When Neil Simon was working on his comedy The Sunshine Boys, he should have hung out with the songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb. He would not have needed to write anything, just take dictation.
That thought came to mind when I recalled, as publicist for the Toronto engagement of The World Goes ‘Round, escorting these two musical theatre giants for a day of interviews. It was just like a scene out of Doc Simon’s tale of two reunited irascible vaudevillians.
“The people, they need to adore me, so Christian Dior me, from my head to my toes,” nattered Fred, as he got into the car quoting Evita lyrics penned by Tim Rice “What kind of lyric is that?” “You remembered it,” John calmly replied.
It’s now a bittersweet memory as Fred passed away in 2004. But for me he will be alive once again this Sunday night, June 12th, when Kander and Ebb’s last musical, The Scottsboro Boys, will be honored at the 65th annual Tony Awards. With 14 Tony nominations and the intense hype surrounding The Book of Mormon, it’s unlikely that SB will win Best Musical. Its strongest possibilities are the indelible Susan Stroman for Best Director and Best Choreography and John and Fred for Best Score.
They’ve been in a similar position before, back in 1975 when their production of Chicago, directed by Bob Fosse and starring Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon, was swamped by that dancing tsunami, A Chorus Line. However, John and Fred got the last laugh. The revival of Chicago opened in 1996 and is still running 15 years later, long after the 2006 Revival of A Chorus Line closed. It is their greatest hit. Living well is the best revenge after all.
In 1975, Chicago was ahead of its time, telling the story of a lurid murder trial in an entertaining vaudeville that predicted our era’s fascination with celebrity trials such as that of O.J. Simpson.
During Kiss of the Spiderwoman rehearsals, Fred often said “we have to be brave.” That was his mantra and arguably, bravery is one of the characteristics of their choice of material. They chose the most unusual and risky stories to adapt into musicals. Cabaret’s story unfolds during the rise of Nazi Germany and anti-semitism. Kiss is set in Argentina during the rule of the military right-wing juntas and the era of los desaparecidos (the disappeared ones,)
The Scottsboro Boys continues that tradition. I regret not having seen it, but friends and acquaintances who did, all said it was a thrilling and original piece of musical theatre. As they did throughout their career, John and Fred-- the “Sunshine Boys” --embraced risk and challenge once more.
Five-time Tony Award-winning Susan Stroman directed and choreographed while David Thompson, author of the script for Chicago’s record-breaking 1996 revival, wrote the book. Following a sold-out run off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre and a run in Minneapolis during the summer of 2010, the musical moved to Broadway.
Set in racist Alabama of the 1930s, the musical tells the shocking and ultimately inspiring story of the Afro-American Scottsboro Boys who were unjustly accused of raping two runaway girls. However, Kander and Ebb decided to frame the story of this notorious case within a minstrel show, a collection of skits and songs historically performed by white people in black-face. Performing a minstrel show in 2010 America was playing with fire. With their trademark wit, they brilliantly used the minstrel genre as a way of evoking America’s racist past and crying out against the injustice that whites inflicted upon the blacks. Their team’s creativity and innovative staging was exhilarating while also entertaining.
Despite critical acclaim and its innovative dramatic depiction of this struggle for human rights and equality, the musical closed after a short Broadway run last autumn. Ironically, during the administration of Barack Obama, America’s first black president, it never found an audience. Few Tony voters saw it. It’s a stinging indictment that a musical that takes such an original and brave social stand could not attract Broadway theatergoers. Instead, the award for best musical will probably go to a show that makes fun of Mormons, written, in part, by the creators of South Park. Now, I enjoy a good laugh as much as anybody. But as musical theatre talent, their skill and achievement, cannot compare.
I believe Susan Stroman will receive Tony Awards for direction and choreography. But the sad fact is Kander and Ebb are the last of a great Broadway creative tradition as the Great White Way enters a new era of ever increasing “juke-box musicals” and Hollywood star-driven attractions. There are increasingly few new musicals with a terrific book, a great story and characters to which you can relate. A great musical also needs fabulous songs and lyrics, sensational staging and choreography, and dazzling scenery and lights. The latter is nothing without the former. Kander and Ebb’s greatest achievement, in the spirit of Hammerstein—working with both Kern and Rodgers--, and Sondheim, is they successfully took risks and elevated the musical to bold and thrilling new highs.
Too bad, The Scottsboro Boys could not be recognized with a special award for outstanding musical theatre achievement.
Plans are underway for a new touring production of the show, opening in April, 2012 at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre, then moving to the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco that June. Discussions are underway for engagements in Seattle, Chicago and Boston. There is no word yet about a Toronto engagement.
Who knows? Maybe The Scottsboro Boys’ it will be revived in 20 years. Maybe it will then repeat the record-breaking and success of Chicago, which is still playing after it opened 15 years ago.
--Dennis Kucherawy
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