Last update: March 13, 2010

 

March 13, 2010 - THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS: The Reviews - John Kander & Fred Ebb’s new musical, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, directed and choreographed by Susna Stroman, opened Off-Broadway March 10 and here are excerpts from some of the reviews it got.

"Based on the true story of nine men falsely accused of raping two white women on a train traveling through Alabama in 1931, the inventive, consistently thought-provoking musical is performed as if it were a traveling minstrel show, presided over by the white Interlocutor (a winningly smarmy John Cullum), who has at his disposal an 11 member African-American ensemble. The company is led by Mr. Bones (Colman Domingo) and Mr. Tambo (Forrest McClendon), who play a variety of the Caucasian men who figure prominently in the Scottsboro case. The balance of the company members play the accused men as well as the ancillary characters during their ordeal...

“The production, guided with elegant simplicity by director-choreographer Susan Stroman, unfolds with rapid fluidity on a stage that scenic designer Beowulf Boritt outfits with a dozen chairs and a few boards, which are inventively rearranged to represent a variety of locations. And, as lit by designer Kevin Adams, the illusion of shifting from boxcar to jail cell to sun-filled courtroom is complete.

The score, which references cakewalks, New Orleans jazz, and gospel, may be one of the songwriting team's jauntiest and most instantly accessible. The lyrics, filled with cutting barbs about the legal system and the racism the men encounter, often surprise, particularly in their ability to reveal humor in even the saddest situations, such as in "Electric Chair," in which the youngest of the accused (a remarkable Cody Ryan Wise) imagines his demise; this sequence is also a highpoint of Stroman's inventive choreographic work.”
in Theatremania.com by Andy Propst

“It is a sad but certain truth that for pure entertainment value guilt nearly always trumps innocence. Should you require incontrovertible evidence of this basic law of show business, take a look at the new musical from the fabled songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, which opened Wednesday night at the Vineyard Theater. This solemn, virtuous enterprise is called “The Scottsboro Boys,” and it wears its halo like a barbed-wire hat...

The minstrel-flavored routines that propel the narrative tend to lack the sharp, savvy ear of Kander and Ebb’s period pastiche numbers in earlier musicals (or the wit of Ms. Stroman’s winking choreography for “The Producers”). And you may find yourself thinking of more trenchant and imaginative use of minstrel-show devices by other artists, including the Wooster Group (with its black-face “Emperor Jones”) and Kara Walker (whose cut-out paper silhouettes are brought to mind by a shadow-play sequence)...

With “Scottsboro” it is as if the events on which it is based are still too raw and upsetting to be treated with too much panache. Though it features some high-kicking dancing from its personable and industrious ensemble, this production gives the impression of always treading carefully, with furrowed brow, stooped shoulders and an accusatory glare.”
in The New York Times by Ben Brantley

“If you see one show this season, make it “The Scottsboro Boys.” It’s as simple as that.
And what an unlikely triumph it is...

...“The Scottsboro Boys” is a masterwork, both daring and highly entertaining, and director/choreographer Susan Stroman (“The Producers”) has given it the best production possible at the intimate Vineyard Theatre. The book (by David Thompson), score and staging are so organically linked, you can’t imagine one without the others.

The stroke of genius -- and the word feels right here -- was to stage the piece like a traditional minstrel show with an all-black cast, save for John Cullum.
Using only some chairs to suggest a train, a jail and a courtroom, Stroman follows minstrel conventions to tell the story. Juxtaposing deep emotions and often exaggerated gestures, she creates a mood that feels straight out of Brecht and Weill.

Paradoxically, this makes the piece feel incredibly modern. It’s certainly more provocative than most self-consciously “edgy” rock musicals, as the creative team and its fearless, irreproachable ensemble constantly push the audience to the brink of discomfort -- while dishing out one catchy number after another.

There’s nothing Kander and Ebb won’t dare to do as they explore pet issues such as justice as spectacle and the corruption of the American dream. Here, they apply their signature musical style to some stupefying scenes in which razzle-dazzle rubs elbows with tragedy. An electric-chair dream sequence crackles with gallows humor; a New York lawyer’s arrival is heralded with a song about “Jew money.”

And that’s nothing compared to the final, jolting number. It’ll leave you shaking -- and exhilarated.”
in The New York Post by Elisabeth Vincentelli

“Director and choreographer Susan Stroman, who learned about staging a taste-challenged musical with “The Producers,” is in top form here. “The Scottsboro Boys” is framed as a minstrel show, with Cullum playing the supercilious Interlocutor and a company of extraordinary dancer-singers telling the story, written by David Thompson.

With little more than ragged costumes, a handful of straight-back chairs and a few planks and curtains (the minimalist costumes and set are by Toni-Leslie James and Beowulf Boritt, respectively), Stroman fills the tiny Vineyard stage with razor-sharp vaudeville dancing and, with musical director David Loud, soaring music, some of Kander and Ebb’s best...

Presented without intermission, “The Scottsboro Boys” flies by, before ending with an unnecessary coda that I hope will be fixed before the all but inevitable move to Broadway.”
in bloomberg.com by Jeremy Gerard

“Let’s get right to the point. “The Scottsboro Boys” is a staggeringly inventive piece of musical theater.

Its intentions are serious, its execution pretty much pitch perfect, and its entertainment value — featuring what is the final score by John Kander and Fred Ebb — of the highest order...

... under the inspired direction and choreography of Susan Stroman, such minstrel conventions as the interlocutor (sort of a Dixie-tinged master of ceremonies) and two comic sidekicks called “endmen” are put to good use in conveying the story told by book writer David Thompson.

What makes “The Scottsboro Boys” so intriguing is the dichotomy between its supremely melodic score and the tragic if sometimes convoluted tale the musical is telling.

Kander and Ebb know how to make a song work in the theater — propelling the plot or revealing character — that immediately engages an audience.

Kander’s melodies are effortless, pouring out in a variety of styles from cakewalk to folk ballad to comic ditty. Ebb died in 2004, but his clear, precise and often quite funny lyrics have been finished by Kander, and the transitions are seamless...

...The show is scenically spare, but the lack of clutter gives Stroman more room to maneuver on the small Vineyard stage. A lineup of chairs — plus maybe a few tambourines — are all she needs to get “The Scottsboro Boys” to move.”

in SFGate by Michael Kuchwara

“In addition to riveting material and toe-tapping songs shot through with wry humor, the Vineyard Theater premiere also benefits from a tremendously talented cast of song-and-dance men, from music director David Loud’s luscious vocal arrangements, and from the muscular staging of directorchoreographer Susan Stroman, working at the top of her game...

Every song has a purpose, and even in the most buoyant explosions of Stroman’s period-flavored choreography, dance is fully integrated into narrative in a show that packs dazzling physicality onto a small stage...

Styled in a brassy 1930s musical vernacular and played by a band of eight, the songs are the catchiest bunch to come along in a new tuner in years. “Commencing in Chattanooga” simulates the propulsive rhythm of train travel; “Southern Days” plasters a subversive smile over its paean to a lopsided world of white privilege and black subservience; “Electric Chair” combines tap and sizzle to macabre effect; “Shout!” is a sadly hollow celebration of freedom; and “Financial Advice” is a hilariously un-PC vamp about the convenience of “Jew money.” The latter number is among the high points as performed by the marvelous Domingo.”
in Variety by David Rooney

 

March 13, 2010 - THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS Extended Off-Broadway - "The world premiere of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, the new musical by John Kander, Fred Ebb and David Thompson, will play two extra weeks at Off-Broadway's Vineyard Theatre, now to April 18.

Tony Award winner Susan Stroman directs and choreographs the fact-inspired show, about nine black teenagers accused of a crime against white women — a crime they didn't commit — in 1931 Alabama. The musical's framing device is the now-dead, but once-popular, minstrel show, in which white men wear blackface and offer scenes, jokes and songs in a display of grotesque stereotype. Except for John Cullum, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS company is made up entirely of African-Americans performers.

The extension dates go on sale March 9, the day before The Scottsboro Boys opens at the Vineyard (March 10). The intermissionless musical was previously scheduled to run through April 4.

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS has book by Thompson, and music and lyrics by Kander and Ebb (their credit is shared). Lyricist Ebb died in 2004. Librettist Thompson and Kander and Ebb previously collaborated on “Flora, the Red Menace” and “Steel Pier.”

The cast includes Sean Bradford, Josh Breckenridge, Derrick Cobey, John Cullum, Brandon Victor Dixon, Colman Domingo, Rodney Hicks, Kendrick Jones, Forrest McClendon, Julius Thomas III, Sharon Washington, Cody Ryan Wise and Christian Dante White.

The design team includes Beowulf Boritt (set), Toni-Leslie James (costumes), Kevin Adams (lighting) and Peter Hylenski (sound). David Loud serves as music director. Orchestrations are by Larry Hochman.

According the Vineyard, "THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS is a new musical that explores the infamous 1930s 'Scottsboro Case', in which a group of innocent African-American teenagers are falsely accused of a terrible crime — ultimately provoking a national outrage that sparked the American Civil Rights movement."

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will perform Tuesdays at 7 PM, Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 3 PM and 8 PM and Sundays at 3 PM.

Tickets are $70 and can be reserved anytime online at the Vineyard Theatre website at VineyardTheatre.org or by calling (212) 353-0303."

in Playbill On-Line by Kenneth Jones

 

March 6, 2010 - A Look At THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS - "John Cullum, Brandon Victor Dixon and Colman Domingo star in Susan Stroman's world-premiere staging of the John Kander, Fred Ebb and David Thompson musical THE SCOTTOSBORO BOYS Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre.

Stroman (Young Frankenstein, Contact, Steel Pier) directs and choreographs the musical that features music and lyrics by Kander and the late Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago, Flora The Red Menace) with a book by Thompson. The piece, billed as a "new musical", was one of the final collaborations from the acclaimed songwriting team before Ebb's death in 2004.

According to press notes, THE SCOTTOSBORO BOYS "explores the famous 'Scottsboro' case of the 1930s — in which a group of young African American teenagers were unjustly accused of attacking two women — and the boys' attempts to prove their innocence."

Tickets to The Scottsboro Boys at The Vineyard Theatre, 108 East 15th Street, are available by calling (212) 353-0303 or on the web at VineyardTheatre.org

in Playbill On-Line by Krissie Fullerton

February 27, 2010 - Susan Stroman's Next Dance Musical - "Once Susan Stroman gets THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS up and struttin’ March 10 at The Vineyard, her next theatrical move will be toward pirouettes and pas de deux.

“We don’t have a title for it yet,” admitted Stephen Flaherty, who’s composing the songs for the project with his lifelong lyricist, Lynn Ahrens, “but it’s set in the world of ballet so it’s a big dance show. We’re doing a little reading some time in June.”

They do have a book writer: Peter Parnell (The Cider House Rules).

Flaherty just returned from London’s West End where his and Ahrens’ show, “A Man of No Importance”, is currently enjoying a limited run at the Arts Theatre Leicester Square, with Olivier Award winner Paul Clarkson in the title role of Alfie Byrne."

in Playbill On-Line by Harry Haun

 

February 20, 2010 - PARADISE FOUND Gets More Cast Members - "Additional casting has been announced for the London world premiere of PARADISE FOUND, the new musical that will see Tony Award winners Harold Prince and Susan Stroman sharing the directing duties.

The production will begin performances at London's Menier Chocolate Factory May 19, for a run through June 26, ahead of a Broadway transfer.

As previously announced, the cast will be headed by Tony Award winner Mandy Patinkin. He will be joined on stage by an all-American cast that boasts Kate Baldwin, John Cullum, Shuler Hensley and Judy Kaye. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

Based on the novel "The Tale of the 1002nd Night" by Viennese author Joseph Roth, PARADISE FOUND features music by Johann Strauss II, adapted and arranged by Jonathan Tunick, with book by Richard Nelson and lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh.

"The Shah of Persia is feeling low," according to press notes. "So to lift his spirits he’s off to Vienna with his Eunuch in tow for some new adventures. He promptly falls in love with the Empress of the Empire, much to the dismay of her husband, so a resident of the local brothel – who is a double for the Empress – is substituted for a night of passion. But she’s in love with a Baron, who’s having an affair with the Soap Manufacturer’s Wife."

The production will feature set design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Judy Dolan, lighting by Howell Binkley and sound by Gareth Owen."

For more information call 0207 907 7060 or visit www.menierchocolatefactory.com.

in Playbill On-Line by Mark Shenton & Andrew Gans

 

February 14, 2010 - Mandy Pattinkin Will Star in Prince and Stroman's PARADISE FOUND at London's Menier Chocolate Factory - "Mandy Patinkin will return to the London stage to star in the world premiere of PARADISE FOUND, a new musical that will see Harold Prince and Susan Stroman sharing the directing duties. It will begin performances at London's Menier Chocolate Factory May 19, for a run through June 26, ahead of a Broadway transfer.

According to a previous report in the New York Times, the production will have music by Johann Strauss Jr. adapted by Jonathan Tunick, with a book by Richard Nelson and lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh. It is adapted from the Joseph Roth novel "The Tale of the 1002nd Night," a work inspired by the Shah of Persia’s visit to Europe in 1873. In an interview with Prince, he is quoted saying that the musical centers on a Middle Eastern ruler who travels to Vienna in search of romantic "inspiration," and the machinations that occur when he demands a rendezvous with a noblewoman who turns out to be the empress of Austria. He is reported describing the first act of the show as "a self-indulgent male chauvinist relationship," while the second act follows "a bunch of discoveries" that result from the Shah’s demands.

Patinkin, who will play the Shah's eunuch, was last seen on the West End stage when he presented his solo show “Mandy Patinkin Concert” at the Duke of York's Theatre in Jan. 2009. He was previously seen on the British stage in an Almeida Theatre run of his solo show in 1996 and before that in the world premiere of “Born Again”, seen at Chichester Festival Theatre in 1990, with a score by Jason Carr and direction by Peter Hall.

Prince and Stroman are reunited for the first time since Prince directed the 1994 Broadway revival of “Show Boat” that Stroman choreographed. Prince previously directed the original productions of both Andrew Lloyd Webber's “Evita” and “The Phantom of the Opera” in the West End before they transferred to Broadway. Stroman previously originated the choreography for Trevor Nunn's production of “Oklahoma!” at London's National Theatre before that production transferred to Broadway.

According to London's Daily Mail, several actors – including John Cullum, Shuler Hensley (Judd Fry in the Nunn/Stroman “Oklahoma!” at the National and on Broadway), Kate Baldwin and Judy Kaye, took part in readings of the show in New York, and deals are being negotiated to bring them to London.

Booking is yet to open."

in Playbill On-Line by Mark Shenton

 

February 14, 2010 - THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS Stars at the Vineyard Theatre - "John Cullum, Brandon Victor Dixon and Colman Domingo star in Susan Stroman's world-premiere staging of John Kander, Fred Ebb and David Thompson's musical THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, starting Feb. 12 at Off-Broadway's Vineyard Theatre.

Stroman directs and choreographs the musical featuring music and lyrics by John Kander and the late Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman) and a book by David Thompson. The show will officially open March 10 for a run through April 4.

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, according to an announcement, "explores the famous 'Scottsboro' case of the 1930s — in which a group of young African American teenagers were unjustly accused of attacking two women — and the boys' attempts to prove their innocence." Billed as a "new musical," the work was one of the final collaborations from the famed songwriting team before Ebb's death.

The show reunites Stroman (The Producers), Kander, Thompson and the Vineyard, which previously presented the revival of “Flora, The Red Menace”.

Cullum (Urinetown, Shenandoah), Dixon (The Color Purple, Ray Charles Live!) and Domingo (Passing Strange, A Boy and His Soul) — who appeared in a June 2009 reading of the work — star. The cast also includes Sean Bradford, Josh Breckenridge, Derrick Cobey, Rodney Hicks, Kendrick Jones, Forrest McClendon, Julius Thomas III, Sharon Washington, Cody Ryan Wise and Christian White.

The design team includes Beowulf Boritt (set), Toni-Leslie James (costumes), Kevin Adams (lighting) and Peter Hylenski (sound). David Loud serves as music director. Orchestrations are by Larry Hochman.

Tickets to The Scottsboro Boys at The Vineyard Theatre, 108 East 15th Street, are available by calling (212) 353-0303 or on the web at VineyardTheatre.org

in Playbill On-Line by Ernio Hernandez

 

October 2nd, 2009 - Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN's National Tour - "Tony Award winners Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley reprise their Broadway roles as YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and his Monster, respectively, in the national tour of Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan's musical comedy, launching Sept. 29-Oct. 4 in Providence, RI, at Providence Performing Arts Center.

Bart is a Tony Award winner for “You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown”, and Hensley won his Tony for playing Jud in “Oklahoma!”

Director-choreographer Susan Stroman's road cast also includes Cory English (Igor), Tony Award nominee Brad Oscar (Inspector Kemp/Blind Hermit), Beth Curry (Elizabeth), Joanna Glushak (Frau Blucher) and Anne Horak (Inga).

Stroman had the chance to delve into the material again for the national tour. She told Playbill magazine correspondent Sheryl Flatow, "I always look forward to having a second shot, because I don't have to worry about the lights or the costumes or the sets. I'm only dealing with the actors. It's a great opportunity to explore the actual written piece in a different way. When a new company comes together, you give them the freedom to discover, and you see where it takes them."

The company also features Preston Truman Boyd, Stephen Carrasco, Jennifer Lee Crowl, James Gray, Shauna Hoskin, Matthew Brandon Hutchens, Kristin Marie Johnson, Sara Lin Johnson, Melina Kalomas, Amanda Kloots-Larsen, Brittany Marcin, Christopher Ryan, Lara Seibert, Geo Serry, Jennifer Smith, Matthew Vargo and Eric Walck.

Here's the YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN tour route through January 2010. The tour continues into 2010.

Hartford, The Bushnell, Oct. 6-11
Cleveland, Palace Theatre, Oct. 13-25, 2009
Columbus, Ohio Theatre, Oct.. 27-Nov. 1
Chicago, Cadillac Palace Theatre, Nov. 3-Dec. 13
Washington, DC, Opera House, Dec. 15-Jan. 10, 2010
Baltimore, Hippodrome Theatre, Jan. 12-24, 2010

For more information on Young Frankenstein, visit www.YoungFrankensteinTheMusical.com.

in Playbill On-Line by Kenneth Jones

 

April 26th, 2009 - SUSAN STROMAN in the 70s - Once again, thanks to Richard Mullin, an “old” acting friend of Susan Stroman, I got my hands on a few photos from several productions done in the 1970s at Candlelight Dinner Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware.

At that theatre, Susan starred in APPLAUSE, PROMISES PROMISES and THE MUSIC MAN (according to Richard, there’s a chance she was also responsible for the choreography or direction of that show; something she would brilliant do many years later on Broadway).

You can see the three photos by clicking here. Have fun.

by Jorge

 

March 16th, 2008 - Trivia About SUSAN STROMAN in the 70s - Imagine my surprise one when, a few weeks ago, I received an email from a guy who worked with Susan back in the early 70s. He, not only sent me a few pictures of those times, but also had some trivia regarding her. As you can imagine I asked him permission to use the pictures and the piece of information he gave me, so here it is both with the blessing of Richard Mullin.

Back in 1974, Richard worked with Susan in the dinner theater production of WEST SIDE STORY – the show played for 32 performances during January, February and March 1974 at the 3 Little Bakers Dinner Theater in Kennett Square. She played the role of Velma, one of The Jets Girls, and Richard was Officer Krupke, Gladhand and a detective.
Susan and Debbie Bouma in WEST SIDE STORY


According to Richard “In those days, Susan was still a student at the University of Delaware and I was a public school teacher whose evenings were spent being a character actor in regional community and dinner theaters. Susan was obsessed dancing. When she wasn’t onstage, she was usually off in a corner trying out tap steps with several other cast members – namely Debbie Bouma, Scott Newborn and Rick Ginn. The four of them would move in unison while Sue spoke that “Step, Ball, Change” dance language of hers softly, yet rhythmically, to them.

The cast spent a lot of time together over four months – we rehearsed during December 1973 and early January 1974. On production nights, we’d go through the dinner theater line and have our evening meal together before the show and after the show go out for a nightcap or party before heading home. That continued until the show closed in March”.

Susan and Rick Ginn Susan and Terrance Versailles

On the Summer of 74, Susan and her friend Debbie Bouma visited California, where they attended a taping of Johnny Carson’s TONIGHT SHOW, although in that day Carson was replaced by Joey Bishop. They “sat in the front row wearing their tap shoes. He spotted them, actually asked them their names and they danced a couple of steps and got some applause. It was broadcast nationally!” I would love to see this someday.

While still in California, ”they attended an on-location night shooting for the movie THE TOWERING INFERNO. They became crowd extras (uncredited of course) in the scenes showing the public watching the fire as the fire engines arrive.” I guess the next time I see THE TOWERING INFERNO I’ll try to locate Susan among the extras.

During those days, back in New York, it seems that Susan and Debbie went to Fisherman ’s Wharf, where they danced and picked up tips from the crowd. Who would have guessed that one day Susan would be such a great name on Broadway.

Thanks Richard for all these information and for the pictures.

by Jorge / photo © Richard Mullin & Fr. Coppinger (the color one)

Susan, Debbie Bouma and Rick Ginn in WEST SIDE STORY