A Broadway play based on the 1931 Scottsboro Boys case will be performed at the Princess Theater in Decatur next year, officials announced this week.

The play is being presented by the Alabama Center for the Arts, Athens State University, Red Mountain Theatre Company and The Princess Theater. The Alabama premiere is set for the winter of 2020. Performance dates and ticketing information will be released this spring.

The announcement comes on the heels of renewed interest in the case, particularly in the Tennessee Valley. The Scottsboro Boys were formally pardoned in 2013 by then-Gov. Robert Bentley. More recently, groups have worked to honor Judge James E. Horton Jr., who famous set aside a jury’s guilty verdict of one of the Scottsboro Boys, Haywood Patterson.

In 2017, a statue honoring Horton was erected outside the Limestone County Courthouse. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan bill to rename the Athens post office as the Judge James E. Horton Jr. Post Office Building.

Dr. Stephen Spencer, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Athens State, said the production would enrich the education of any student who sees it because it brings a historical event and moment to life.

“This is an important story in the history of Alabama, and the performance offers many opportunities for students studying history, social studies, law, criminal justice, music and drama, from elementary schools to college, to connect what they are doing in the classroom to a dynamic Broadway production,” he said.

About the production

“The Scottsboro Boys” tells the true story of nine young black men between the ages of 12 and 19, traveling by train through Scottsboro in 1931 in search of a new life. By the end of their journey, the youth find themselves wrongly accused of a horrific crime which leaves their lives changed forever.

The subsequent trial and national press surrounding it had a powerful and everlasting impact on American history and the American civil rights movement. The trial also led to the passage of two pivotal Supreme Court rulings, including the right to proper legal representation and the right to trial by a jury on one’s peers.

Music and lyrics for “The Scottsboro Boys” are by John Kander and Fred Ebb, who created “Cabaret” and “Chicago.” The play is based on a book by David Thompson.

On Broadway, the show was nominated for 12 Tony Awards. In London, it won The Critics’ Circle’ Award, The Evening Standard Award and it was nominated for six Oliviers.

Producer Philip Mann said the show would be a recreation of the original Broadway production.

“It is not an overstatement to say that this is a watershed event in the cultural life of Decatur and the State of Alabama,” Mann said. “Further, this is an initial step towards our eventual goal of establishing the Alabama Center for the Arts as a leader in the cultural and educational life of the region.”