After seven previews, the Broadway production, opened on September 20, 1978, at the Ambassador Theatre, where it ran for 439 performances. The show was conceived and directed by Julianne Boyd, choreographed by Billy Wilson and Henry LeTang, and costumed by Bernard Johnston. Vicki Carter was the musical director, pianist, and conductor. Lou Gonzalez was the sound designer. Eubie Blake was nearly 100 years of age when the show opened. An original cast recording was produced by Warner Brothers and released on vinyl 1979, and was later 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". Many of the songs were from the Blake-Sissle 1921 show Shuffle Along, which follows the story of two friends who are both running for mayor. 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". A few months after the show's opening on Broadway, the tour of Eubie! opened on February 7, 1979, in Baltimore.
Songs
Act I 1. "Good Night, Angeline", Europe and Sissle; Shuffle Along 2. "Charleston Rag" 3. "Shuffle Along", Sissle; Shuffle Along 4. "In Honeysuckle Time", Sissle; Shuffle Along 5. "I'm Just Wild About Harry", Sissle; Shuffle Along 6. "Baltimore Buzz", Sissle; Shuffle Along 7. "Daddy", Sissle; Shuffle Along 8. "There's a Million Little Cupids in the Sky", Sissle; The Chocolate Dandies 9. "I'm a Great Big Baby", Razaf; Tan Manhattan 10. "My Handy Man Ain't Handy No More", Razaf; Blackbirds of 1930 11. "Low Down Blues", Sissle; Shuffle Along 12. "Gee, I Wish I Had Someone to Rock Me in the Cradle of Love", Sissle 13. "I'm Just Simply Full of Jazz", Sissle; Shuffle Along Act II 14. "High Steppin' Days" 15. "Dixie Moon", Sissle; The Chocolate Dandies 16. "Weary", Razaf; Tan Manhattan 17. "Roll, Jordan", Razaf 18. "Memories of You", Razaf; Blackbirds of 1930 19. "If You've Never Been Vamped by a Brownskin, You've Never Been Vamped at All", Sissle; Shuffle Along 20. "You Got to Git the Gittin While the Gittin's Good", Miller 21. "Oriental Blues", Sissle; Shuffle Along 22. "I'm Craving for That Kind of Love" Sissle; Shuffle Along 23. "Hot Feet", Sissle 24. "Good Night, Angeline", Europe and Sissle; Shuffle Along
Cast
The original cast of Eubie! included an all-black cast consisting of 12 performers and nine musicians. The performers were Ethel Beatty, Terry Burrell, Leslie Dockery, Lynnie Godfrey, Gregory Hines, Maurice Hines, Mel Johnson Jr., Lonnie McNeil, Janet Powell, Marion Ramsey, Alaina Reed, Jeffery V. Thompson. Of these performers Gregory Hines and Lynnie Godfrey were nominated for awards for their performances in Eubie!
