The Boys Are Back In Town
The road's been long, not the least of which is because Ebb died over six years ago on September 11, 2004. Circuitous, because after enjoying a sold-out world premiere engagement earlier this year at New York City's
Vineyard Theatre, the tuner was taken out of town for a real honest-to-goodness tryout in Minneapolis.
Just two months ago yesterday, I was extraordinarily fortunate to see the
show on its opening night at the Twin Cities' prestigious
Guthrie. I was
pretty much blown away by
Susan Stroman's inventive direction, her sterling cast (most of whom are coming to Broadway) and Kander and Ebb's evocative score. That's quite a feat to behold considering that it's based on the true Depression-era story of nine African-Americans falsely accused of rape in the Deep South.
Not only does the official Web site for
The Scottsboro Boys offer up an
excellent history of the show's namesakes, but it also
describes the show as follows:
The Scottsboro Boys is the thrilling final collaboration by musical theatre giants John Kander and Fred Ebb (Chicago, Cabaret). This critically-acclaimed production comes to Broadway following a sold-out run at the Vineyard Theatre.
Directed by 5-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers) and featuring a book by David Thompson (who adapted the script for Chicago's record-breaking revival), this daring and wildly entertaining musical explores a fascinating chapter in American history with arresting originality. The show is based on the notorious "Scottsboro" case in the 1930s, in which 9 African-American men were unjustly accused of a terrible crime.
Their shocking and inspiring story - told though a mix of innovative staging and piercing new songs -- demands to be shared. So gather 'round... and join The Scottsboro Boys on their remarkable journey.
Nearly every other actor I saw at the Guthrie will be joining
John Cullum on Broadway (Cullum created the role of the Interlocutor at the Vineyard, but skipped Minneapolis.) They include
Colman Domingo as Mr. Bones,
Forrest McClendon as Mr. Tambo,
Sharon Washington as the Lady, and as
The Scottsboro Boys:
James T. Lane (replacing and
Sean Bradford as Ozie Powell),
Josh Breckenridge (Olen Montgomery),
Derrick Cobey (Andy Wright),
Joshua Henry (Haywood Patterson),
Rodney Hicks (Clarence Norris),
Kendrick Jones (Willie Roberson),
Julius Thomas III (Roy Wright),
Christian Dante White (Charles Weems) and
Jeremy Gumbs (Eugene Williams).
If I hadn't already seen
The Scottsboro Boys in August, this most certainly would have ranked as my personal pick in the poll question I've asked
here. But make no mistake, I'll most definitely be making a point to see
The Scottsboro Boys once again after it opens October 31.
The Scottsboro Boys may very well be
the most important new musical opening all season.
This is
Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Broadway, Colman Domingo, David Thompson, Forrest McClendon, Fred Ebb, John Cullum, John Kander, Joshua Henry, Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys
The Scottsboro Boys (The SOB Review) - McGuire Proscenium Stage, Guthrie, Minneapolis, Minnesota***1/2 (out of ****)Last evening,
The Scottsboro Boys' pre-
Broadway trial run at Minneapolis'
Guthrie opened, and I was there to witness it.
With no defense necessary, my verdict was easily reached.
The Scottsboro Boys is sensational in virtually every way.
What makes this
Susan Stroman-helmed tuner particularly noteworthy is its very production marks the final yet ultimately sanguine collaboration between one of the most durable duos in musical theatre history:
John Kander and the late
Fred Ebb, who passed away nearly six years ago. Through the culmination of
The Scottsboro Boys, Kander and Ebb's prolific, unmistakable scores now stretch nearly 50 years.
Their magnificent musical is based on an
actual cause célèbre surrounding the outrageous injustices endured by nine African-Americans, who were falsely accused of gang-raping two white women in a deeply prejudiced Alabama during the Great Depression. As guilty verdict after guilty verdict was thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court, the nine remained behind bars for years continuing to profess their innocence.
Proving once and for all that
fact is far stranger and usually much more compelling than fiction, librettist
David Thompson wisely hews his book quite close to what actually transpired, giving a plausible air of verisimilitude to the story. The liberties he does take serve to move the story along.
Additionally, Thompson -- along with Kander and Ebb's ingeniously sly score -- beats those lingering racist underpinnings left within our society at its own game by cleverly employing
minstrel show devices to frame the story. In the hands of any less skilled director than Stroman, the effect could easily fall flat.
Stroman exceptionally executes this production frequently employing her creative choreography to brilliantly underscore the proceedings. Witness how she's creatively conceived "Electric Chair," using jolting humor to make a point. To say the least, it's one of many electrifying passages in the show's progression.
The thoroughly excellent cast prosecutes their roles with a spine-tingling sense of mischievous daring and danger. Without exception, they are in a word superb.
In an ironic about-face, the equally phenomenal
Colman Domingo and
Forrest McClendon each effectively put on a white face to portray a dizzying array of characters ranging from sheriff and deputy to lawyers and guards. As the lone white actor in the production, a fine
David Anthony Brinkley presides as the Interlocutor, as well as judge and Alabama governor (Brinkley will be replaced on Broadway by
John Collum, who originated those roles earlier this year at New York's
Vineyard Theatre).
Each of the nine Scottsboro Boys is expertly prosecuted by
Sean Bradford as Ozie Powell,
Josh Breckenridge as Olen Montgomery,
Derrick Cobey as Andy Wright,
Jeremy Gumbs as Eugene Williams,
Joshua Henry as Haywood Patterson,
Rodney Hicks as Clarence Norris,
Kendrick Jones as Willie Roberson,
Julius Thomas III as Roy Wright, and
Christian Dante White as Charles Weems. All have individual personality to spare -- and in the case of Bradford and White, quite literally, as they portray accusors Ruby and Victoria with aplomb.
When the nine first bound onto the stage in saltation through the rousing "Minstrel March" (which seamlessly segues into the devilishly deceptive "Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey!"), they're imbuing their characters with all the dashed hopes and dreams they describe shortly after in the gorgeous, Gospel-tinged "Commencing In Chattanooga." But from their crowded cell, when Thompson's libretto astutely gives way to the stark reality inherent in Alabama's rat-infested jails and prisons, each actor comes into his own.
Ultimately it's Joshua Henry's extraordinary turn as the illiterate, truth-telling
Haywood Patterson that thrills. Henry astonishes in the minstrelsy "Nothin'" as he flawlessly maneuvers back and forth between a genuinely-delivered sulking, seething animosity toward being unjustly accused and a crafty caricature of the shameful
blackface personna that's long since been discredited. His soaring, yet heartbreaking "You Can't Do Me" vanquishes over adversity, even if he's left to rot in jail.
Adroitly and satisfyingly concluding with a poignant depiction of a much more prominent historical event, nimbly offered by
Sharon Washington as The Lady, the overall result is spellbinding.
I can testify that as gutwrenching, outrageous and absolutely beautiful as this musical is,
The Scottsboro Boys is nothing short of an ironic triumph over evil. It will surely become a must-see on Broadway, and to that I'll confidently swear.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post. Labels: Colman Domingo, David Thompson, Forrest McClendon, Fred Ebb, Guthrie, John Kander, Joshua Henry, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Musical, Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys, The SOB Review
The Boys Are Back In Town
