Tag Archives: The Scottsboro Boys

SPEAKEASY STAGE TO BRING BACK “THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS” DEC. 30 – JAN. 22

Theatre Announcements, , ,
Wakeem Jones and De'Lon Grant Photo credit: Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots
Wakeem Jones and De’Lon Grant
Photo credit: Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots

Due to unprecedented demand, SpeakEasy Stage will remount its acclaimed production of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS for four additional weeks, December 30, 2016 – January 22, 2017.The entire original cast will return to the production, which has been hailed as “a powerful and vivid reminder of racial injustice both past and present.” Tickets for the added performances are now on sale.

“I am thrilled to have another opportunity to share THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS with Boston audiences,” said SpeakEasy Founder and Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault. “Rarely have I been more proud of a production, and rarely has a show seemed as timely and important as this one.”

Featuring music and lyrics by Broadway legends John Kander and Fred Ebb, and a book by David Thompson, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS brings to light the shocking true story of nine African American teenagers jailed in Alabama in 1931 for a crime they did not commit. With an exhilarating and infectious score that mixes gospel, jazz, and vaudeville, the show flips the script on the classic minstrel construct to lay bare the fateful case that inspired the American civil rights movement. Nominated for 12 Tony Awards during it initial Broadway engagement, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS is also notable as the final collaboration between Kander and Ebb, whose works include such musical theatre classics as Cabaret, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

The entire original cast will be back for these additional performances. They are:   Darren Bunch,Shalaye Camillo, Taavon Gamble, Russell Garrett, De’Lon Grant, Brandon G. Green,Sheldon Henry, Wakeem Jones, Steven Martin, Darrell Morris, Jr., Maurice Emmanuel Parent, Aaron Michael Ray, and Isaiah Reynolds.Ticket prices start at $25, with discounts for students, seniors, and persons age 25 and under.

The second installment of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will run for four weeks, December 30, 2016 through January 22, 2017, in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End.

For tickets or more information, the public is invited to call the box office at 617.933.8600 or visit www.SpeakEasyStage.com 

Uncomfortable and Very Good

Theater Reviews, , , ,

The Scottsboro Boys

At The Calderwood

SpeakEasy Productions
Boston

Reviewed by Bobby Franklin

The SpeakEasy Stage’s production is as good a one as you will see.

The Scottsboro Boys was John Kander and Fred Ebb’s final collaboration. Mr. Ebb passed away in 2004 and Mr. Kander finished the play on his own. It debuted in 2010. It is a musical about nine young black men, actually boys (the youngest was only thirteen), who, in 1936, were falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama. It is a tragic and heart wrenching story about a terrible miscarriage of justice and racism.

While the original production received 12 Tony Award nominations, it was greeted with mixed reviews and some protests when it appeared on Broadway.

Wakeem Jones and De'Lon Grant Photo credit: Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots
Wakeem Jones and De’Lon Grant
Photo credit: Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots

The SpeakEasy Stage’s production is as good a one as you will see. Staging a musical such as this that deals with a true story that is sure to make an audience very uncomfortable has to be difficult; however, everything about Paul Daigneault’s direction is excellent. The sets, the music, the lighting. And that is just what can make this awkward for the audience. A lively musical with many one liners that stings.

Kander and Ebb set this as a minstrel show with some of the roles reversed. You will see such mainstay minstrel characters as Mr. Tambo and Mr. Bones, only in this case they are black men playing grotesque and exaggerated depictions of white characters. Makes you see things from a bit different perspective to say the least.

At no time during the play do you lose sight of the tragic injustice that is taking place.

Yes, this is a musical, and a lively one too with many great tunes and lively dance numbers. This can also lead to much discomfit. I asked some of the cast members after the show if different audiences react in different ways (at the performance I attended most applauded after each number, though I felt it inappropriate to do so.). They told me that some remain silent until the end and applaud when the play is over. At other times they can feel a hesitation before getting a response. This all makes sense in a show such as this where the music is very good and the performers excellent. However, you don’t exactly want to walk out of the theatre humming Electric Chair or Minstrel March. At no time during the play do you lose sight of the tragic injustice that is taking place, and that took place not very far in our past. The solid cast never allows that to happen. All the players are deeply vested in their characters and it shows.

Darrell Morris Jr. and Isaiah Reynolds (Photo Credit:Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots)
Darrell Morris Jr. and Isaiah Reynolds (Photo Credit:Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Shots)

Don’t let any of this dissuade you from seeing this fine cast perform on the stage of the Calderwood Pavillon. As usual, the SpeakEasy has assembled a very talented cast that does not disappoint. This is a rare opportunity to see Kander and Ebb’s final work, and we are lucky to have the SpeakEasy that does not shy away from such productions.

Due to popular demand, performances have been extended through November 26.

speakeasystage.com
617.933.8600 At The Calderwood Pavillon, 527 Tremont Street, Boston’s South End

New England Premiere of The Scottsboro Boys

Theatre Announcements, , ,

Presented By SpeakEasy Productions

October 21st ThroughNovember 20th

Calderwood Pavillon, Boston 

sb-psdFrom October 21 – November 20, 2016, SpeakEasy Stage Company will proudly present the New England Premiere of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, a bold new musical by Broadway legends John Kander and Fred Ebb about a sensational true story that changed American history.

The musical, with a book by David Thompson, and which was originally directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, brings to light the shocking true story of nine African-American teenagers jailed in Alabama in 1931 for a crime they did not commit. With an exhilarating and infectious score that mixes gospel, jazz, and vaudeville, THE SCOTTSOBORO BOYS flips the script on the classic minstrel show to lay bare the fateful case that inspired the American civil rights movement.

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS was the final collaboration for Kander and Ebb

Nominated for 12 Tony Awards, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS was the final collaboration for Kander and Ebb, whose works include such musical theatre classics as Cabaret, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

SpeakEasy Founder and Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault will direct the New England premiere of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS. Winner of the 2014 Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, Mr. Daigneault’s SpeakEasy directing credits include productions of Significant Other, Violet, Mothers & Sons, Big Fish, The Color Purple, In the Heights, and Next to Normal.

IRNE Award nominee Matthew Stern will serve as Music Director and Norton Award-winner Ilyse Robbins will choreograph.

The cast for this production includes Darren Bunch, Shalaye Camillo, Taavon Gamble,
Russell Garrett, De’Lon Grant, Brandon G. Green, Sheldon Henry, Wakeem Jones, Steven Martin, Darrell Morris, Jr., Maurice Emmanuel Parent, Aaron Michael Ray, and Isaiah Reynolds.

The design team is Eric Levenson (scenic); Miranda Giurleo (costumes); Daisy Long (lighting), and David Remedios (sound).

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will run for five weeks, from October 21 through November 20, in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End.

Ticket prices start at $25, with discounts for students, seniors, and persons age 25 and under.

For tickets or more information, the public is invited to call the box office at 617.933.8600 or visit www.SpeakEasyStage.com .