Posted by | Ray Cornelius
A big CONGRATULATION goes out to Tony winning-actors Billy Porter and Brian Stokes Mitchell. They will be joining six-time Tony winning actress Audra McDonald in George C. Wolfe’s new epic musical, “Shuffle Along or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and all that followed.” Also joining the show is “MOTOWN: The Musical” actor, Brandon Victor and Drama Desk Award winner, Joshua Henry.
As previously reported, “Shuffle Along…” chronicles the debut of the ground-breaking 1921 musical written by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle along with librettists F.E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles. The show followed a tight race between two mayoral candidates in a small southern town and featured such legendary entertainers such as Josephine Baker, Adelaide Hall, Florence Mills, and Paul Robeson.
According to BroadwayWorld.com, McDonald will play the show’s original star, Lottie Gee while Stokes and Porter will portray the show’s book writers, Miller and Lyles. Victor and Henry will star as the songwriting team of Blake and Sissle. Tap dance king, Savion Glover, will serve as the new show’s choreographer. Previews begin March 14 and opening night is scheduled for April 21, 2016.
Check out a clip below of the late Eubie Blake performing songs in 1972 Berlin:
[youtube id=”21SMdsr-i78″ width=”600″ height=”350″]
Stay tuned…
Photo Credit: TheaterMania.com
