Eubie!

Eubie!
Music Eubie Blake
Lyrics Noble Sissle
Andy Razaf
Johnny Brandon
F. E. Miller
Jim Europe
Book Revue
Productions 1978 Broadway

Eubie! is a revue featuring the music of Eubie Blake, with lyrics by Noble Sissle, Andy Razaf, Johnny Brandon, F. E. Miller, and Jim Europe.

Production

After seven previews, the Broadway production, conceived and directed by Julianne Boyd and choreographed by Billy Wilson and Henry LeTang, opened on September 20, 1978 at the Ambassador Theatre, where it ran for 439 performances. The cast included Alaina Reed, Lynnie Godfrey, and the Hines brothers, Gregory and Maurice. An original cast recording was released in 1979, but has not been released on CD.

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".[1] Many of the songs were from the Blake-Sissle 1921 show Shuffle Along. 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 Blake-Sissle show "The Chocolate Dandies).[2]

Songs

Prologue
  • Goodnight Angeline
  • Charleston Rag
Act 1
  • Shuffle Along
  • In Honeysuckle Time
  • I'm Just Wild About Harry
  • Baltimore Buzz (Mime Staged by Dana Manno)
  • Daddy (Won't You Please Come Home) (Musical Staging by Julianne Boyd)
  • There's a Million Little Cupids in the Sky
  • I'm a Great Big Baby (Lyrics By Andy Razaf)
  • My Handyman Ain't Handy Anymore (Lyrics By Andy Razaf)
  • Low Down Blues
  • Gee, I Wish I Had Someone to Rock Me in the Cradle of Love (Duet Arrangement by Vicki Carter)
  • I'm Just Simply Full of Jazz
Act 2
  • High Steppin' Days (Lyrics By Johnny Brandon)
  • Dixie Moon
  • Weary (Lyrics By Andy Razaf)(Vocal arrangement by Chapman Roberts)
  • Roll Jordan (Lyrics By Andy Razaf)(Vocal arrangement by Chapman Roberts)
  • Memories of You (Lyrics By Andy Razaf
  • If You've Never Been Vamped by a Brownskin, You've Never Been Vamped at All
  • You Got to Git the Gittin While the Gittin's Good (Lyrics By F. E. Miller)
  • Oriental Blues
  • I'm Craving for That Kind of Love (Musical Staging by Julianne Boyd)
  • Hot Feet
  • Goodnight Angeline

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

Year Award Category Nominee Result
1979 Tony Award Best Original Score Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, Andy Razafe, F.E. Miller, Johnny Brandon and Jim Europe Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Gregory Hines Nominated
Best Choreography Billy Wilson and Henry LeTang Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Musical Nominated
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Lynnie Godfrey Nominated
Outstanding Choreography Billy Wilson and Henry LeTang Nominated
Theatre World Award Gregory Hines Won

References

  1. ↑ Kerr, Walter. "Arts, mini-review", The New York Times, November 6, 1978, p. 54
  2. ↑ Kroll, Jack. "Wild About Eubie", Newsweek, October 2, 1978

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, January 24, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.