THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS Reviews- Page 2

[bossbear062]

Posted: 10/31/10 at 10:09pm

I for one really enjoyed the show very much so,

However I can see people being really upset about this show. It is a terrible terrible thing that happen and I can see people not be to pleased with the full on song and dance musical numbers applied to this story (no matter how ironic the lyrics are) it is still a show that has signing and dancing to a terrible thing that really happened to these boys.

The show does not even use ALL the facts that were important to the story but that is forgivable because there is only so much you can put in a show.

I just hope people don't walk away with the thought of "wow the score was great, and the staging and dancing etc" but that "Damn what a tragedy"

Like I said I think it is a great show with a powerful punch. But I wonder if the family of those who were involved that this HUGE event has been turned into a full on song and dance musical.

I recommend you see the doc movie "Scottsboro: An American Tragedy" (you can see the whole thing on youtube).It's a good movie and well worth the time. I saw it after I saw this show and it put the heavy sting of the REALITY that this really happened that I feel that some might not get from the show.

But may this show run long and get alot of people thinking and talking about this as a real event and not just a musical

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/31/10 at 10:12pm

http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/theater/reviews/01scottsboro.html

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/31/10 at 10:14pm

Wonder why Brantley didn't review it again.

[Drewprecht]

Posted: 10/31/10 at 10:20pm

EW gives it an A:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20364394_20438294,00.html

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 10/31/10 at 10:33pm

So far, I'm getting the sense that this is making a lot of the pundits very nervous. The dichotomy of the musical setting and the story it supports may be just too much for some people's toleration levels. But it's great to see theatregoers getting fired up about SOMETHING in what has proven to be so far a rather bland season.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/31/10 at 11:05pm

But it's great to see theatregoers getting fired up about SOMETHING in what has proven to be so far a rather bland season.

Relax, Ed. Scottsboro is only the second musical of the season.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 10/31/10 at 11:22pm

The L.A. Times review is astonishingly ignorant and near-sighted. It's exactly the type of review that's always sited in theatre history books as the type of review that got it wrong. It's criticisms are all astonishingly silly and invalid and small.

I hope this show finds its audience; anything this original with this much talent behind it deserves a Broadway audience.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 10/31/10 at 11:34pm

Wow, Isherwood's review started off completely positive and then took quite a turn at the end. I also wonder why Brantley didn't re-review it.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 10/31/10 at 11:47pm

Adam Greer, I KNOW it's only the second show of the season. My point was that pieces like Spiderman, Woman on the Verge, Priscilla, Catch Me if You Can, whether praised or damned by the critical community, will most likely be judged on things extraneous to what the show has to say. I am TOTALLY in Scottsboro's corner because it had a strong (and dangerous) message to deliver and did it magnificently. It is taking many risks and for that alone should be applauded. Not to mention that it's a damn good show.

[Rentfan931]

Posted: 10/31/10 at 11:58pm

Talkin' Broadway's review is up.

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/index.html

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 12:00am

But, Ed, none of the show's you've mentioned have opened yet. I don't see how you can call this season bland when there's been only one other musical to open, and a smattering of plays. The shows you mentioned as being bland haven't opened yet.

Anyway, I too found Scottsboro to be brilliant.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 12:09am

I think this being a musical gives the show its edge AND its tone. If it were a straight play, I think it would be factual and without an opinion. The musical gives it its identity and constantly reminds us of the absurdity of the truth.

I, too, found it to be brilliant.

[jv92]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 1:34am

Better than Isherwood gave it a mixed review rather than another pan from the moronic Ben Brantley, who ought to be fired by now.

[Brick]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 3:40am

^Not to hijack this thread, but I was wondering just the other day when his time will be up. It's been, what, over 15 years?

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 4:07am

I had a few problems with the staging, which I feel will eventually be solved in a brilliant revival years from now. lol.... the material itself is BRILLIANT

I was blown away by the ending, and the beautiful score.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 5:35am

Problems with the STAGING? Please elaborate...I thought it was one of the stunning features of the production. (and I sat in the first row (too close!) and all the way to one side (oy, my neck )


The use of both the semi-circle and the use of the chairs as set pieces are a tribute to the Minstrel Show.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 10:09am

I'm disappointed by the way so many of the reviewers have gone so far out of their way to miss the point of the show. And this isn't a subtle show. At all. That too is part of the point.

I was wondering earlier how the reception would have been if this same show had been written by Stew, directed by George Wolfe and produced by Spike Lee, Will Smith, and Oprah Winfrey.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 10:57am

Roscoe- I agree about the reviewers. If ind it frustrating that these critics are missing the point that the show is a musical on purpose, and uses the form of musical theatre and the event to create an uneasy, challenging night.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 11:02am

A friend who likes SCOTTSBORO BOYS said that evidently folks are more comfortable having Broadway confront racism via things like MEMPHIS.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 11:07am

Roscoe, that comes as a surprise to you?

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 11:11am

Not as a surprise. More as a continuing disappointment.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 11:25am

Likewise.

[Brick]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 12:33pm

I find it more disturbing Isherwood would rather see ROCK OF AGES

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 12:45pm

I said "so far." By my count, that's eleven shows (Broadway) or approximately one-fourth of the total number of shows that will open this season. And I stand by my opinion that Scottsboro Boys has been the most exciting show, so far.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 11/1/10 at 12:58pm

Saw the show on Saturday night. It took a while for me to enter the show. But once the song known as 'Jew Money' hit, I knew I was experiencing greatness.

The show is a discomfiting relationship of standard book and minstrel show. And that's what makes it so wildly unpredictable, unnerving and thrilling. I have not be shocked at much in the theatre in the last decade. But this show genuinely shocked me. It also annoyed me, angered me and, with the final line of the show, made me weep.

It's bracingly original, beautifully staged and contains an incredibly strong score and book. But they are at odds with each other. Purposefully so. It's what creates so much tension thoughout the night.

It seems as though the critics willfully decided this was 'wrong' or 'bad'. I generally never think critics don't get something. They may like it or hate it and that's fine. But I truly believe they don't get this show. Or, worse, do get it, but think it's inappropriate, for whatever reason.

For what it's worth, I think it's a brilliant night of theatre. See it for yourself.