The Scottsboro Boys, R.I.P.
Kander and Ebb's Scottsboro Boys had their final Broadway performance yesterday. From opening night to closing night, they had a roughly seven week run.
This was an off-broadway production originally, where it had done well. It moved to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis to prepare for a larger house for its Broadway run. I was fortunate enough to see it three times there, where I was progressively more moved with each viewing. While I was originally skeptical (a 1930's racially-charged miscarriage of justice told in a minstrel setting??), I was quickly won over. It was a tight production (100 minutes w/ no intermission) with a cast of thirteen very talented performers. The Kander and Ebb score was among their finest work. Susan Stroman's direction was perfect. The minstrel setting worked to Kander and Ebb's strengths, allowing them to present the story in a non-realistic revue setting (think Cabaret), while the very concept of the minstrel show become part of showing both the state of race relations in the 1930s and as a commentary on the form itself. While it sounds like a lot to expect this to be an entertaining and instructive experience, it was very much both. Unlike other shows, it stayed with you for days.
While a challenging piece can succeed on Broadway, it seems to be more and more a haven for the spectacular and/or the familiar. That is too bad. Given that it was Kander and Ebb's final work, it deserved better.
Mamma Mia, The Addam's Family, Jersey Boys, and Phantom of the Opera are still running.