May 30, 2020

Episode 4: Eubie Blake & The African-Americans That Invented Broadway

Episode 4: Eubie Blake & The African-Americans That Invented Broadway

The 1920's begin to roar when Eubie Blake and many other brilliant black theater artists bring the Jazz Age to Broadway..

The 1920's brought the second great era of musicals that were written by, staged by, and starring African-American theater artists to Broadway. In this episode I profile these brilliant creators and stars including Eubie Blake & Noble Sissle, Flournoy Miller & Aurbry Lyles, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and their musicals -- "Shuffle Along", "Runnin' Wild", "Blackbirds of 1929", "Hot Chocolates" and more. It also includes a brief history of that great African-American/Irish-American co-creation -- Tap Dancing.

And featuring music by The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra -- for more music from this era check out their terrific "Black Manhattan" series of recordings.

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