The Scottsboro Boys | |
---|---|
Music | John Kander |
Lyrics | Fred Ebb |
Book | David Thompson |
Basis | The Scottsboro Boys Trial |
Productions | 2010 Off-Broadway 2010 Minneapolis 2010 Broadway 2013 Off-West End, London 2014 West End 2018 Arlington, Virginia |
Awards | Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics |
The Scottsboro Boys is a musical with a book by David Thompson, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Based on the Scottsboro Boys trial, the musical is one of the last collaborations between Kander and Ebb prior to the latter's death. The musical has the framework of a minstrel show, altered to "create a musical social critique" with a company that, except for one, consists "entirely of African-American performers".[1]
The musical debuted Off-Broadway and then moved to Broadway in 2010 for a run of only two months. It received twelve Tony Award nominations, but failed to win any.[2] The previous record for nominations without a win was eleven, held by Steel Pier and the original production of Chicago, both also by Kander and Ebb. The musical's twelve nominations were second only to The Book of Mormon, which garnered fourteen nominations that year.[2] Nevertheless, The Scottsboro Boys played in US regional theatres in 2012 and moved to London in 2013, where, after a sell-out production at the Young Vic, it moved to the West End in 2014.