The Ethiopian Art Theatre — originally called the Chicago Folk Theatre, later the Colored Folk Theatre, also referred to as The Ethiopian Art Players — was an African American theatre company based out of Chicago, Illinois.

[24]. Two dishonest partners in a grocery store, Sam and Steve, both run for mayor in Jimtown, USA. Shuffle Along is a musical with music and lyrics by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, and a thin revue-style connecting plot about a mayoral race, written by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles. The musical launched or boosted the careers of Josephine Baker, Paul Robeson, Florence Mills, Fredi Washington and Adelaide Hall. It was only able to book a remote theater on West 63rd Street that had no orchestra pit. Harry gets the people behind him and wins the next election, as well as the lovely Jessie, and runs Sam and Steve out of town. Originally named the Colonial Music Hall, it was opened in 1905 by Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy. Shuffle it all Shuffle it all, yeah Pack up your bags again It's a long and winding road Sure enjoy the view, yeah If you want to see it Just slow down You're so welcome to come along Lookin' for a tune to play I'm gonna see it again When the day is over Try to write you 'bout the … The organization was unique and controversial during its era, primarily for being one of the few African American Theatre Companies to perform European theatrical works, but also, among other things, for producing theatrical works of African American playwrights for both African American and Non-African American audiences. This production was unsuccessful and closed after 17 performances.

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1921.

The idea of the show was conceived by Julianne Boyd. Between about 1905 and 1932 he formed a popular comic duo, Miller and Lyles, with Aubrey Lyles. Sheet music for "Love Will Find a Way", a song from the show, Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, "Shuffle Along: The Musical at the Center of the Harlem Renaissance", "History of The Musical Stage, 1920s Part III: Black Musicals", "Black History Month – Innovative Musical Contributions: Eubie Blake", "Little Known Black History Fact: Shuffle Along", "The Verdict: Critics Review Broadway's 'Shuffle Along'", "Audra McDonald to Star in New Broadway Musical With Savion Glover", "Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald Will Reunite on Broadway in, "See Full List of 2016 Tony Award Nominations", "Broadway’s ‘Shuffle Along’ To Close in July, When Audra McDonald Exits", "I'm Simply Full of Jazz" - Ruth Little and Syncopation Steppers, "Love Will Find a Way" - Jessie Williams and Harry Walton, "Sing Me to Sleep, Dear Mammy" - Harry Walton and Board of Aldermen, "(In) Honeysuckle Time (When Emmaline Said She'd Be Mine)" - Tom Sharper, "Gypsy Blues" - Jessie Williams, Ruth Little and Harry Walton, "Shuffle Along" - Jimtown Pedestrians and Traffic Cop, "Good Night Angeline" - Board of Aldermen, "If You Haven't Been Vamped by a Brownskin, You Haven't Been Vamped at All" - Steve Jenkins, Sam Peck and Jimtown Vamps, "Uncle Tom and Old Black Joe" - Uncle Tom and Old Black Joe, "Everything Reminds Me of You" - Jessie Williams and Harry Walton, "Oriental Blues" - Tom Sharper and Oriental Girls, "I Am Craving for That Kind of Love"/ "Daddy (Won't You Please Come Home)" - Ruth Little, "Baltimore Buzz" - Tom Sharper and Jimtown's Jazz Steppers, "African Dip" - Steve Jenkins and Sam Peck.
Keep searching, perhaps some of her co actors are still around and you can contact them for interviews. [ citation needed ] However, the success of the show set limits on the black-themed shows that followed. [11] Bessie Allison's first professional performance was in Shuffle Along. [23], During World War II, Sissle and Blake adapted and performed Shuffle Along for USO shows, with an ensemble that included pianist and vibraphonist Sylvester Lewis. [6] Promoters were skeptical that a black-written and produced show would appeal to Broadway audiences. The Colonial Theatre in New York City was at Broadway and 62nd Street in what was then the San Juan Hill neighborhood on the Upper West Side, Manhattan. When the show came back to New York, about a year later, during the Depression of 1920–21, the production owed $18,000 and faced strong competition on Broadway in a season that included Florenz Ziegfeld's Sally and a new edition of George White's Scandals . Shuffle Along Last updated December 03, 2019. There are differing views over the precise year that the company was founded, 1922 or 1923. The four writers were African-American Vaudeville veterans who first met in 1920 at a NAACP benefit that was held at the newly opened Dunbar Theatre in Philadelphia. For thirty years he directed the popular review, Brown Skin Models, influenced by the Ziegfeld Follies but exclusively using black performers.

As they fight, their opponent for the mayoral position, virtuous Harry Walton, vows to end their corrupt regime ("I'm Just Wild about Harry"). Designed by George Keister, the theater had a seating capacity of 1,293. Noble Lee Sissle was an American jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer, and playwright, best known for the Broadway musical Shuffle Along (1921), and its hit song "I'm Just Wild About Harry". Blake's compositions included such hits as "Bandana Days", "Charleston Rag", "Love Will Find a Way", "Memories of You" and "I'm Just Wild About Harry".

They resolve their differences in a long, comic fight. An excerpt of Shuffle Along, the musical fight between the two leading characters, was made into a short talkie film by Warner Bros in the early 1930s. However, with little funding, it was difficult to meet travel and production expenses, and the cast rarely got paid. Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed is a musical with a score by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle and a libretto by George C. Wolfe, based on the original book of the 1921 musical revue Shuffle Along, by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles. The show premiered on Broadway at the Daly's 63rd Street Theatre on May 23, 1921, and closed on July 15, 1922, after 484 performances. [7] In the end, however, the show earned $9 million from its original Broadway production and three touring companies, an unusual sum in its time. The cast included Lottie Gee as Jessie Williams, Adelaide Hall as Jazz Jasmine, Gertrude Saunders as Ruth Little, Roger Matthews as Harry Walton, and Noble Sissle as Tom Sharper.

[4] According to the Harlem chronicler James Weldon Johnson, Shuffle Along marked a breakthrough for the African-American musical performer and "legitimized the African-American musical, proving to producers and managers that audiences would pay to see African-American talent on Broadway."

The company was an influential albeit short-lived (1922/1923–1925) group founded during the Harlem Renaissance. [2], President Harry Truman chose the show's song "I'm Just Wild About Harry" for his campaign anthem. [16] It was the first Broadway musical to feature a sophisticated African-American love story, rather than a frivolous comic one.

The Chocolate Dandies is a Broadway musical in two acts that opened September 1, 1924, at the New Colonial Theatre and ran for 96 performances – finishing November 22, 1924. Shuffle Along is a musical with music and lyrics by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, and a thin revue-style connecting plot about a mayoral race, written by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles.

A 1952 revival, starring Sissle and Blake, Avon Long and Thelma Carpenter and choreographed by Henry LeTang, was also unsuccessful.

Flournoy Eakin Miller, sometimes credited as F. E. Miller, was an African American entertainer, actor, lyricist, producer and playwright. It launched the careers of Josephine Baker, Adelaide Hall, [3] Florence Mills, Fredi Washington and Paul Robeson, and became such a hit that it caused "curtain time traffic jams" on West 63rd Street. [1] [2]. Shuffle Along Monday, March 11, 2013. A number of theatre companies are associated with the Harlem Renaissance. It opened in 1978, receiving positive reviews from Time, Newsweek, Variety, Backstage, and The Today Show. He appeared with Flournoy E. Miller as Miller and Lyles, a popular comedy duo, from 1905 until shortly before his death.
Her long career spanned more than 70 years from 1921 until her death and she was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Vanita Smythe: Unofficial Biography and Lyrics There has been multiple blogs dedicated to this lady, and a facebook page with likes that seem to grow each week. The piece premiered on Broadway in 1921, running for 504 performances – an unusually long run during that decade.

[5] [6] [10]. [20] Nevertheless, scholar James Haskins stated that Shuffle Along "started a whole new era for blacks on Broadway, as well as a whole new era for blacks in all creative fields."