I went to Shuffle Along Friday night and I had a ball. Nothing about the show seemed aimed at tourists–Yureka time! That said, anyone from anywhere could “get” it. I felt a bit like I did as a kid when my ex-vaudevillean grandmother took me to Broadway musicals.
The show deftly uses techniques of old vaudeville and revue to tell the narrative of the original production’s creation and creators. The dancing is fabulous. It was a treat indeed to see numbers drawn from the old steps performed by dancers who are so much more trained than the cuties of many-a-yesteryear ago.
And at the lovely old and intimate Music Box. I could have sworn I heard a faint echo of Marilyn Miller and Clifton Webb leading “Easter Parade” there in 1933. . .