
BY TAMARA BECK
What happened to The Scottsboro Boys?
They were a cause celebre for many years after their arrest in 1931. These nine young Negroes were convicted repeatedly in a series of trials and appeals for a rape that never happened. Four of them were so young (one was not yet 13) that they were eventually released after six years in jail because of their age at the time of the incident.

This is not a frivolous musical and its minstrel show framework is not a frivolous choice. (http://scottsboromusical.com/video.html )
Minstrel shows were the vaudeville of the Reconstruction Era. White men in black face, and later black men in black face, pined for the Old South in sentimental song and dance. “The Scottsboro Boys” replaces the sentimentality and nostalgia with raw and poignant truth. Only JC’s Interlocutor, the ringmaster of our entertainment, wants “ev’rybody to dance a cakewalk.”

Some of the characters in “The Scottsboro Boys” take on several roles. For instance in addition to Interlocutor, two-time Tony winner JC is Judge and Governor of Alabama. All the white characters except JC are played by the black men in the cast. Christian Dante White and James T. Lane double as Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, respectively – the two who accuse the boys of rape – as well as two of the boys, Charles Weems and Ozie Powell.
Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Susan Stroman helms the production. In “Commencing in Chattanooga” the music and minimalist choreography simulate the lurching freight car carrying the boys, each to a brighter prospect. Their future hopes are soon dashed when the Scottsboro, Alabama police raid the train to quiet a disturbance. The police find Ruby and Victoria, two “Alabama ladies,” who concoct a story of a gang rape to avoid incarceration for prostitution and vagrancy.
Elements of other Kander and Ebb (the latter died in 2004) collaborations are detectable here and there. “Nothing” sung by the strong Joshua Henry (Haywood Patterson), for example, is reminiscent of “Mister Cellophane” from “Chicago.”
Among the fine cast – many of the performers originated their roles last year in the production at the Vineyard Theatre – Forrest McClendon stands out.

“The Scottsboro Boys” is a dark musical based on a dark reality; it aims to tell an ugly truth in an entertaining and understated way. It achieves this by stirring our passion and compassion and engaging us in history.
Visit http://scottsboromusical.com/index.html for tickets, show times and general information about “Scottsboro Boys.”
Tamara Beck is President, Clean Lists Associates, Inc, an association management firm. And an avid theater-goer.
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