David Thompson News

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will play its final performance on Broadway this Sunday, December 12.

On Wednesday, December 9, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will host a post-show talkback, moderated by CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford ("CBS Evening News," "Face the Nation," "Early Show," "CBS Sunday Morning").

Having opened to a host of positive reviews and strong ticket sales, Vineyard Theatre's world-premiere production of Will Eno's play MIDDLETOWN will extend its run an additional two weeks - through December 5 - it has been announced by Douglas Aibel, artistic director of The Vineyard (108 E. 15 St.).

Deadline.com reports today that Precious mastermind Lee Daniels has his eye on a screen adaptation of Kander & Ebb's SCOTTSBORO BOYS, playing out its final performances at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. According to the report: 'While The Scottsboro Boys ends its Broadway run on December 12 at the Lyceum Theatre, there are flickers of hope that the last collaboration between songwriting legends John Kander and Fred Ebb will have a feature future. I'm told that Oscar-nominated Precious director Lee Daniels has seen the show several times and is in early conversations to develop it.'

On Wednesday, December 9, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will host a post-show talkback, moderated by CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford ("CBS Evening News," "Face the Nation," "Early Show," "CBS Sunday Morning").

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will play its final performance on Broadway on Sunday, December 12. The production, which opened October 31 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street), will have played 49 performances and 29 previews. Previews began on October 7. THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS is the last collaboration of Broadway songwriting legends John Kander and Fred Ebb. The musical features a book by David Thompson and is directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. Yesterday, December 1, John Kander and the Boys visited Borders Book Store in New York to talk all things SCOTTSBORO and sign copies of the Vineyard production cast album. BroadwayWorld was on hand and brings you photo coverage below.

The Fred Ebb Foundation (Mitchell Bernard, Trustee) in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) presented the sixth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters to Douglas J. Cohen on November 29. The award, named in honor of the late award-winning lyricist Fred Ebb, was presented by David Thompson (The Scottsboro Boys). BroadwayWorld was on hand for the event and brings you photo coverage below.

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will play its final performance on Broadway on Sunday, December 12. The production, which opened October 31 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street), will have played 49 performances and 29 previews. Previews began on October 7.

On THE VIEW today, Monday, November 29, 2010, THE VIEW host Whoopi Goldberg said 'We want to give you good news. So, here's some good news. I think that one of the best shows, one of my favorite shows on Broadway is called THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, it's magnificent, it's great. All the members of our studio audience, you're all going home with a pair of tickets to see it! It's a fantastic show, fantastic!'

Although Broadway has a history of great artistic success from adapting existing sources for the musical stage (My Fair Lady, Show Boat, Gypsy...) the past decade's ever-increasing trend of turning popular films, novels that inspired popular films and songwriter's catalogues into musicals has, in many minds, elevated the status of the completely original musical; particularly original musicals by American authors.

The cast and crew of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS welcomed yet another star visitor this week, stage and screen vet James Earl Jones, on Sunday, November 21, 2010. Denzel Washington and Whoopi Goldberg are among the shows additional fans. Jones is in town starring on Broadway in DRIVING MISS DAISY alongside Vanessa Redgrave. BroadwayWorld was on hand and brings you photo coverage below.

The Tony and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 St.) will continue its popular VINEYARD VOICES - a series of panel discussions with leading figures from the theatre community - on Monday, November 22 at 7 p.m. with an evening entitled, "THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS: From Inception to Broadway," it has been announced by Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director of Vineyard Theatre.

The Fred Ebb Foundation (Mitchell Bernard, Trustee) in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) will present the sixth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters to Douglas J. Cohen.

On the Monday, November 15, 2010 episode of the ABC show, THE VIEW, host Whoopi Goldberg talked about THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS. Here's what she said...

In this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly (November 19th is the cover date), THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS makes the magazine's 'The Must List'. Writing about the show, the magazine notes that 'As musicals go, the telling of the painful history of nine black men falsely accused of rape in 1931 could seem a challenge. But Boys is a moving, subversive look at America's racist past, set to a glorious score.'

The Tony and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 St.) will continue its popular VINEYARD VOICES - a series of panel discussions with leading figures from the theatre community - on Monday, November 22 at 7 p.m. with an evening entitled, "THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS: From Inception to Broadway," it has been announced by Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director of Vineyard Theatre.

The cast and crew of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS welcomed their second star-studded visitor this week, stage and screen actress Whoopi Goldberg, on Thursday, November 11, 2010. Denzel Washington and his wife stopped by earlier this week.

Stage and screen actor Denzel Washington, who received his first Tony award for FENCES, visited the cast and company of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS on Tuesday, November 9, 2010. THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS began previews on October 7 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street) and opened on October 31, 2010. THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS stars John Cullum as Interlocutor, Joshua Henry as Haywood Patterson, Colman Domingo as Mr. Bones, Forrest McClendon as Mr. Tambo, Sharon Washington as The Lady, Josh Breckenridge as Olen Montgomery, Derrick Cobey as Andy Wright, Jeremy Gumbs as Eugene Williams, Rodney Hicks as Clarence Norris, KendRick Jones as Willie Roberson, James T. Lane as Ozie Powell and Ruby Bates, Julius Thomas III as Roy Wright, and Christian Dante White as Charles Weems and Victoria Price. The production also features E. Clayton Cornelious, JC Montgomery, Clinton Roane and Cherene Snow.

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS began previews on October 7 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street) and opened on October 31, 2010. The production team has just released the latest television spot for the show, including quotes of acclaim. Click below for a look!

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, the exhilarating new Kander & Ebb musical, opened Sunday, October 31 at the Lyceum Theatre. Since it's celebrated opening, the show has been the target of protests, as was first mentioned on BroadwayWorld.com's Broadway Message Board HERE and is still be debated HERE. One poster calling for a boycott of the show asks: 'When is Racist Terrorism Musical Entertainment? Where is the Song and Dance Musicals about Gas Chambers, World Trade Center or Japanese Internment Camps?'