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The cast of The Scottsboro Boys, music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, book by David Thompson. Directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. On the McGuire Proscenium Stage of the Guthrie Theater through September 25, 2010.

Last night I went to see "The Scottsboro Boys" at the Guthrie Theater. It's a vibrant, high energy musical that deals with a tragic story, involving nine black boys unjustly convicted for a crime (to find out more details of the production, check out Euan Kerr's story 

It was an evening that provoked both a lot of laughter, and a lot of emotion, and it left me thinking. So this morning I took a look at some of the reviews that have popped up in the last week to see what others had written. Here are a few snippets I found interesting - to read the full reviews, just click on the name of the author:

 of the City Pages (note: his full review won't be out until Wednesday):

These are all great and accurate reviews, but still I found something missing - something at the core of my experience, which I think is key to the success of the show.

Yes, as Graydon Royce stated in his review, it was a disturbing show to watch. But why? Where did the discomfort lie?

Here's what I noticed: as a white person watching a show about the cruel treatment of nine young black men, there was a part of me that couldn't help but feel guilty. Not for what happened back in the 1930s, but for what continues to happen everyday. Is the sentencing of young black men to an unfair punishment really that unfamiliar a story?

As the audience rose up at the end of the show to give the cast a standing ovation, I looked around me - the audience was almost entirely white. I thought - how much of our eagerness to applaud this work has to do with the quality of the entertainment, and how much of it has to do with our desire to be seen as the "good guys?"

It was interesting to note that as each actor took their turn bowing before the audience, one received markedly less applause than the others. That was the character of the "Interlocuter" - the one white person on stage - who represents power and authority and the status quo. That part was played by the only local actor in the cast, David Anthony Brinkley. I couldn't help but think as he bowed soberly, that he represented all of us.

For me, the disturbing aspect of this show is not how it allows deep pain and humor to coexist on stage, but how it succeeds in pointing fingers at the audience, just as that same audience is laughing and applauding.

The Scottsboro Boys: a look at the reviews

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