SHUFFLE ALONG Settles Dispute With Insurer Over Premature Closing

The producers of Broadway's Shuffle Along... and Lloyd's of London have dropped a four-year lawsuit disputing the cause of the show's premature closing.

In 2016, the production cited the unexpected pregnancy of the show's star, Audra McDonald, as the reason for its abrupt closure.

Since then, the show's lead producer, Scott Rudin and the insurer have been locked in a legal battle over whether the star's pregnancy qualified as an "accident" or "illness",

In order for the production to qualify for coverage of upwards of $12 million in losses, its full capitalization costs, McDonald's pregnancy would have to fall under the show's policy covering "accident or illness".

Lloyd's of London has denied coverage stating that McDonald's pregnancy qualified as neither, rendering the show ineligible for a pay out.

After four years of deliberations, the two parties today filed a joint stipulation of one paragraph rendering the case "discontinued."

Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed opened to critical acclaim in 2016 and received ten Tony Award nominations including a nod for Best Musical.

The new production presented the 1921 musical alongside of the events that catalyzed the songwriting team of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, and librettists F.E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles to create the original ground-breaking work.