Frequently Asked Questions about THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS

The Scottsboro Boys is a uniquely American story about a shocking and tragic chapter in American history. The story is a precursor to the American Civil Rights Movement but most importantly, beneath it all is the story of nine young men who were just trying to survive. The writers wanted to tell a true story but in John Kander's own words, "Behind the headlines, the spectacle, the ongoing trials, the histrionics of politicians and lawyers was the story of nine young African American boys determined to prove that they mattered. This story is relevant today as we still struggle to give voice to those who are marginalized."

Kander and Ebb have always written musicals that tell the story of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances – desperate to escape their own world. Fred Ebb always believed that in order to tell an audience a difficult story, you must still entertain them. That's the brilliance of their music: they entertain you, but they also take you into a dangerous world you might not have traveled otherwise.
Other Kander and Ebb musicals have portrayed a nightclub in Nazi Germany ("Cabaret"); a dilapidated prison in South America ("Kiss of the Spiderwoman"); and a murderous crime and media circus in 1920s Chicago ("Chicago").

No, the musical is not a literal minstrel show. However, the minstrel form is used with dramatic irony to help underscore the tension of the story while being true to the period in American theatrical history. At the beginning of the show, the boys participate in the minstrel form. As the story progresses, they begin to drop the mask of minstrelsy in order to tell the truth of what really happened and reveal themselves as unique individuals. By the end of the show, the boys are no longer willing players and the minstrelsy is turned on its head. "The Scottsboro Boys" is not done in blackface; however at the end of the show, there is a nod to this form in a defiant final act. .

Kander and Ebb have often used a signature musical style to distinguish the score and evoke the world of the story. In "Cabaret" the songs are written in the style of Weimar cabaret numbers and the opening vamp of "Willkommen" lets you know exactly where you are. In "The Scottsboro Boys" they pull from the musical heritage of the minstrel show with opening banjo notes that immediately put you in a specific time and place. Additional minstrel devices include staging the performers seated in a semi-circle of chairs, use of an Interlocuter who serves as Master of Ceremonies and calls on performers to tell their stories, multiple characters being played by the performers including men playing women, and the use of skits, dances and jokes.

Samuel Leibowitz, fresh from defending Al Capone, was hired by the International Labor Defense (ILD), the legal arm of the Communist Party, to represent the Scottsboro Boys during their second trial. Leibowitz expected to easily win the boys' acquittal. However, when the trials began, Leibowitz encountered the same bigotry the boys did. This information is presented with stark honesty as the anti-Semitism he experienced was as virulent as the racism the boys experienced.

This is a story that needs to be told – and remembered. What you remember when you walk out of the theatre, what chords the story strikes, how it makes you feel – that's for you to decide. In the process of deciding – have those conversations, and carry those conversation forward.

Although some material is out-of-print, there is an astounding amount of information now available and it is considered one of the most important legal cases in American history. You can begin here:

1. The Scottsboro Boy by Haywood Patterson
2. The Last of the Scottsboro Boys by Clarence Norris, Sybil D. Washington
3. Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South by Dan T. Carter
4. PBS Documentary: "Scottsboro: An American Tragedy" by Barak Goodman
5. Stories of Scottsboro by James Goodman