. 

[WhizzerMarvin]

I also heard the same "this felt longer than Iceman Cometh" comment walking out that playesq did. Definitely made me crack up. 

 

  I was there with several friends and we just couldn't get over how long it was and how it wasn't what we expected, namely that we would be basically seeing the original Shuffle Along with some minor annotated commentary from the characters about the creation of the piece. In a sort of epilogue they talk about how all future revivals have failed because the material now feels dated and controversial for its blackface and stereotypical portrayals of black entertainers. All the more reason that this could be the opportunity to present the show as is it was with commentary to provide context to the piece.  

[Sally Durant Plummer]

I'm very interested to see how this show evolves over previews. Wolfe (along with LaChiusa) practically rewrote "Wild Party" during previews. This seems like a perfect example of a show that should have gone out-of-town (Merrily We Roll Along, Nick & Nora, Women On the Verge). I really hope that the show finds a clearer focus and is tightened. However, I look forward to a show that actually changes throughout previews. The last few seasons have given us shows that are basically cut and dry from the first preview with minor kinks and maybe a song rewritten before opening.

 

Whizzer - how was the score (what was presented of it)? And how large was the orchestra? I wonder how strong the original material is today, especially since the only show that survives from that relative time period is Anything Goes (and that was a decade later). I'm assuming little to none of the book is used.

 

Happy that the performances are all wonderful. I hope Wolfe can focus more on the actual show of "Shuffle Along" rather than the bios of the authors. If he discovers that in the next week, chances are he can rework the show into a hit. Here's hoping them nothing but the best!

[uncageg]

Also, is it true that there is no merchandise?

[jacobsnchz14]

uncageg said: "Also, is it true that there is no merchandise?

 

"

None. 

[BakerWilliams]

I'm curious about what attracted such heavyweight musical theatre types to the show if it just appears to be a making-of type musical. Is there a race relations sub-plot or something in that vein? 

[wonderfulwizard11]

BakerWilliams said: "I'm curious about what attracted such heavyweight musical theatre types to the show if it just appears to be a making-of type musical. Is there a race relations sub-plot or something in that vein? "

The original Shuffle Along was the first show created by a black team of writers on Broadway and premiered in 1921, so I would imagine the race aspect was a major attraction of the piece. 

 

[uncageg]

I would also think that working with Wolfe was a big attraction also.

[WhizzerMarvin]

I'm not sure if the conductor was also playing the piano or not, but it looks like there are 12 musicians listed in the Playbill. 

The score itself has some very catchy tunes, particularly the title song which you can't get out of your head. At least we do actually get to hear samplings from most of the score, unlike the original book which is represented by a mere handful of lines, even though the creators of said book are the main characters! They are too concerned with telling rather than showing. I wish they would have presented a few book scenes in blackface just to show us how controversial Shuffle Along would be to modern audiences instead of just telling us about it. 

[Scarywarhol]

I'm too tired to write as much as I'd like to. But there is so much that is beautiful and thrilling in this show, and I was not ever bored through the entire evening. Wolfe is thinking about some big and wonderful things, but the ways he explores them need more clarity. There are too many concepts at work. He is no slouch and I know he is going to work very hard on trimming and focusing during a long preview period. I agree with Whizzer that part of the problem is not getting enough of the original; a poignant monologue about its content at the end would mean more if we SAW more. It's awesome that they even scheduled a week to hunker down without performances; I think that shows Wolfe's seriousness here. I cannot wait to see what this becomes.

 

As it is, the performances are spectacular, the dancing is INSANE, and it is provocative and touching. This is like a talent convention. Yes, it is a structural mess in its first preview. It's also several times more interesting than most of what makes it to Broadway, and it still entertains. 

[@z5]

Anyone know if Audra signed tonight?

 

[HoldMeBatBOy]

How was Adrienne Warren?

[christinelavin]

I was in row G, sat next to a man who works with several of the producers, who was very knowledgeable about what we were about to see.  He said, "This will be the longest musical performance of this show that you will ever see.  They will be throwing absolutely EVERYTHING up on the stage, and immediately after this performance the cutting will begin. I estimate it will be 35-45 minutes shorter on opening night.  This director is known for really using the preview process well -- cutting, cutting, cutting."  

 

When I looked at my watch at the end, it WAS exactly 11:23, as someone else mentioned here -- but it didn't feel that long, though clearly it does need editing.  There is something great in the midst of all of it, and hopefully pruning will reveal it.  

 

The way it ended was a surprise -- I expected one more number and the orchestra playing us out -- but neither happened.  Does anyone know if that is how they plan to end it, or is it that they haven't worked out the curtain call yet?  

 

Re production values -- there was one very cool (though very brief) effect that stood out -- in a number about making records the tap dancers all had two giant vinyl albums -- one in each hand (well, each hand was inside the album -- think of each album as a big circular boxing glove) -- the 'album' side was black with a label in the middle -- but they flipped them over and they were plain white on the other side -- the dancers formed a circle with the white discs in the middle and on them was projected a short black & white vintage film of musicians playing.  It really was brief, but I think worth the time it took to work out something that complicated -- it stood out to me as interesting to look at -- and also showed how 'talkies' were changing the film industry and that years were going by. 

 

On the other side of me were two high school students (a girl and a boy) visiting from Oklahoma -- both rabid theater fans.  We started talking at intermission, and at the end of the show I asked their opinion.  They both liked it a lot, but felt it was a bit confusing since there are so many characters, and they felt they missed a good bit of dialogue due to some scenes have actors talking over each other, and sometimes they just weren't loud enough, or their accents were a bit hard to understand, or the music was too loud.  

 

I felt that, too, but thought maybe it's just my hearing (I'm over 60) -- I was glad to know teenagers also had that problem, so it wasn't my hearing.  Of course, all of that tech stuff will be improved as it goes on.  The students were also surprised by the subdued ending.  I was wondering if it was going to be a topic of conversation, like the 'framing' device used in "Fiddler."  So I'm interested if it continues to end so quietly -- I hope those of you going to future performances will let us know.

 

Another thing the man said to me before the show that was absolutely true, "You are not going to believe the depth of talent in this cast.  You probably haven't seen THIS many talented people all on the stage at the same time in YEARS."   

 

Amen.  What a cast.  I think it's going to be great.  

[WhizzerMarvin]

Warren was good in two roles, but the show took some major unnecessary detours into Florence Mills' life and career in act two that would be some of the first things I would cut, at absolutely no fault of Warren's ability to perform the material given. As much as we learned about Mills- facts of the Wikipedia variety- she never really felt like a fleshed out, living and breathing character. The same can be said for the four leading men to an extent too. Any characterization we received was from the actor and not what was on the page.