''Eubie!'' is a
revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...
featuring the jazz and ragtime music of composer
Eubie Blake
James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. Blake began his career in 1912, and during World War I he worked in partnership with the singer, drum ...
, with
lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...
by
Noble Sissle
Noble Lee Sissle (July 10, 1889 – December 17, 1975) 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".
Ea ...
,
Andy Razaf
Andy Razaf (born Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo; December 16, 1895 – February 3, 1973) was the American lyricist of such well-known songs as " Ain't Misbehavin'" and " Honeysuckle Rose". He was also a composer, poet and vocalist.
Biograph ...
,
Johnny Brandon
Johnny Brandon (16 July 1925 – 26 July 2017) was an English singer and songwriter, popular during the 1950s, who recorded for a number of labels. His perennial backing group was known as The Phantoms. His early hits included "Tomorrow" and "Don ...
,
F. E. Miller, and
Jim Europe. The revue features no book, simply showcasing 23 of Eubie Blake's popular songs. The show was conceived by
Julianne Boyd and opened in 1978, receiving positive reviews from ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'', ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', ''
Backstage
Backstage may refer to:
* Backstage (theatre), the areas of a theatre that are not part of the house or stage
Film and television
* ''Back Stage'' (1917 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy
* ''Back Stage'' (1919 film), a silent film starri ...
'', and ''
The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...
''.
[Al Rose, ''Eubie Blake'' (New York: Schirmer Books, 1979), 166–167.][Hobe, "Legitimate: Shows on Broadway – Eubie", ''Variety'' 292/8 (1978), 96.][Sherry Eaker, "Eubie!" ''Backstage'' 39/20 (1979), 50.]
Production
After seven previews, the
Broadway production, opened on September 20, 1978, at the
Ambassador Theatre, where it ran for 439 performances. The show was conceived and directed by
Julianne Boyd, choreographed by Billy Wilson and
Henry LeTang, and costumed by Bernard Johnston. Vicki Carter was the musical director, pianist, and conductor. Lou Gonzalez was the sound designer.
Eubie Blake himself was nearly 100 years of age when the show opened.
The theater setting was designed to be reminiscent of the 1920s, with "curlicued settings, dancers diving down a staircase in a pie-shaped wedge, a girl in a mantilla with a Spanish rose in her teeth". Many of the songs were from the Blake-Sissle 1921 show ''
Shuffle Along
''Shuffle Along'' is a musical composed by Eubie Blake, with lyrics by Noble Sissle and a book written by the comedy duo Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles. One of the most notable all-Black hit Broadway shows, it was a landmark in African-Amer ...
,'' which follows the story of two friends who are both running for mayor''.'' Among the songs were "Charleston Rag", "Daddy", "My Handyman Ain't Handy No More", "Gee, I Wish I Had Someone to Rock Me in the Cradle of Love", and "There's a Million Little Cupids in the Sky" (from the 1924 Blake-Sissle show ''The Chocolate Dandies'').
A few months after the show's opening on Broadway, the tour of ''Eubie!'' opened on February 7, 1979, in Baltimore.
An original cast recording was produced by
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
and released on vinyl in 1979, and was later released on CD.
The production was filmed in 1981; it was
Gregory Hines
Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...
TV debut.
The
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
noted that the show's pre-Broadway costs ran $236,000 over budget, and that despite the show's 65-week Broadway run, it “never paid backers a penny of their $350,000 investment.”
Songs
Act I
1. "Good Night, Angeline" (1917), Europe and Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
2. "Charleston Rag" (1899)
3. "Shuffle Along" (1921), Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
4. "In Honeysuckle Time" (1921), Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
5. "
I'm Just Wild About Harry
"I'm Just Wild About Harry" is a song written in 1921 with lyrics by Noble Sissle and music by Eubie Blake for the Broadway show '' Shuffle Along''.
"I'm Just Wild About Harry" was the most popular number of the production, which was the first f ...
" (1921), Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
6. "Baltimore Buzz" (1921), Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
7. "Daddy" (1921), Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
8. "There's a Million Little Cupids in the Sky" (1924), Sissle; ''The Chocolate Dandies''
9. "I'm a Great Big Baby" (1940), Razaf; ''Tan Manhattan''
10. "My Handy Man Ain't Handy No More" (1930), Razaf; ''Blackbirds of 1930''
11. "Low Down Blues" (1921), Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
12. "Gee, I Wish I Had Someone to Rock Me in the Cradle of Love" (1919), Sissle
13. "I'm Just Simply Full of Jazz" (1919), Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
Act II
14. "High Steppin' Days" (1921)
15. "Dixie Moon" (1924), Sissle; ''The Chocolate Dandies''
16. "Weary" (1940), Razaf; ''Tan Manhattan''
17. "Roll, Jordan" (1930), Razaf
18. "
Memories of You
"Memories of You" is a popular song about nostalgia with lyrics written by Andy Razaf and music composed by Eubie Blake and published in 1930.
Song history
The song was introduced by singer Minto Cato in the Broadway show '' Lew Leslie's Bl ...
" (1930), Razaf; ''Blackbirds of 1930''
19. "If You've Never Been Vamped by a Brownskin, You've Never Been Vamped at All" (1921), Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
20. "You Got to Git the Gittin While the Gittin's Good" (1956), Miller
21. "Oriental Blues" (1921), Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
22. "I'm Craving for That Kind of Love" (1921) Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
23. "Hot Feet" (1958), Sissle
24. "Good Night, Angeline" (1917), Europe and Sissle; ''Shuffle Along''
[Al Rose, Eubie Blake (New York: Schirmer Books, 1979), 168-173.]
Cast
The original cast of ''Eubie!'' included an all-black cast consisting of 12 performers and nine musicians. The performers were Ethel Beatty, Terry Burrell, Leslie Dockery, Lynnie Godfrey,
Gregory Hines
Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...
,
Maurice Hines, Mel Johnson Jr., Lonnie McNeil, Janet Powell,
Marion Ramsey, Alaina Reed, Jeffery V. Thompson.
Of these performers Gregory Hines and Lynnie Godfrey were nominated for awards for their performances in ''Eubie!''
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
References
External links
*{{ibdb title, id=4068, title=Eubie!
''Eubie!''at the Music Theatre International website
1978 musicals
Broadway musicals
Revues