I'm also an African American theatrego'er who has followed The Scottsboro Boys from the Vineyard to The Guthrie, to Great White Way(no pun intended). I"ve seen Caroline, or Change (loved it loved it loved it), and even sat through all of the latest August Wilson revivals, Regina Taylor plays, Stew's Passing Strange, and the revival of Raisin, Phylicia in August, Osage County, Cat on a hot tin roof, Memphis, the lion king, and you get the picture. I understand what Kander and Ebb, Stroman, Thompson, and Cast were aiming for and still feel like this minstrel show framing device isn't necessary.
Tell their story and honor their memory, what's with all the gimmicky, tricks and 1970's tamborines and hoopla? More than feeling uncomfortable with the minstrel show idea while sitting in the audience of The Scottsboro Boys (at the Vineyard and at the Lyceum), I felt that it was unnecessary. It really would have interesting to see what George C Wolfe would've done with the material.
I'm not defending the protestors, or The Amsterdam News (which is actually read by a substantial amount of Blacks and has a place in our culture). I'm saying that I got it, was uncomfortable, but at the end of the day, felt the minstrel framing device wasn't necessary and this is coming from a person who HAS seen the show.
It's interesting how you mock the protestors and claim that they shouldn't "...come here tearing down the white producers, director and actors of this show until you really know what you are talking about" when you haven't seen the show. Yet, you feel "...And I would ventire to guess that not many, if any of the protesters have set foot in a Broadway theater. And if so, it was the revival of "A Raisin in the Sun", "The Wiz" or "The Color Purple". But mention "Caroline or Change" to them and they will say "What"? How can I take you seriously?
Updated On: 11/7/10 at 02:38 PM
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