This is a rare January 31st, 1916 program (playbill) from the Vaudeville bill at the historic E. F. Albee Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island ..... On the current bill were MILLER and LYLES "Blackface Comedians" in "Forty Below" ..... Biography: Flournoy Eakin Miller (April 14th, 1885 – June 6th, 1971) and Aubrey Lee Lyles (January 8th, 1884 – July 28th, 1932) were probably the most influential Black comedians of their era. For some reason the name Bert Williams has endured while Miller and Lyles are somewhat forgotten. It’s probably due to the fact that Williams injected “pathos” into his routines, something which critics preferred over those comedians who were just pure funny. They were active from 1903 to 1934 and dominated throughout the 1910s and 1920s. Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles were huge stars in all-Black vaudeville and were among the only African-Americans to crossover into headliner status in white vaudeville. They also had tremendous success writing and performing sketch comedy revues on Broadway. In 1915, they appeared in Andre Charlot's production Charlot's Revue in England, and upon their return to the U.S. appeared with Abbie Mitchell in Darkydom, a musical with score by James Reese Europe that was the first major black musical comedy. For several years they continued to work together on the Keith vaudeville circuit, as well as writing and producing plays. In 1921 they presented Shuffle Along, a Broadway musical with music by Eubie Blake and lyrics by Noble Sissle. The show "set the style for more than a decade, inspiring many imitations," and showcased the song "I'm Just Wild About Harry". Miller and Lyles also starred in the show, as "Steve Jenkins" and "Sam Peck". Also in 1921, Orlando Kellum made a short film with Miller and Lyles performing their song "De Ducks" in Kellum's short-lived Photokinema sound-on-disc process. Shuffle Along ran in theatres until 1924. Between 1922 and 1925, Miller and Lyles also made a number of recordings for the OKeh label. The pair wrote a three-act play, The Flat Below, and Miller also wrote another play, Going White. Miller and Lyles continued to work together for several years writing and performing in Broadway shows including Runnin' Wild – one of the first shows to popularize the Charlesron, in 1923, with a score by James P. Johnson – Rang Tang (1927), which they co-directed; and Keep Shuffling (1928) which featured music by Fats Waller. They split up the act in 1928 but later reunited to perform on radio, and threatened to sue Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, writers and performers of the Amos 'n Andy radio show, for plagiarising their act. They also started to put together a new show, Shuffle Along of 1933. Lyles died in New York City in July 1932 of pulmonary tuberculosis, at the age of 48. Miller continued to work independently and was posthumously nominated for a Tony Award in 1979 for his contributions to musical theater, as described in Eubie!, based on the life of Eubie Blake. The book Reminiscing with Sissle and Blake by William Bolcom and Robert Kimball (Viking Press, 1973), tells the story of Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles's involvement with Shuffle Along. (Wikipedia) ..... Also on the vaudeville bill were the BALLIOT TRIO "An Innovation in Equilibristics"; LUCY BRUCH "The Little Gypsy Fiddler"; The Inetrnational Favorites JAMES F. KELLY and EMMA POLLOCK "Vaudeville Past and Present"; BERT LEVY "The International Artist-Entertainer"; WILLIAM SULLY and GENEVIEVE HOUGHTON in "Calf Love" by Andy Rice with Music by Jesse Greer; WILLIAM L. GIBSON and REGINA CONNELLI in Aaron Hoffman's new Comedy "The Honeymoon"; CRAIG CAMPBELL in Classical and Popular Ballads with Hector McCarthy at the Piano and BUD SNYDER - JOE MELINO CO. "Original Pantominists" ..... DETAILS: The sixteen page program measures 5 1/2" X 8" inches and includes the list of entertainers with performance credits, promotional text and wonderful vintage advertising, but no cast photos or bios ..... CONDITION: With the exception of rust marks at the staples, this rare program is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.