Point Park University's REP Professional Theatre Company Kicks Off the Season with THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS

The REP Professional Theatre Company will be opening the 2017-2018 season with the Pittsburgh premiere of The Scottsboro Boys, the true story of one of the most well-known miscarriages of justice in American history when nine African American boys are wrongly accused of rape.

Directed and choreographed by Tomé Cousin, The Scottsboro Boys runs September 8 - 24, 2017 in the Rauh Theatre at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, 222 Craft Ave. Performances will be at 8 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Adult tickets are $29, seniors are $15, and students are $10 and can be purchased by calling the Pittsburgh Playhouse box office at 412-392-8000 or visiting www.pittsburghplayhouse.com. There will be an Audio Descriptive performance on Saturday, September 23 at 2 p.m.

In 1931, nine African American teenagers were accused of raping a woman on a train chugging its way across Alabama. The legal battles that followed resulted in death penalty verdicts, Supreme Court rulings and lynch-mob mentalities.

Just imagine this Jim Crow era story coming to life on the Rauh stage in the form of a minstrel show. The Scottsboro Boys makes its Pittsburgh debut, originally directed and choreographed by the legendary Susan Stroman who earned two of the 12 Tony Award nominations for the 2010 production. Does this tragic story and its theatrical presentation have more political relevance today, less than 10 years after its premiere? Come find out for yourself.

"The Scottsboro Boys is the most dynamic/dramatic musical I've encountered in many years!" said director and choreographer, Cousin. "Though the landmark case took place 86 years ago, in today's climate, it could happen again tomorrow."

The Scottsboro Boys features musical direction by Douglas Levine, associate choreography by Jeremy Czarniak, scenic design by Britton Mauk, costume design by K.J. Gilmer, light design by Andrew David Ostrowski and sound design by StEve Shapiro.

Following the Thursday, September 21 performance will be a Talk Back with the cast and director to answer questions and dig deeper into the themes and topics of the show with audiences.

Don't miss this year's new special lecture series, Freud on Forbes. Following the Saturday, Sept. 23 performance of The Scottsboro Boys at 8 p.m., members of the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center will analyze the script in order to help the audience get inside the mind of the playwright.

Tomé Cousin is an award winning director/choreographer who serves collaborations in theater, dance, opera, music, film, photography, television and literature. He is also a highly regarded theatre educator, published author and creator over 90 original works of performance. He is on full time faculty at Carnegie Mellon University in the School of Drama.

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