If Hamilton, Rent, or West Side Story captured your heart, you’ll love this in-depth look into the rise of the 1921 Broadway hit Shuffle Along, the first all-Black musical to succeed on Broadway.
No one was sure if America was ready for a show featuring nuanced, thoughtful portrayals of Black characters―and the potential fallout was terrifying. But from the first jazzy, syncopated beats of composers Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, New York audiences fell head over heels.
When Broadway Was Black is the story of how Sissle and Blake, along with comedians Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles, overcame poverty, racism, and violence to harness the energy of the Harlem Renaissance and produce a runaway Broadway hit that launched the careers of many of the twentieth century’s most beloved Black performers. Born in the shadow of slavery and establishing their careers at a time of increasing demands for racial justice and representation for people of color, they broke down innumerable barriers between Black and white communities at a crucial point in our history.
Author and pop culture expert Caseen Gaines leads readers through the glitz and glamour of New York City during the roaring twenties to reveal the revolutionary impact one show had on generations of Americans and how its legacy continues to resonate today.
For readers of Hidden Figures and Something Wonderful, Footnotes is the story of New York in the roaring twenties and the very first Broadway show with an all-Black cast and creative team to succeed?and the indelible mark left on our popular culture.
These pioneering performers and the creators (composer Eubie Blake and lyricist Noble Sissle) sowed the seeds of the Harlem jazz scene and paved the way for people of color on stage and screen with West Side Story, Black Panther, and of course, Hamilton. Importantly, this audiobook illuminates the ways in which Black people in America have attained success amidst a culture actively whitewashing, controlling, or completely preventing their stories from being told.
Long before Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled through time in a flying DeLorean, director Robert Zemeckis, and his friend and writing partner Bob Gale, worked tirelessly to break into the industry with a hit.
For the first time ever, the story of how these two young filmmakers struck lightning is being told by those who witnessed it. We Don
