Scottsboro Boys Bold but Misses the Truth

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, playing at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre, is a new musical about racial injustice in the wake of a crime. With music and lyrics by the esteemed Kander and Ebb (of Cabaret and Chicago), the production should be praised for its talented cast and brave direction; yet with such bold shows on the Great White Way right now (such as Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), it just misses the mark.

The show follows the true story of the Scottsboro Boys trial, where nine African American boys from Alabama were convicted of a rape crime which they did not commit. Adding to the complexity of the already difficult subject matter, the show is performed in the style of a minstrel show – one that will this time strive to tell the truth.

Minstrel Show example

The minstrel show is a tradition dating back to the early 19^th century in which Caucasian performers parodied African Americans in a variety show style. Caucasians would ‘black-up’ – meaning they would put on blackface makeup – in order to play African Americans. The minstrel show style was not known as racist back then, but is now extremely controversial. When minstrel shows started, performers did not know any better than to draw stereotypical characters of African Americans, leading to untruthful, hurtful, and extremely racist portrayals.

What is so fascinating about The Scottsboro Boys, then, is the fact that they are using the minstrel show in order to tell the truth. How can you tell the truth with a form that was so very untruthful? The challenge for audiences then is to understand that the use of a blatantly racist (though dated) form is a comment on how African Americans were portrayed back in the early 1900s – since the story was of African Americans who were not given any true rights or justice, then the minstrel form – which also gives African Americans no justice – is the perfect structure for this musical.

In fact, the blackface minstrelsy in the show has caused protests outside the theater on various occasions. It seems that The Scottsboro Boys is a contemporary Show Boat, reminiscent of the protests of Livent’s 1993 production. This brings up an important question: should art which is deemed shocking or unjust be censored? Or, is the purpose of art to enlighten and educate – even if it makes audience uncomfortable at times? While The Scottsboro Boys does use the form to their advantage, the only reason I felt that it did not work was because it had the ability to make audiences feel extremely uncomfortable. Though some audience members are fine with that, the majority are not, and therefore it was quite doomed coming onto Broadway without some more education and explanation behind the minstrel show tradition.

Since many people may not know the history behind blackface and minstrel shows, it is easy to offend them with the show and it seems quite simply racist. If the show feautred talk-backs or even pre-show lectures and q&a's, then maybe audiences would better understand why the minstrel show structure worked to enhance the difficult subject matter. To learn more about the minstrel show tradition, check out this very informative website. As well, check out the Spike Lee film Bamboozled, a controversial film surrounding a blackface television show becoming popular in present day, and the recist implications implied. The end of the film features a montage of blackface throughout the years which is extremely interesting to watch and gives an fantastic glimpse into blackface minstrelsy.



Jeremy Gumbs in "Electric Chair"

Now back to the show: the best part of of the show was the performers. All nine boys should be praised for their gorgeous voices and believability. As the leading character Haywood, Joshua Henry was captivating. He pursued telling the truth with such honest eyes, tight-lipped dignity and stubborn persistence – even though he knew it would get him killed. Twelve year old Jeremy Gumbs has made his mark on Broadway with the voice of an angel. He was particularly admirable in the song “Electric Chair, where his nightmare comes to life with an awe-inspiring tap routine and truly electrifying lighting effects.




Final number, similar to Chicago

The final number, though a bit too reminiscent of a male version of Chicago’s “Cell Block Tango,” left not a dry eye in the house, including my own. As the boys each stepped up and told us of their deaths, they wiped off their blackface makeup to reveal their true blackness – a strong moment which proved that indeed, they could not change their race and thus would still be deemed such injustices.



Stroman's high energy minstrel show choreography

Susan Stroman’s direction and choreography is bold but could have been less brassy. The high energy dances like the cakewalk were misleading precursors for the darker story. While they followed the minstrel tradition, the upbeat numbers seemed to be making up for the lack of typical Broadway entertainment in this somber story. If anyone is at fault for the unevenness between fun and seriousness, it is book writer David Thompson; in my opinion, he should have taken the risk to make this an overall serious-toned musical.

This begs the question: why not take the risk to make the musical more serious? Well, the producers were smart: they knew that Broadway audiences are typically composed of tourists and people who want entertainment first and foremost (that is why the big sellers these days are jukebox musicals such as Mamma Mia and Rock of Ages – both have thin plots and fun music to hum on your way out of the theatre). Contrastingly, Off-Broadway is known for producing any type of play or musical, automatically making the choice to see an Off-Broadway show a riskier one. Typically, Off-Broadway plays are in smaller theatre and cost less; therefore, they are able to put on shows that may be a little more controversial. Most people who attend Off-Broadway shows tend to know that what they are seeing may delve into issues that are more complex than ones seen on Broadway. If a show fairs extremely well during its Off-Broadway run, then producers may decide to move it to Broadway to try to gain some more money and recognition.


I think that The Scottsboro Boys producers had a tough decision in choosing to take the show to Broadway. It received rave reviews both in its sold-out Off-Broadway run and out-of-town tryout, and therefore it seemed like such a hot commodity would do well on Broadway. As well, the composer/lyricist team of Kander and Ebb are extremely well-known, which is another reason for thinking that it could be successful. Even more, lately there has been a trend towards taking risks on Broadway, and success was seen in the controversial musical, Spring Awakening, a rock musical about rebellious teenagers living in late 19^th century Germany – this show included scenes of rape, masturbation, nudity, suicide, and expletives abound. The fact that it ran for 2 years on Broadway brought hope to producers that audiences may be opening up their minds to seeing more provocative shows on the Great White Way. I think that The Scottsboro Boys producers could have learned a lesson from the Spring Awakening run, which provided many useful website resources, talk-backs, and pre-show lectures to help their audiences understand the show – this definitely led to its successful run.

While I am an advocate of contemporary musicals that push the boundaries, I believe that The Scottsboro Boys has gone a little too far for Broadway audiences to handle, without giving enough context and educational resources for willing audience members. The show should have stayed where it started and was praised – Off-Broadway. The Scottsboro Boys is thankfully saved by a strong cast, but its attempts to be bold just end up mediocre. A few weeks after writing this review, I received the sad news that The Scottsboro Boys and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson had both announced their closing notices on Broadway. It seems that it is only once in a while that a provocative musical can make its mark on Broadway, and the temperature went from piping hot when Spring Awakening had its success back down to freezing cold in just two short years. I truly hope that The Scottsboro Boys team decides to re-open the show Off-Broadway in attempt to recover some of its losses.

For Further View: Interesting Perspectives:

- This video is a montage of songs from the show. You can see the contrast between more serious songs, which ground themselves compared to the more upbeat songs which are almost uncessary if not for the minstrel show setting. At 2:07, the song sounds so similar to Cabaret's "I Don't Care Much." I think Kander and Ebb kind of lost their touch and had to borrow from their own material...what happened to creativity?


- Here's a clip of "Go Back Home" - one of the most touching songs in the show. This is an example of one of the more poignant, serious moments which works perfectly in stripping the story down and telling the truth. You can also hear the beautiful voices of all the boys, especially Joshua Henry and Jeremy Gumbs.

- Here's the show's trailer. I have issues with this trailer. If you watch it, the first half follows the seriousness of the show. The second half sells on the entertainment factor of the fast-paced tambourine rhythmic songs. They’re sending us mixed messages – and the show truly is such an uneven mix of entertainment and seriousness that I’m not surprised of this trailer. As a producer, it bugs me that the marketing team could not be more precise. I do think it’s quite a captivating trailer at the end of the day – just misleading at times.

- Finally, if you want to see something really risk-taking, bold and the epitome of a contemporary rock musical, check out the political, emo-rock musical, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Here's a clip (WARNING: expletives, very emo guy, loud music). One of my favourite songs because it is so provocative and emo is "I'm Not that Guy."

Just for Fun for you Broadway Geeks...like me...

If you want to see Joshua Henry's transformation from his first Broadway show, In the Heights, to now being a leading man, check out this video.  Warning: if you've never seen Broadway radio host/music director/personality extraordinaire Seth Rudestky before, you've been warned. I really like how this video shows Josh's talent and how he's truly had a 'journey' to get to the leading role he's in now. Personally, I've seen him in his transformation from smaller to now his biggest role in every Broadway show he's performed in -- in just 3 short years (In the Heights, American Idiot, Scottsboro Boys). While he was actually a replacement in the part of Haywood, I think he was incredible. Seeing him get the final bow in this show made me cry because here is a star in the making, and I've luckily gotten to witness his whole journey.

- If you watch that and become even more Broadway obsessed, why don't I introduce you to Josh singing "Where Did We Go Wrong" by Kerrigan and Lowdermilk. Kerrigan and Lowdermilk are some of the finest contemporary musical composers at the moment and are finally making a CD - so stay tuned!