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A Verdict
Review of The Scottsboro Boys
Coleman Domingo stars in The Scottsboro Boys
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Composer and lyricist team John Kander and Fred Ebb have made it their duty to take dauntingly dark subject matter and spin it into pure, magically entertaining musicals. They spun their web over Nazi Germany in Cabaret and grisly murder in Chicago and Curtains. They’ve done it again with this year’s The Scottsboro Boys.
What is most wonderful and unusual about this production is that it is constructed and performed exactly like a minstrel show from the early 20th Century. This means that most of the roles are portrayed by African-American men, even if they’re meant to be female. That men play the roles only serves as an equalizer of sorts; after all, the story is about men. It also highlights the inherent racism that serves as a strong theme in the musical. With a story that takes place in 1930’s Alabama, the marked minstrelsy taking place on stage serves as a blatant reminder of the (modern) historical mistreatment of African-Americans. On a train from Chattanooga, Tennessee, nine black men, several of them teenagers, are accused of raping two white women. These nine find themselves on trial and quite literally fighting for their lives in the prejudiced South.
The plot unfolds at a slower pace than most musicals, but the onstage energy is downright frenetic, the musical equivalent of a roller coaster. Susan Stroman’s choreography is expressive, charged and vital to the story; there is a lot of organization to the chaos on the stage. As a change of pace, rare lulls in the action allow the audience to watch the nine convicts, who were merely boys, become men. This joyful and painful reality makes it evident that a minstrel show theme is in place for another important reason: The Scottsboro Boys are playing out scenes written for them by white society.
Kander and Ebb’s peerless musical versatility will make watching any one of their productions a good time. A universally talented and exuberant cast renders anything but pure entertainment nearly illegal. If one expects to see The Scottsboro Boys and become more socially aware, they will have their expectations exceeded. However, if one expects to leave The Scottsboro Boys laughing and feeling uplifted, they might be disappointed. After all, when the music stops, all that remains is the damning and always pertinent truth of the story: once upon a time, injustice was served upon nine undeserving young men simply because of the color of their skin. After seeing this production, you may craft a new definition of justice.
The Scottsboro Boys runs through March 21, 2010. For tickets and more information, call the Vineyard Theatre box office at 212-353-0303 or visit www.vineyardtheatre.org