Frostburg Students Attend “Thoughts of a Colored Man” on Broadway

On Saturday, October 30th, two buses filled with extremely tired students set off in the early morning toward New York City. The group was to see the play Thoughts of a Colored Man on Broadway at the John Golden theatre. The play was written by Frostburg alumni, Keenan Scott II, who graduated in 2009 with a degree in theatre.

Keenan Scott II’s Thoughts of a Colored Man follows a day in the life of seven black men, each named for the emotion as which they are perceived by others. The play manages to be both comedic and heart wrenching, as well as comforting though painfully truthful. The characters illustrate the nuance of the black man. Though they are labeled by their central characteristic, each scene proves to the audience the complexities within each character. Quickly, we notice that Depression can be happy, Wisdom can falter, and Anger can be loving. Yet, the entire play is permeated by the label of “colored” which is projected on a large screen behind the characters for the duration of the play. This contrast between the labels that the world gives to people, especially black men, and their true nature is the essence of the show. Additionally, the title, Thoughts of a Colored Man, shows that these seven characters, each with their own distinctions, are parts of one man. Despite all of their contrasting characteristics and the multitudes they contain, they are labeled only as a “Colored Man.”

Anyone who has attended a professional theatrical production, or even a local musical, knows that the theatre is generally a stuffy environment in which one is expected to be silent except when politely clapping at the end of a scene. One of the wonders of this show and the community surrounding it is that the audience feels comfortable enough in this space to defy these norms. The John Golden theatre certainly fits its name. It’s full of intricate golden architecture: chandeliers, arches, gold, and aspects that imply stuffiness, wealth, and the status quo on Broadway. And yet, the audience does not fall victim to the haughty interior, approving hums and amens can be heard when Wisdom speaks his knowledge, and often a phrase started by an actor on stage will be finished by the audience.

After the show, Keenan met the students outside the theatre to speak to them, where he stated:

“This would not be possible without Frostburg, and I mean that,” he said, “I literally started writing this when I was living in Frederick Hall.” Scott went on to thank Frostburg’s theatre professors, “I have to shout out my professors Nicole, Mairzy, and Darrel.  Mairzy is the one who gave me the space; I brought it to Mairzy just on a whim, like I’m trying to graduate. I want to do something before I leave…and for me to be able to share my voice at the time when I was just a poet, and I was trying to write a play, I wasn’t even a playwright yet. So, thank you. Having them as professors, me not growing up as a “theatre kid”, a lover of hip hop, and a lover of movies, but they gave me the confidence I needed. I didn’t know what I was doing, I just had passion: I was raw, but they were the first ones that really gave me the knowledge, gave me the support and love, told me that I was a leading man when I didn’t think I was a leading man, and just put me in shows and really really supported me every step of the way. And as you see, it’s very important because if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here right now. It just means the world. Y’all remind me of me. I was you all, so thank you, it means a lot.”

Third year Frostburg musical theatre major Brian Records had this to say of the trip: “It was such a surreal feeling to go see a play written by someone who was in my shoes not long ago. Thoughts of a Colored Man is an incredible play with incredible meaning. I just feel so lucky to know the man that wrote it, and to be getting the same education as him, too.”