[2] Beginning its inaugural run either in Chicago[3] with Johnson as a principal performer, accompanied by Marjorie Sipp and The Plantation Four, among many others or in New York,[2] it was staged by Leonard Harper (who also performed in the revue with his wife, Osceola Blanks),[2] and featured acts by Eddie Green, The Crackerjacks,[4] and The Three Eddies, among others.
[2] However, a court order forced the show to drop three of its most popular numbers, by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, which had been pirated from their successful Shuffle Along (1921).
[2] The show, minus the three numbers, eventually opened at the Lafayette just over a month later,[2] with Sam Wooding's orchestra.
[2] Following its run at the Lafayette, the show moved to London, where it was initially integrated, as a 12-minute segment, into Gershwin's The Rainbow, which opened at the Empire Theatre in April 1923,[2] brought over by the British promoter Albert de Courville.
[5] Although Ethel Waters had originally been approached by Greenwald for the London run,[2] she actually joined the company in Chicago in August 1923, as an "extra added attraction" to "save the fast-flopping revue".