FOOTNOTES The Black Artists Who Rewrote the Rules of the Great White Way

One hundred years ago, the first all-Black musical, SHUFFLE ALONG, changed the Great White Way forever. Author/narrator Caseen Gaines offers this fascinating, well-researched history of the struggles of Black actors and others who changed the face of Broadway. Gaines delivers first-rate performances of the anecdotes recounted by Black entertainers Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake, Flournoy Miller, and Aubrey Lyles and explains their positive influence on Black culture. In the early 1900s, Black actors were expected to play buffoonish characters in blackface. Sissle, Blake, Flournoy, and Lyles combined their talents to write SHUFFLE ALONG, a political satire in which Black actors portrayed non-stereotypical characters. How would white audiences respond to an all-Black musical? Gaines's narration brings both the period and the people to life. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2021]