Category — Scottsboro Boys

Taken from: http://bbbblogger.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/step-right-up-and-meet-the-scottsboro-boys/

I think it was no accident that the first thing to catch my eye upon reaching my seat for the performance of The Scottsboro Boys was a messy mountain of chairs. Some were upside down, some protruding out of the pile, I was confused as to why the set was this way and scared that they would all fall over. This fear ended up sticking with me throughout the entire play. The overly simplistic set was meant for viewers to pay more attention to the acting, but I think it had the opposite effect on me. I was on the edge of my seat when two or three chairs served as the only base for a train made of a wooden plank, hoping that it would support their weight when they jumped and shook the plank. The chairs served multiple different functions and were the only prop to make a jail cell, a solitary confinement box, a courtroom, a bus stop, and a train. Yet I could not forget that they were chairs, and was astounded when the sets did not fall apart the more they were interacted with by the characters. One example that comes to mind is when one of the boys vehemently shakes an upside down chair resting on a right side up chair as an attempt to open the door, I could not believe that the chairs went back to their original position and did not fall over.

Seating arrangements aside, I appreciated the performance because of the pure talent of the actors and the vision behind it. It was an interesting choice to make all but one cast member black, and some black actors dress as white lawyers or white women; I liked that it stayed true to the minstrel tradition. It also gave a subtle but important message of how the racism that prevailed in these times is fundamentally stupid and the  cast members showed that we’re all really the same regardless of color. The mostly upbeat feel of the play and the accompanying songs made this serious and awkward topic much more bearable and easy to watch and talk about. Given the context of the very sad story about the 9 boys who were imprisoned under a false accusation of the rape of two white woman, one would never expect to be smiling, laughing, and watching a magnificant lightshow and dancing that happened during the electric chair song. It was an unexpected but warmly welcome surprise. The characters of Mr. Bones and Mr. Tambo waddled around stage and spoke so ridiculously that you couldn’t  help but laugh at them. Their inadequacies also showed the fallacies in the concept of white supremacy, as the Scottsboro boys were portrayed as much more thoughtful and smarter. Haywood’s character was seen the most of a 9 boys, and I think he did an excellent job at representing them all when speaking of the injustices he was being faced with.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/03/11/alg_scottsboro_boys.jpg

In the early 1900s, racism was a looming issue in the South. African Americans were segregated from the Whites and were treated very differently. As a controversial issue in the past and still sometimes in the present, many people have been reluctant to bring up the issue in such a public way. Sure, there are textbooks that have sections we must read in history class that talk about the Jim Crow laws and segregation in the 1900s, but these little excerpts from the textbooks do not capture the issue of racism the way The Scottsboro Boys did. Some people find racism a difficult topic to talk about, but Susan Stroman’s directing made it both informative and enjoyable to viewers.

Ironically enough, for a time period when Whites dominated the South, there was only one White male, John Cullum in the cast who played the roles of interlocutor and the judge and governor of Alabama. The rest of the cast was all African American men and a single African American woman. The musical starts off with a minstrel show form of entertainment, with the bright, blinking lights and the characters dancing around ready to show the audience a good time. John Cullum reminds the viewers that this is a serious subject matter they are about to dive into and tells the audience to brace themselves for a journey back to the time when nine Black men were accused of raping two white women on a Southern Railway line going from Chattanooga to Memphis, Tennessee.

Throughout the play, Mr. Bones and Mr. Tambo, played by Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon, present a comic relief that is much needed considering the topic that is presented in the musical. With exaggerated accents and unnatural waddling around the stage, these characters present a type of irony for viewers; played by two African American men, these White characters are presented more as clowns than authoritative figures.

Ken Billington, the man behind the lighting design, did a fantastic job with manipulating different colored lights to parallel the mood of each scene. From the sunset shades during the “Commencing in Chattanooga” musical number, to the special bar filter to replicate the light coming in from barred windows in a jail cell, Billington made every scene credible and realistic. The use of simple every-day objects such as chairs and wooden planks were a clever addition to staying thrifty while encouraging the audience to expand their imagination to visualize the train cars, the jail cell, and the judge’s podium, just to name a few.

What I found most fascinating was the Lady that was in the background of the entire musical. From the start of the musical, we see a woman sitting down as the sounds of cars pass by and think she is a mere prop to what is to come later in the musical. However, she remains in every scene, silently watching and standing around, making expressions of shock, sadness, and sympathy for these nine men. Stroman did an excellent job tying her into the story at the very end with the diary written by one of the Scottsboro Boys. At the end of the musical, Stroman reveals to us that the Lady is actually Rosa Parks, inspired by the history written in that diary to stand up to the White bus driver who tells her to move to the back of the bus. The cast and the people responsible for making the musical such a success deserves high praise for both entertaining and informing the audience of the past in the 1930s.

http://www.deepsouthmag.com/?p=2220

Knowing the plot of Scottsboro Boys, I was not expecting the energy and humor the show started off with. The sad story of nine innocent black men in Alabama being accused of raping two white women suggested a somber performance to come. However, the show opened up with two men dressed in frivolous red suits, who revealed themselves to be minstrel men. They were soon joined by the nine Scottsboro boys who performed an upbeat song and dance routine to start off the night.

The costumes of the Scottsboro boys were very simple and appropriate for the time period. I did not appreciate their costumes in prison however, where they were all dressed in the same white outfits. It made it too difficult for me to distinguish between the men, especially since I was not close enough to the stage to see their distinct facial features. Perhaps the point was for them to all look the same, as this is likely how the Southern law viewed them. However I personally appreciated the characters more when I could discern between them, such as the boy who loved reading and writing. I could point him out by the glasses he wore, but when the characters were all wearing the same clothing I could no longer identify them by distinct clothing markers.

Another interesting aspect of The Scottsboro Boys was the lack of attachment between the characters. One would expect that their ordeal and time spent together would result in a deep bond between the men, but they seemed to have a very limited emotional connection. One of the boys even repeatedly tried to put the blame on his cellmates in an effort to save his own life. There was an obvious bond between the two brothers, but that had existed before their arrest. Other than that, the most outstanding interaction between the men seemed to be when Haywood, played by Joshua Henry, was taught to read and write by the one literate boy in the group. I believe this disconnect added a more realistic element to the story.

A major component of this show was satirizing extremely sensitive subjects, such as rape and lynching. Though this has offended people to the point of protesting outside the theatre I thought it was a new and interesting way of portraying such a dark time in American history. I have learned so much about black history in school over the past few years but it has never been in this context. I had also never really heard of minstrel shows and I think that the topics of minstrelsy and the Scottsboro trial were combined in a clever way. The show also did not target one specific group in its mockery. The minstrel men poked fun at everyone, from the Southern white women to the sheriff to the Jewish lawyer from New York.

The ending to the show was extremely powerful and chilling. The woman who had silently remained in the background throughout the show, revealed herself to be Rosa Parks and as she refused to move to the back of the bus the show literally ended with a bang as the lights went out. I liked that the makers of Scottsboro boys used this woman as a way of linking the different historical points of black history. It showed that the trial of the Scottsboro boys affected individuals later in history, which added a warm feeling of hope to the show, despite the many horrors and injustices it presented.

Though The Scottsboro Boys made light of some very serious topics, it did so in a way that was original and effective, without being offensive. I think this show opens up the door to a whole new category of Broadway. It presents a dark time in history with a twist of humor and music, which will hopefully grip audiences, like it did me.

Photo credit to Rosegg of The Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2010/03/10/2010-03-10_the_scottsboro_boys_new_fred_ebb_musical_is_based_on_alabama_race_case_.html

The only wobbliness in this show was my legs, shaking from nerves because I was seated so high up in the balcony. Other than that, The Scottsboro Boys struck me as an extraordinarily balanced production.

Some scenes tugged at the heart (like when Haywood Patterson, the most outspoken of the nine Scottsboro boys, is thrown into solitary confinement), others poke fun at harsh realities the Black teenagers struggle with (when the youngest of the crew asks so innocently and genuinely what “rape” is, or when one boy relays his account of his cousin being lynched). Though it’s not the kind of musical that will lift the whole audience out of their chairs and have them dancing in the aisles, there is a certain joviality that left me tapping my feet in my own seat way up in the balcony.

Perhaps the greatest thing about this musical is that it presented this most delicate topic with extraordinary care and great talent. The Scottsboro Boys, a most controversial legal case that stands as a symbol of bigotry and racial stereotypes, sits precariously on an onstage seesaw. The actors teeter-totter with keeping the show entertaining and conveying the sense of gravity the topic deserves. In that respect, the directors of Scottsboro do a superb job. They leave most of the racism up to the cast members to relay through speech, and the amusement is mostly accomplished through dance, song, and occasional jokes. Racist comments are balanced with funny scenes to lighten the atmosphere. The actors really set the crowd in motion, causing theatergoers’ “haha”s or “ooo”s. At times, I felt that familiar “oooooh” like OUCH! pierce through the crowd. And at times, I heard laughter. After all, this is a musical about battling racism.

What is most ironic about Scottsboro is that it is a minstrel. “Black-face” has a long tradition in American entertainment as a most effective means of keeping things in perspective, especially appropriate for this Broadway show. Though by the 1950s minstrelsy had nearly disappeared, today it has become a symbol of the past. Scottsboro is a reminder of the harsh racism that existed and perhaps continues to exist on a lesser scale.

What a great show!

Over the years the issue of race has become one that has been best tiptoed around and when needed, swept under the rug. It’s a topic whose history is as unpleasant as any other possible conversation piece, with perhaps the exception of some heinous crime. It’s amazing then to consider that the newly opened Scottsboro Boys on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre attempts to tackle two birds with one stone as it recounts the alleged rapes and subsequent convictions of nine black teenage males on a train ride down to Memphis in search of work.

The fictional account would, as one might guess work best as a blockbuster Hollywood drama, a medium in which the emotions of all involved could be best captured; it is surprising however to consider that the harrowing tale was most recently adapted by writer David Thompson (‘Chicago’) as a musical in the form of a minstrel show, a traditionally offensive form of early American entertainment. Utilizing twelve main male actors, several of whom played multiple parts, the Susan Stroman (‘The Producers’) directed play relied entirely on the belief of the audience that the performance taking place onstage was in fact one that was taking place in the early half of the 20^th century. Employing utilitarian procedures as one might expect from a ‘minstrel show,’ perhaps the greatest achievement of the night was the display of the set, which consisted of seemingly little more than ten or eleven metal chairs. Once paired with sounds from the crew, and arranged by the show’s cast, the chairs transformed from a train, to a jail cell, to a courtroom and any other setting needed for the plot in between. As simple as it may seem, it could not have been easy for Beowulf Boritt to put together conceptually let alone concretely as displayed on stage. The barebones set also allowed for no intermissions, and a full focus on the events unraveling onstage.

The production itself left little to be desired as far as acting and singing were concerned. Each and every actor played their particular parts to the extent at which the script could allow them. In a show in which there were twelve main characters on stage nearly the entire time, it would seem a difficult task to have to choose those whose performance exceeded the rest. It wasn’t. Joshua Henry’s portrayal of Haywood Patterson, the rising ‘leader’ of the nine, was by and large much more in tune with his character than any other actor playing one of the ‘Boys.’ Perhaps this is in part due to the fact that Henry was featured several times in multiple songs; regardless, his portrayal of the angst and anguish that his character faced should have been the consistent emotion throughout the entire play, certainly not the exception. It is unfortunate then to consider Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon, the two actors that played Mr. Bones, and Mr. Tambo respectively.  Both played their parts superbly and were my two favorite actors in the play. Yet, it is their two roles, both essential to the minstrel theme that prevented the play from making any advances in emotional progress. They were both extremely comical, which in it of itself isn’t a bad thing, but when the seriousness of the storyline reserves little room for such humor, it’s easy to question the intended direction of the play.

If the play’s humor left any mixed feelings on the production, the nature of it being a musical only added to the confusion. The songs, while well performed seemed to come at points in the play in which the dialogue could no longer sustain its importance; considering the material that the collaborators had to work with, one would have hoped that it would have been the other way around: with the dialogue the focus, not the music.

Ultimately though, it comes back to the initial problem that the play’s genre presented. It certainly had its share of comedic moments, and well-done vocals, but what seemed to be lacking was the awareness of the gravity of the story that was being told. The writers though seemed to hit on one issue, if only circuitously, and that was poor treatment of the blacks both in and out of the minstrel shows, as evidenced by the repeated calls from the interlocutor to give “just one more cakewalk,” (a racially-charged dance) a request persistently denied. All in all, the show itself was enjoyable, but by the end, I could not help but notice an uncomfortable feeling in the pit in my stomach.

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Are horrifying circumstances less horrifying when told to the tune of flighty banjos and predictable bass lines? It seems that in the musical The Scottsboro Boys, music and lyric writers John Kander and Fred Ebb were trying to find out just how much contradiction and unsettling revelation an audience can take willingly—and it seems that they’ve hit it right on the mark.

The show’s controversial subject matter may have been enough for some. Starting with the utilization of the minstrel show form (one of the most racist forms of theatre in American history), The Scottsboro Boys begins a true tale of brutal injustice with a thoroughly sardonic glimpse into the continual presence of racism, even as the events that the minstrel group portrays are portrayed in past-tense. The group of men creating this show-within-a-show—not incidentally consisting of all African-Americans, only led by a stereotypical “Southern Gentleman” who continually interrupts their heartfelt connection with the story—brings a relevance that makes the audience wonder just how removed the characters—as well as they themselves–are from the injustice that this story narrates.

Despite the condescending yells for interruptive dance routines and joyous distraction, the men continue on to weave a tale in which the audience finds it harder and harder to separate delight from disgust—a thoroughly unsettling concept, if it weren’t for the efforts of the composers to throw in “happy” chords and joyous percussion at every turn. Pieces such as “Electric Chair” are prime examples of this: in this piece, a fright-stricken boy is carried through the terrors of the chair that he will likely meet, as the tempo increases and the musicians frantically play their assigned major-mode parts. The juxtaposition of fear and joy doesn’t end here, though, as the once comically White jail-guards—played by other members of the Black minstrel group, of course—prance around in a bizarre display of joy over the imminent demise of the guilty-until-proven-innocent inmates, surrounded by dead bodies who re-animate just in time to re-enact their moment of truth under the strobe lights.

And as if this fantastic display of fear and exultation just wasn’t enough, we are often reminded that this story is not just a story: although assuredly less musical, this happened. Seventy-some-odd years ago, these nine boys underwent the abhorrent events of this garishly spectacular musical—a revelation that is not easy to dismiss, especially as the musical reaches its finale. Here, the audience is subjected to possibly the most unsettling part of the writers’ insight: here, all African-American members of the cast are portrayed using blackface makeup, a thoroughly grotesque representation that makes clear that even at the time that their show-within-a-show was being done, these actors were far from escaping the oppression that they so detested. Still, as the lights flash and the music continues to crescendo, the audience finds itself witnessing a total about-face in the show’s direction, and assignment of power—a tool that allows the musical to become more than just a revelation for an audience to undergo: The Scottsboro Boys, with all its glamour and terror, pizzazz and disgust, becomes an example with which the audience feels obliged to do more than just reflect upon…

No small feat for some banjos, building-block chairs, and a small group of men wiping some paint off of their faces.

The topic of racism is often a subject that is far too racy to talk about. Although, it is agreed upon that we should not forget the past, it sometimes come to such a point where we will not talk about it at all due to the amount of emotion connected to it. However, Scottsboro Boys introduces the topic of racism with a certain Broadway twist that appeals to a wide variety of audiences. In the end we are presented with a play that reaches the roots of many of the issues during the 1930s, while maintaining our attention through a musical and comical form.

One of the few things I noted when I walked into the play was the variety of people that were sitting there watching. It goes to show that this play connects to a wide array of cultures and people. There were african americans, koreans, chinese, hispanics, and caucasian. Not only was Scottsboro Boys a play that appeals to the public, but it works on educating everyone of the past. This aspect of the play appealed to me the most because it is rare that the general audience comes together for one play. We are able to tell that Scottsboro Boys aimed at educating rather than pleasing by the way the story unfolded. For example near the end of the play each character gave different skits of true events. They even mentioned lynching.

It is interesting to note that for a play that took place in the South where the white held all the power, there was only one white person throughout the entire play. John Collum played a minimal part in Scottsboro Boys, but his presence is magnified due to the fact that he is the only white person in the play. The director of the play seems to be drawing attention to the idea that this is not the white man’s story, but the story from the perspective of the Scottsboro boys, in fact many of the white characters are played by two people.

Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon played most if not all of the roles of white characters. Domingo and McClendon played the jokingly awkward Sherriff and deputy, Mr. Bones and Mr. Tambo. They both did an amazing job portraying the two officers of the law as nothing more than a couple of ridiculous people. Many of the officers played by black counterparts introduced a much needed comic relief as the audience saw them waddle around. It further serves to provoke thought in the audience members. Many times throughout the play I thought that the white southerners were nothing more than a bunch of cowardly losers, only protected by the color of their skins. This play also portrays northern whites similar to southern whites, indicating that perhaps the whites in the play were all the same no matter where they came from.

All in all, this play was truly a unique play that serves to send a message and entertain the audience. It does not matter whether you are sitting at the highest seat or seeing the actors face to face, you will be mesmerized by the acting, the sight, and the songs.

(http://scottsboromusical.com/photos.html)

While the racial struggles of African Americans are certainly a serious historical matter, The Scottsboro Boys shows that the gravity of this issue can be successfully preserved through comical entertainment. Following closely the outline of a minstrel show, the play not surprisingly introduces a series of amusing characters. Perhaps the most striking of them is Sheriff Bones, who walks like a duck and speaks with a heavily exaggerated southern accent. Waddling from the beginning to end, he is quite a sight to watch. However, the two white women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, rival the sheriff’s humorous role. Ironically played by two black men, the plaintiffs are inherently funny characters.

In spite of the jokes and twists that are present throughout the musical, truth and justice remain prominent themes that hold the plot together. Joshua Henry emphasizes the importance of these values through his role as Haywood Patterson, the most outspoken of the nine Scottsboro Boys. At times, one can even taste the young man’s bitter rage and frustration with the South’s discriminatory ways and corrupt legal system. Later in the play, his decision to save the truth over his own freedom creates a powerful statement. Henry’s performance will be forever etched in my mind because of his charismatic and genuine portrayal of a young man living for justice.

Aside from the credible acting, there are also musical numbers worth mentioning, most notably the “Electric Chair.” Although simple, the sound effects and lighting are able to transform a plain wooden chair into one that seems deadly and terrifying. The energetic song and well-choreographed movements also work in perfect combination to create a haunting dream. The star of this scene, Eugene Williams, who plays the youngest Scottsboro Boy, effortlessly depicts a naïve, yet endearing character whom the audience cannot help but love and pity.

Moreover, the simplicity of the set is complemented by the clever use of props. The chairs are constantly moved around to form different environments. They are ingenuously and effectively used to create a train, a bus, a jail cell and a court. When the actors sit on the wooden planks placed carefully above the chairs and bounce along in song, the train they are riding magically becomes real. When they sit in their seats and swerve in unison as the vehicle makes a sharp turn, the bus they are traveling on comes to life.  When they shake the chairs as if they are bars and fight with each other within the square space provided by the chairs, the jail cell they are stuck in appears to truly confine them. When they sit properly, with their hands on their laps in a neat semicircle, the stage turns into a real courtroom. Clearly, it is not extravagance or intricate designs that make a set incredible, but rather the actors’ use of imagination to carefully execute motions that make each place feel alive.

In addition, an aerial view of the entire performance surprisingly enhances a spectator’s experience. Every detail and action is visible from above, including the flawless symmetry of every dance number’s formation. Furthermore, each actor, regardless of his place on stage, is seen during each dance, which a front row viewer would unlikely be able to enjoy. There is also a scene in which one of the boys writes letters on the floor of the stage. Only those on the balcony are able to witness this small, but significant detail.  All in all, every aspect of the show, from the tambourines to the actors’ wild gestures and theatrical facial expressions, contribute to a passionate, lively and informative performance.

The Scottsboro Boys was not the first musical I have seen, and certainly not the last. It was, however, a new experience to watch a musical from, what felt like, the sky. As a few people in the row behind me began to comment on how impossible it would be to see anything, I started to feel a little uncomfortable too. I was pleasantly surprised when the show began, and I felt that the eagle-eye view was better than from any other seat I could have asked for. So before beginning this review, I would like to thank Professor Bernstein and the Macaulay Honors College for setting our IDC classes up with such great seats to a spectacular performance.

“One-thousand laughs guaranteed,” the sign outside the Lyceum Theatre read. Skeptical at first, I kept this line in the back of my head. The dramatic entrance that the actors made caused my first laugh. Traditionally, you would see actors magically appear on stage after the lights come on, but the Scottsboro boys made their entrance from the rear of the auditorium. Breaking traditions was a recurring theme throughout the musical. The whole story is about nine young men being accused of a crime they never committed, and their fight to break the prejudice that plagued the United States in the 19th century. Other broken traditions included the use of men representing women, and blacks representing whites. It got exceptionally confusing when black men were presented as white women.

There was also another representation of a specific woman, which was not very obvious. For the audience (myself included) who thought that The Lady, who is present throughout the entire musical, was an angel, a ghost, or simply a witness, Rosa Parks elucidates her identity at the resolution of the show. It seems as though the director did not want her identity to be clear to everyone, because even the playbill had her character listed as “The Lady.”

I lost count of how many times I laughed, so I can neither testify, nor disprove, the 1000 laugh claim, but I can vouch that The Scottsboro Boys was a musical that would put a smile one anyone’s face. From the clever puns, to the ironic drama, the musical took the audience on a roller coaster of emotions that left them in awe of the spectacle beheld to them. The Scottsboro Boys was, in itself, a history lesson, as well as a great performance. The colorful costumes and set design, as well as music that would rival Broadway’s finest, only adorned an already fantastic story that left us all in awe, but did not leave us in spirit. It served as a great lesson on truth and honesty, as well as history and prejudice, and did it in a way that only a musical could – with laughter and entertainment.

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