Kander & Ebb Win Drama Desk Award for Best Lyrics for SCOTTSBORO BOYS!

Kander & Ebb are the recipients of this year's Drama DEsk Award for Best Lyrics of a Musical for The Scottsboro Boys. 

The legendary collaboration of John Kander and Fred Ebb over four decades resulted in some of the most beloved and enduring musicals in theater history: from FLORA, THE RED MENACE to CABARET (two Tony Awards - Best Musical and Best Composer and Lyricist); ZORBA, CHICAGO, and WOMAN OF THE YEAR (Tony Award, Best Original Score); to KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN (Tony Award, Best Original Score), CURTAINS, THE VISIT and SKIN OF OUR TEETH. They also collaborated for film and television on such memorable works as LIZA WITH A Z (Emmy Award); HBO's Liza Minnelli'S STEPPING OUT (Emmy Award); the films FUNNY LADY (Oscar nominated for "How Lucky Can You Get"); LUCKY LADY, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, STEPPING OUT and CHICAGO (Oscar nominated for Best Song).

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS features music and lyrics by the Tony Award-winning team of John Kander and Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago), in the final collaboration of their legendary careers. Book is by Tony Award-nominee David Thompson (Steel Pier). Direction and choreography is by five-time Tony Award-winner Susan Stroman (The Producers, Contact).

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS is the winner of the 2010 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and the 2010 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical. It has been nominated for nine 2010 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Director of a Musical (Susan Stroman), Outstanding Choreography (Susan Stroman), Outstanding Music (John Kander, Fred Ebb), Outstanding Lyrics (John Kander, Fred Ebb) and Outstanding Book (David Thompson) and also received a Drama League Award nomination for Distinguished Production of a Musical.

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS is based on the notorious "Scottsboro" case in the 1930s, where nine African American men were unjustly accused of attacking two white women on a train in Alabama. The young men were convicted by an all-white jury and spent years in jail, while the case was tried and retried. In the tradition of their classic musicals Cabaret and Chicago, Kander and Ebb explore this dark chapter of American history in a daringly inventive and startling entertainment.

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS had its world premiere earlier this year at the Vineyard Theatre, where it was heralded by Entertainment Weekly as "a cause for rejoicing," "a masterwork" by the New York Post, "staggeringly inventive" by the Associated Press and "dazzling, riveting and toe-tapping with real teeth" by Variety. NY1 called the production "one of the most satisfyingly original shows to open in a very long time!," while Bloomberg News raved "Susan Stroman is in top form here - razor sharp dancing and soaring music, some of Kander and Ebb's best!"

Prior to Broadway, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will play a limited engagement at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN. The production will play July 31 through September 25 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.

Set design is by Beowulf Borritt, costume design is by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design is by Kevin Adams and sound design is by Peter Hylenski. Orchestrations are by Larry Hochman, with musical arrangements by Glen Kelly. Music direction is by David Loud.

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will be produced on Broadway by Barry and Fran Weissler, Jacki Barlia Florin and The Vineyard Theatre.

Tickets ($39.50 - $131.50; Premium $251.50) are available by calling Telecharge.com at 212-239-6200 or online at www.telecharge.com. Performances will be Tuesday through Sunday at 8:00 PM, with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 PM.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.