Shuffling On
This chapter discusses the aftermath of the success of Shuffle Along; Eubie’s ten-year relationship with lead actress Lottie Gee and the strains it put on his marriage and his partnership with Sissle; and the first touring companies. It also describes how Josephine Baker joined the main company in Boston and made a success as a comic chorus girl and the troupe’s grand reception in Chicago after their successful Boston run. Furthermore, the chapter examines white critics’ discomfort with the success enjoyed by the show’s writers and their concerns about black actors breaking from stereotypical roles; Blake’s triumphant return to Baltimore and his mother’s continuing disapproval of his secular career; Sissle and Blake’s recordings for Victor Records; growing tensions with Miller and Lyles that led to a breakup of their partnership; and how Sissle and Blake’s next show, In Bamville, hit the road to mixed receptions.