[1] Original music, including the title theme song "Bubbling Brown Sugar," was composed by pianist Emme Kemp, a protégé of the legendary Eubie Blake.
The ensemble (composed of GENE, MARSHA, BILL, TONY, NORMA, LAURA, SKIP, RAY, and HELEN) greets IRENE PAIGE, who is out searching for her old partner, JOHN SAGE.
Irene explains that when they were younger, she pursued a career doing "downtown shows" in lieu of helping Sage build up new theatre venues in Harlem.
It is revealed that, in their younger days, Sage and Checkers would take white people on tours of Harlem, though Irene insists the former never got his facts straight and the latter would always get the group lost.
Sage offers to take Jim and Ella on a tour "through space and time", invoking an old Legend of Harlem that asserts you can travel to the past by looking into the setting sun's last ray of light.
Sage is excited to see a white performer named JUDY CANTRELL but is put off by the waiter, who initially tries to deny them service before overcharging for drinks.
As the group begins to make their way to the Savoy, Irene is confronted by DUTCH, the gangster who convinced her to perform at the Cotton Club when she was a younger woman.
Jim and Ella are invited to attend a House Rent Party, at which the latter performs a song to secure their admission and access to food.