SHUFFLE ALONG Makes Profit-Sharing Strides with Workshop Benefits

Following the news that HAMILTON's original stars will see a share of the blockbuster musical's takings, the company of Broadway's SHUFFLE ALONG has won profit-sharing participation of its own.

As previously reported, producers have recently started abandoning the practice of using an Equity workshop contract, which includes a flat rate for the workweek, benefits, right of first refusal to the actor's role, and a share of 1 percent of future royalties for 18 years.

Instead, they are turning to the developmental lab, which promises $1,000 per week but no right of refusal and no royalty guarantee.

But not so with Broadway's SHUFFLE ALONG. Actors Equity president Kate Shindle just took to Twitter to announce that producer Scott Rudin will treat SHUFFLE ALONG's pre-Broadway labs as workshops, with all the benefits intact:

The news comes just in time for SHUFFLE ALONG's opening tonight at Broadway's Music Box Theatre.

The re-imagined version of the 1921 musical SHUFFLE ALONG one of the earliest stage hits starring, written and directed by African-Americans, has a new book and is directed by George C. Wolfe, choreographed by Savion Glover, and stars six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, Tony Award winners Brian Stokes Mitchell and Billy Porter, and Tony Award nominees Brandon Victor Dixon and Joshua Henry, heading a cast of 34.

SHUFFLE ALONG includes music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations by Daryl Waters. The production features scenic design by Santo Loquasto, costume design by Ann Roth, sound design by Scott Lehrer, and lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer. Shelton Becton is Musical Director.

In May 1921, the new musical SHUFFLE ALONG became the unlikeliest of hits, significantly altering the face of the Broadway musical as well as that of New York City. By the time SHUFFLE ALONG stumbled into town after a back-breaking pre-Broadway tour, it was deeply in debt and set to open at a remote Broadway house on West 63rd Street. In a season full of spectacles, such as Sally - a Ziegfeld musical - and another edition of George White's Scandals, SHUFFLE ALONG's failure was almost a foregone conclusion. New York City was still in the throes of the Depression of 1920. And despite being celebrated vaudeville performers, Miller and Lyles and Sissle and Blake had never performed on Broadway, much less written a musical. But with an infectious jazz score and exuberant dancing, SHUFFLE ALONG ignited not just Broadway but all of New York City. George Gershwin, Fanny Brice, Al Jolson, Langston Hughes, and famed critic George Jean Nathan were among the many fans who repeatedly flocked to West 63rd Street to see a cast which - during its run of 504 performances - featured such incipient luminaries as Josephine Baker, Paul Robeson, Florence Mills, Fredi Washington, and Adelaide Hall. Because of SHUFFLE ALONG, Uptown and Downtown met and became one.

Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes