When Broadway Was Black: The Triumphant Story of the All-Black Musical that Changed the World Spiral-Bound | February 7, 2023

Caseen Gaines

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A powerful and captivating story of the men and women who brought Blackness to Broadway

For readers of Hidden Figures and Something Wonderful, When Broadway Was Black is the story of New York in the roaring twenties and the first Broadway show with an all-Black cast and creative team to achieve success—and its impact on our popular culture.

Amidst a culture actively whitewashing, controlling, or trying to prevent their stories from being told, these artists changed the course of American entertainment. This groundbreaking group of performers and the creators (including 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, ultimately leading to productions such as West Side Story, Black Panther, and of course, Hamilton.

Publisher: Sourcebooks
Original Binding: Trade Paperback
Pages: 512 pages
ISBN-10: 1728259398
Item Weight: 1.2 lbs
Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.3 x 8.3 inches
"In this well-researched compilation of behind-the-scenes stories and background, pop culture historian Gaines (Inside Pee-Wee’s Playhouse) celebrates the 100th anniversary of the original staging of the all-Black musical comedy Shuffle Along... Gaines persuasively argues that these four men shouldn’t be relegated to the footnotes of history, as their work resulted in monumental gains for many Black performers. Theater buffs and students of Black history will be pleased by this cogent defense of Shuffle Along." — Library Journal

Author and journalist CASEEN GAINES has written for Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and New York magazine. He holds an MA from Rutgers in American Studies, focusing on racial representations in popular culture.