Protesting Scottsboro Boys Minstrel Show — Page 4

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AGREE. It's fantastic that we live in a country unlike say Germany (no offense to Germans) where we have the freedom and ability to look at some of the more terrible parts of our past in an upfront and artistic manner. And if a musical ever comes along about the Japanese internment camps or the Triangle Shirtwaist fire or what have you, I will most certainly see it... providing it's well written!

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George C. Wolfe might have done something similar, actually. He's always loved playing with forms like minstrel shows, as evidenced by his "Colored Museum.?

I am going to protest MAME for poor depiction of alcoholics as in the character of VERA,

and Annie for portraying child abuse

And West Side Story for poor depiction of gangs

And Blue Man Group for the way people of color are depicted.

and Phantom for poor depiction of the malformed....

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I think the nature of their protest makes it clear that they have not actually seen the show. I don't think it's just assumption.

If they had a valid complaint with the Scottsboro Boys, fine. But as evidenced with their fliers- which are extremely inaccurate in its summary of the show, not to mention lacking coherence- I just don't think that is the case. They come off as knee-jerk reactors.

And regarding Germany: the country is still, understandably, sensitive to Hitler and the Third Reich. However, I don't think it's fair to compare America and Germany in this case. There is plenty in America's past we are sensitive to and would rather not willingly discuss or acknowledge, or things we just whitewash- things ranging from our initial interactions with the Native Americans to the racism of Woodrow Wilson.

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FYI, not all of the producers are white. There are some black backers of the production.

orlandog, I just caught your update. I am not "mocking" the protestors. I said in my post that I have not seen the show but have followed it and have seen clips of it. I don't understand how you can back the protestors when you don't know either if they have seen the show or not. I still stand by my "assumption" that they haven't. I have been attending theatre for years and my statement regarding what they may have seen has come from experience. I have worked with and chaired a black theatre organization and have talked with many black actors and members of the black community about the subject for years, and we are all in agreement. It is just the way it is. If you choose not to take me seriously, that is fine. But I am quite serious.

So let's take away the fact that I haven't seen the show. Based on what I know of it, I do still want to see it because I think it is quite an interesting way to present this story.

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Updated On: 11/7/10 at 05:27 PM

Whiteface????? There was no whiteface. (does this refer to the off b'way production?)

I think you are suppose to be unsure about how to take it.

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I'm a black man who not only saw "Scottsboro Boys" a few weeks ago, but plan to see it again. Initially I was uncertain how such a serious story could be told as a musical and I was totally unaware of the use of minstrelsy. However, I found minstrelsy was an apt vehicle for showing the racism that drove the injustice done to the "Scottsboro Boys". And if you saw the production, you know the minstrels were not used to degrade black people. On the contrary, it's whites who were portrayed as buffoons.

As for the audacity of white producers, writers and directors, as long as they do justice to "our" stories I have no quarrel with them. Instead of lambasting whites for daring to tell our stories, it would be far more productive to develop a consciousness among producers and directors of color to tell some of the stories from our history.

And while there is a strong parallel between the actual cases of the "The Scottsboro Boys" and the "Central Park 5", Kander and Ebb only took on "The Scottsboro Boys". And they did all any dramatic or musical production could possibly do, and that's tell the story. "Scottsboro Boys" tells the story well in my opinion.

Updated On: 11/7/10 at 09:00 PM

If you want to protest the Weisslers, there are far, far better reasons to do so.

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First of all, I saw this show on Saturday 11/6, and did not see any protest. I was at the evening performace. Perhaps the protest was at the afternoon performance? Somewhere else?

In any case: I am not African American. Nor am I a prejudiced. Having said that, I was aware upfront of the mintrel structure of the show, and I was honestly leery about seeing it for that reason. But I had read some of the reviews, so I went. And I loved the show. The structure works within the context of the story, and helps to tell the story in a compelling way.

You joined this website and then promptly bashed this show. It is pretty obvious to me that you joined for no other reason, and also that you have not seen this show yourself. Too Bad.

By the way, the "legal lynching" was in 1931, not 1831.

Also: I think that 80-year-old black woman can have better use of her time protesting cuts, if not outright elimination, of Social Security. Just saying.

Another point of view

http://www.theroot.com/views/root-review-scottsboro-boys?wpisrc=xs_wp_0005

Two of the actors in 'Scottsboro' - James T. Lane and Christian Dante White - play two of the 'Boys,' as well as Ruby and Victoria, the white women who accused them of rape. And sometimes they do dress up as gals, so there is drag.

And if you want to see more reviews, positive AND negative, here's a link to StageGrade's collection of them ...



StageGrade: 'Scottsboro Boys'

Updated On: 11/8/10 at 02:18 PM