Jordan Wright
June 2, 2018
The Scottsboro Boys races down the tracks like a runaway train from Chattanooga through Alabama and bound for hell. On that train, on that fateful day in Alabama in 1931, a group of nine young, innocent, black teenagers – two brothers, the rest strangers – became horribly and inextricably tied to two white women. They had all been “hoboing”, riding the rails without tickets. Once caught, the women afraid of being jailed, accused the boys of rape. That this gripping tale is a true story, may strike some as unfathomable. But it is. And it was. Leave it to the brilliant composer + lyricist team of Kander & Ebb to turn a national crime story into a blockbuster musical in the form of a minstrel show. They had colossal success with Cabaret (Nazis and gay performers in wartime Germany) and Chicago (a murder set in a prison and played out in a courtroom). Nobody does it better.
Chaz Alexander Coffin (Mr. Tambo), Stephen Scott Wormley (Mr. Bones) and the cast of The Scottsboro Boys. Photo by Christopher Mueller
Minstrelsy shows were popular touring variety shows performed predominantly by whites in blackface from the early 19th century till the 1940’s. African-Americans also had troupes who painted on exaggerated white lips and portrayed watermelon-eating stereotypes in overalls or minstrels in colorful suits in plaid and stripes. They were led by a Master of Ceremonies who was white. Here he is called the Interlocutor (skillfully played by Christopher Bloch) and he could be a dead ringer for Colonel Sanders. In The Scottsboro Boys the boys are depicted as black minstrels playing out their lives on a stage under the control and direction of the Interlocutor.
How do you turn a Death Row, Depression era story into an entertaining one? First you address the country’s racist history and then you crack it wide open with a breathtaking amalgam of talent, eighteen unforgettable songs and a hard-driving story that just won’t quit. Under the fine direction of four-time Helen Hayes Award-winner, Joe Calarco, this production breathes fire and fury in your face – and in your heart – from start to powerful conclusion.
Lamont Walker II (Haywood) and the cast of The Scottsboro Boys at Signature Theatre. Photo by C Stanley Photography.
Led by Haywood Patterson (Lamont Walker II), the boys form deep friendships to gird themselves against the women’s baseless charges, their cruel prison guards, an all-white jury and the lynch mob mentality of the South. Walker will steal your heart with his deeply emotional portrayal of a teenager who pines for his mother and a life unfulfilled.
Backed by an 8-piece band enhanced by the sounds of tuba, banjo and tambourine, the travesty unfolds within the framework of a minstrel show depicting the boys’ trials and tribulations specifically their arrest and two of their eight trumped-up trials. This colorful musical is set to a variety of period musical styles and features spectacular tap dancing. Wowza!
Felicia Curry (The Lady) in The Scottsboro Boys at Signature Theatre. Photo by C Stanley Photography.
This staging is especially timely as it coincides with the recent opening of The Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama in a city where a nine-foot statue of Jefferson Davis still stands in front of the Alabama State Capitol.
Absolutely takes your breath away! Highly recommended.
Aramie Payton (Eugene Williams), Joseph Monroe Webb (Olen Montgo mery), Darrell Purcell Jr (Clarence Norris), Lamont Walker II (Haywood Patterson), Malik Akil (Charles Weems), C.K. Edwards (Roy Wright), DeWitt leming, Jr. (Ozie Powell), and Jonathan Adriel (Andy Wright) in The Scottsboro Boys at Signature Theatre. Photo by C Stanley Photography.
With Jonathan Adriel as Andy Wright, Malik Akil as Charlie Weems and Victoria Price, Chaz Alexander Coffin as Mr. Tambo, Felicia Curry as The Lady, C. K. Edwards as Roy Wright, DeWitt Fleming, Jr. as Ozie Powell and Ruby Bates, Andre Hinds as Willie Roberson, Aramie Payton as Eugene Williams and Little George, Darrell Purcell, Jr. as Clarence Norris and Preacher, Joseph Monroe Webb as Olen Montgomery and Stephen Scott Wormley as Mr. Bones.
Book by David Thompson, choreography by Jared Grimes, music direction by Brian P. Whitted, lighting by Sherrice Mojani, costume design by Emilio Sosa, sound design by Ryan Hickey and scenic design by Daniel Conway.
Through July 1 in the MAX at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.signature-theatre.org.