The Scottsboro Boys 2011 Tony Award Performance

[19Daniela95]

so depressing



[twinvortex]

I just saw this show recently. I have no words. It's so emotional. Makes you think about so many things.

[mariobro1993]

These tunes are catchy, blackface or not. Hope they realease a CD, or go on tour.

[GuilbeauxFan]

@mariobro1993 There is a cd available.

[zoneout41]

That was awesome!! Josh Henry definitely deserved to win. Too bad the show closed so quickly! I would have loved to have gone again and again.

[4teepee]

They should make a musical about the Tawana Brawley case.

[ritsfata]

Incredible moment at 3:28 . For some reason, that's my favorite part when he goes up on that note. Could be his pure passion in a single note.

[cutiebates03]

It's ironic how they have turned something that was very tragic into a musical...interesting

[PinkSwoon34]

Can't believe this show closed!! It was amazing!

[TwilightIsLIfe4493]

who is who?

[brianeduardo1234]

I agree about the smile on the last note... but I watched the documentary that underlies the story Scottsboro An American Tragedy...its on Youtube... Please watch it heartbeaking story... mans inhumanity to man. Haver order the CD of the show... Kander and Ebb do it again... brilliant.

[WormYourHonor64]

Kander and Ebb (':

[ez88uc]

Seriously a master class on Broadway musical theater... perfection! Nothing could came close to this production... sorry but The Book of Mormon was good but this was perfection.

[austinthebookworm5]

Not how I would imagine the story being told but a great show nonetheless. 'Go Back Home' was probably the best Broadway song of the year.

[3goodtimes]

@austinthebookworm5 I actually think it's pretty brilliant. It's meant to be a play on the minstrel shows of the post-Civil War years where white or black people would perform in blackface for the entertainment of whites. So the style highlights the racism while also making the tragedy all the more awful with the forced pretend happiness of minstrel shows.

[morninglory99]

Such a shame that the Broadway production closed so quickly. I'm glad they got so many Tony nominations anyway. This story deserves to be heard.

[JoeJeffersonPhillips]

they HAVE TO make a movie out of this show. incredible.

[ritsfata]

I love how they start the main song with that call and response. I love love love it, it sounds so damn cool.

[scorpioninpink]

.,ugh! black production???

[williamhoward]

What's next, Emmet Till on broadway

[AppleaLJ]

This musical made me cry so hard, I couldn't breath.

[mariahrose210]

I had no clue that this show started at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. I was so mad when I found out! I could have driven 20 minutes to have seen it, and now I have to wait for it tour. It looks amazing.

[JadeTomZ]

jo

[magicianmike1234]

The first few seconds of this performance are the cheesiest thing I've ever seen.

[HaraldJoe69]

@magicianmike1234 It's meant to be that way. The fact that they are cheerily saying "We're gonna tell you about the Scottsboro Boys" is meant to be ironic, considering the fact that they were all murdered by racists.

[magicianmike1234]

@HaraldJoe69 I realize that, but what are they trying to express with that? Seems kind of twisted to me.

[HaraldJoe69]

@magicianmike1234 Like most Kander and Ebb shows it is meant to present something very twisted and awful about humanity in an ironically upbeat way. Chicago was about murder and yet all Velma, Roxy, and Billy cared about was fame and success. Cabaret was about the rise of Weimar Germany and the decadence and racism of that society, and yet the MC cheerily does an anti-semitic song and dance number. The fact that this is presented as a 'minstrel show' is in keeping with their style.

[magicianmike1234]

@HaraldJoe69 That's actually very true!

[ohjawillkommen]

@HaraldJoe69 Spot-on. The stock characters in the minstrel show, "Mr. Bones", "Mr. Tambo", and the "Interlocutor" weren't in this performance, which is odd, as Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon, who play "Bones" and "Tambo"(who say the first lines in the play were present as nominees. Although, it does *look* slightly less racist and more politically correct to have the Scottsboro Boys present it themselves, I don't get why they did it, as "Book of Mormon" wasn't "PC" in its performance.

[AliaSparrow]

@ohjawillkommen Maybe they didn't bother to present the other characters so to present it short and sweet as they could. Maybe the actors weren't available at the time. After all, I believe this was a surprise presentation considering that the Scottsboro Boys closed down on Broadway months back.

[ritsfata]

This song's got a great vibe to, I'm glad they went with this song.

[RobotUnicornNazi]

@TacoKing9291 Barnes & Noble has the original Off-Broadway cast recording available now, that's where I bought mine.

[RobotUnicornNazi]

I had the original Off-Broadway cast recording.

Joshua Henry did an excellent job as Haywood, but I'm disappointed that Brandon Victor Dixon didn't reprise the role, he had an incredible voice and stage presence.

Still upset this musical didn't win any awards and didn't do great at the box office, but I still love it nonetheless.

[ritsfata]

@RobotUnicornNazi I can't think anyone would do this better, I think this is as good as it gets, which is fucking AMAZING!

[ichitastical]

Under appreciated musical! This one was one of the best of the night.

[explodingplant2]

@ichitastical I'm sure it's very under appreciated. I watched a documentary on the Scottsboro Boys, most depressing thing ever, I sure as hell don't want to see the musical.

[BroadwayJunkie131]

Amazing, amazing, amazing!!! I saw this in November, and I'm so glad that it was remembered by the time of the Tonys. It deserved to be open much longer. Everything about it was perfect. Definitely one of the best shows I've ever seen!

[rubysapphire14]

Every single man on that stage= FINE!

[ichitastical]

Amazing how they transform chairs, planks, and tamborines into a train!

[Tacoking9291]

Almost 100 likes and 0 dislikes....yeah, its that good

[chelse689]

the main guy has an amazing voice. I could listen to him all day. I've listened to the itunes song though and it doesn't have the same power as this live performance.

[KateLuck]

@chelse689 That's because the recording is of the off-broadway show - Joshua Henry wasn't in that production. He was in it on Broadway - and the show closed before they recorded the album :(

[MichaelKulow]

I don't get it. Why did this awesome musical close on broadway?

[VidWatcher45673]

@MichaelKulow It's going on tour.

[MichaelKulow]

@VidWatcher45673 Ah, i see.

[Tacoking9291]

@MichaelKulow Low ticket sales

[Boonedaba]

So sexy.

[TheDeliciousQ]

i find it hilarious that it got nominated even though its not even running any more

[Tacoking9291]

This song absolutely blew my mind. I'm just upset that I can't find the cast recording anywhere

[musicfan1107]

@Tacoking9291 Its on Itunes!

[Tacoking9291]

@musicfan1107 Yes but I don't have an ipod

[elbruces]

Damn shame this play closed before the Tonys, after getting so many nominations. Whoever was in charge of that production should be kicking themselves.

[featheredskyblue]

Speaking as someone who got a chance to see Scottsboro Boys when it was at the Guthrie, this show is fantastic. I just wish that the depth of the story was illustrated by the performance at the Tony Awards; some of the songs, like these, are fantastically fun, but others cut to the quick. It didn't have a long enough run.

[mr48skate]

so 56 likes, 0 dislikes. yet they took it off broadway?

[EYDstudios]

All I wanna know is how they lost best choreography?

[HikariDragonRyuu]

Joshua Henry is just really charismatic.

[chrisclegg84]

Robbed of Best Choreography. Seriously.

[MusicMixology]

I can totally picture this song as a classic Disney movie theme song!

[ohjawillkommen]

I have a feeling that this definitely won't be the last we see of Josh Henry on the Tony Awards. Such a talented cast. Such a shame it closed early. It didn't even win best score, which I thought it had in the bag.

[SPTN58]

A shame this show ended.  It was too early. What talent!

[explodingplant2]

I love the smile he gives in the finishing note ^_^

[therealmunkyhaus]

AMAZING!!!!!

[koolkat104]

This is one of the catchiest songs in existence.

[VidWatcher45673]

I like the opening. Sort of reminds you of the movie musicals of the 1960s like "Hello Dolly" and "Guys and Dolls" back when movie musicals were actually good. My only criticism about this performance is that there's nothing to criticize. SUPERB!

[pineapplepie52]

@VidWatcher45673 Actually it reminds me quite a bit of Ragtime :)

[VidWatcher45673]

@pineapplepie52 I wasn't trying to be specific. I was being general. I was referring to that entire era when movie musicals were in their hay day.

[Boonedaba]

@pineapplepie52 Newsies meets The Color Purple.

[darkknight07100]

@VidWatcher45673 Well, this play's music was done by the same guys who did Cabaret and Chicago.

[fyeahgabs]

@darkknight07100 John Kander and Fred Ebb. This is the final, complete collaboration from the duo, due to Fred's death in the early 2000s.

[darkknight07100]

@fyeahgabs A real loss for Theater, But... talk about a legacy.

[marlydawn]

The talent in this clip blew me away. Does anyone know if this cast has a recording or only the off-Broadway cast (or is it the same)?

[ohjawillkommen]

@marlydawn Yes, the off-Broadway cast, I believe. The main difference is that the lead, Haywood Patterson, is played by Brandon Victor Dixon, rather than Joshua Henry. You can find it on iTunes.

[marlydawn]

@ohjawillkommen Thank you for the info! That's sorta too bad since Joshua Henry was my favorite part of this song on the Tony's and if he were on the album I'd totally buy it. Who knows, maybe he will be on the tour!

[MichaelKulow]

This is awesome! I'm impressed with these guys.

[faithmaryirene]

I saw these guys before they hit Broadway! (:

[MidnightStar665]

This was amazing! I loved how they did the train!

[MissAngelRide]

My favourite performance of the evening!

[magnumbrown78]

The one with the overalls and the hat is my Fiancé's cousin...

[duceemia]

@magnumbrown78 there are three people with overalls and a hat

[magnumbrown78]

@duceemia pause it @ 0:15 and he's the one sitting in the right corner of the screen... His name is Tyrone.

[agr8guyny]

LOVE THIS SHOW!