"THE SCOTTBORO BOYS"
at the Lyceum Theater
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The most ambitious, challenging, and affecting show I've seen on Broadway this year--that's The Scottsboro Boys. I love the score by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the libretto by David Thompson and the direction/choreography by Susan Stroman. They have musicalized the real-life story of the Scottsboro Boys—nine black males unjustly charged with raping two white women in Alabama in 1931—and they expose the racism of the events while ironically using the conventions of an old-time minstrel show. From the high-spirited opening with cast members marching in from the back of the house—promising to put on a fun show—to the startling finale, this show grabbed me. And the cast, from youngest to oldest, is quite strong.
The senior member of the cast, John Cullum, gives a brilliant performance as the troupe's smarmy by shoewmanly l Interlocutor. He rwally holds the stage. Brandon Victor Dixon brings dignity and strength to the central role of Haywood Patterson. Sean Bradford and Christian Dante White portray the two women who concocted the charges of rape.
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The Scottsboro Boys was one of four shows that Kander & Ebb were working on when Ebb passed away in 2004, and it's an important work. I fear, however, that it may well prove to be too confrontational for mainstream tastes. It is not your typical Broadway "feel good" musical. It is a heavy show. But it provokes us, while entertaining us, in a way that is rare and wonderful.
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The company has just recorded a cast album. So even if the show does not make it right now, as a commercial success, at least the score has been documented.
What will be the show's future? My hunch is that adventurous regional theaters will want to try this show. But I suspect it will be too abrasive for much of the current Broadway audiences. It's a significant show, and I like it a lot. But I just can't see the tourists who flock to mindless musicals like "Mama Mia" turning out in droves to see this indictment of racism.
-- L. D.
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