THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS
by lisa lipsy
“The Scottsboro Boys is one of the most celebrated and daring musicals of the decade, and The Old Globe is proud to bring it to San Diego audiences in its West Coast Premiere.” Says Michael G. Murphy, Old Globe Managing Director, “The Scottsboro Boys was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, and it has inspired and galva- nized its audiences, reminding us all of a chapter in American history that should never be forgotten.” It was 1931 and nine young African American men, ages 13 to 19, boarded a
boxcar heading through the northeast corner of Alabama. They were looking for work, a new life, something better. Before the day was over, the nine would be ac- cused of a crime they never committed. The trials that followed divided the nation and became a turning point for the emerging Civil Rights Movement.
The Scottsboro Boys book author David Thompson talks with The Rage Monthly
about choosing this landmark case and working with Kander, Ebb and the show’s director Susan Stroman to create this incredible new musical.
16 RAGE monthly | MAY 2012 RAGE monthly | MAY 2012
THE LANDMARK CASE COMES TO TOWN
Playwright David Thompson photography byMichael J. Lutch.
abaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman. The music of John Kander and Fred Ebb takes us deep into the secret desires and delusions of their characters. They have a certain je ne sais quoi for capturing poignant moments
in our collective history. They bring us the flavor of people, places and time, all with fictional characters. But unlike the characters Sally, Roxie and Molina, the story ofTheScottsboro Boys is not a work of fiction. Their story is painfully real.
I must admit I am slightly envious that you have been able to collaborate with songwriting greats Kander and Ebb. I understand that feeling. Susan Stroman and I have been working with them
since the 1980s. They gave us our first break, I had never written anything. Could we possibly do anything better than Flora, The Red Menace? It was crazy, we ap- proached them, they were very open and said let’s get to work and we wrote three or four off-Broadway shows together. Then in 1996 we collaborated on rewriting Chicago and I wrote the book for And The World Goes ‘Round (1991). It seemed we could always find projects, reasons to work together. It was when we were working on And The World Goes ‘Round that I realized John and Fred have unique perspective, their music is driven by the character and each song is a complete story. Even out of context they still say something that is very complete. Some- thing joyous and dramatic. What brought the four of you to settle onThe Scottsboro Boys trial? We were looking for a new project and we started looking at the more interest-
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