Parade is a musical with a book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The musical is a dramatization of the 1913 trial and imprisonment and 1915 lynching of Jewish American Leo Frank in Georgia.
The musical premiered on Broadway in December 1998 and won Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Original Score (out of nine nominations) and six Drama Desk Awards. After closing on Broadway in February 1999, the show has had a US national tour and a few professional productions in the US and UK. Its 2023 Broadway staging was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning two, including Best Revival of a Musical.
Background and genesis
left|thumb|250px|The first day of the trial. Spectators were racially segregated. The stenographer can be seen next to Newt Lee, who is being questioned by prosecutor Hugh Dorsey.
The musical dramatizes the 1913 trial of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank, who was accused and convicted of raping and murdering a thirteen-year-old employee, Mary Phagan. The trial, sensationalized by the media, aroused antisemitic tensions in Atlanta and the U.S. state of Georgia. When Frank's death sentence was commuted to life in prison by the departing Governor of Georgia, John M. Slaton, in 1915 due to his detailed review of over 10,000 pages of testimony and possible problems with the trial, Leo Frank was transferred to a prison in Milledgeville, Georgia, where a lynching party seized and kidnapped him. Frank was taken to Phagan's hometown of Marietta, Georgia, and he was hanged from an oak tree. The events surrounding the investigation and trial led to two groups emerging: the revival of the defunct KKK and the birth of the Jewish Civil Rights organization the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Director Harold Prince turned to Jason Robert Brown to write the score after Stephen Sondheim turned the project down. Prince's daughter, Daisy, had brought Brown to her father's attention. Book writer Alfred Uhry, who grew up in Atlanta, had personal knowledge of the Frank story, as his great-uncle owned the pencil factory run by Leo Frank.
The musical's story concludes that the likely killer was the factory janitor Jim Conley, the key witness against Frank at the trial. The villains of the piece are the ambitious and corrupt prosecutor Hugh Dorsey (later the governor of Georgia and then a judge) and the rabidly anti-semitic publisher Tom Watson (later elected a U.S. senator). Prince and Uhry emphasized the evolving relationship between Frank and his wife Lucille. Their relationship shifts from cold to warm in songs like "Leo at Work/What am I Waiting For?," "You Don't Know This Man," "Do it Alone," and "All the Wasted Time". The poignancy of the couple, who fall in love in the midst of adversity, is the core of the work. It makes the tragic outcome – the miscarriage of justice – even more disturbing.
The show was Brown's first Broadway production. His music, according to critic Charles Isherwood, has "subtle and appealing melodies that draw on a variety of influences, from pop-rock to folk to rhythm and blues and gospel."
Most critics praised the show, especially the score. However, the public and some critics received the show coolly. When the show closed, co-producer Livent had filed for bankruptcy protection (Chapter 11). Lincoln Center was the other producer solely responsible for covering the weekly running costs.
US national tour (2000)
A US national tour, directed by Prince, started at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. It ran from June to October 2000, with Jason Robert Brown conducting at some venues. It starred David Pittu as Leo, Andrea Burns as Lucille, Keith Byron Kirk as Jim and Kristen Bowden as Mary.
London
The first major production in the United Kingdom played at the Donmar Warehouse from September 24 to November 24, 2007. It was directed by Rob Ashford and starred Lara Pulver as Lucille, Bertie Carvel as Leo, Jayne Wisener as Mary and Stuart Matthew Price as Young Soldier/Frankie. Pulver was nominated for the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Carvel was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical. A double-CD cast recording of this production has been released by First Night Records. The recording includes new material written by Brown for the production and contains all songs and dialogue from the Donmar production. The large Broadway orchestration was reduced by David Cullen and Brown to a nine-piece ensemble consisting of two pianos, accordion, percussion, clarinet, horn and strings.
Another off-West End production opened on August 10, 2011, for a 6-week engagement ending September 17, at the Southwark Playhouse's Vault Theatre. It was directed by Thom Southerland, with musical staging by Tim Jackson, starring Alastair Brookshaw as Leo, Laura Pitt-Pulford as Lucille, and featuring Simon Bailey as Tom Watson and Mark Inscoe as Hugh Dorsey.
2023 Broadway revival
The City Center production started previews at Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on February 21, 2023 and opened on March 16. Platt and Diamond reprised their roles as Leo and Lucille Frank. The revival completed its limited run on August 6, 2023, with 21 preview performances and 169 regular performances. Platt and Diamond appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe to announce the transfer. Reprising their City Center roles were Krill, Nolan, Johnson, Feliciano, Grayson, and Doyle. Joining them were Kelli Barrett as Mrs. Phagan, Howard McGillin, who played Luther Rosser at City Center, as Old Soldier/Judge Roan, and Jake Pedersen as Frankie Epps. On the night of the show's first preview, members of the neo-Nazi group National Socialist Movement protested against the production outside the theater. A cast album for the production was released by Interscope Records on March 23, 2023. The recording was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
thumb|[[Micaela Diamond|Diamond and Platt (left) with First Lady Jill Biden in 2023]]
The revival received mostly positive reviews, including those in The New York Times ("well-judged and timely"), Time Out New York ("cause for celebration"), The Guardian ("dynamic and moving"), Entertainment Weekly ("more poignant and powerful than ever"), The New York Post ("Brown's finest music, and Platt's most heart-wrenching work ... Diamond, whose combination of fragility and power is thrilling for an actress so young, brings an electricity to her duets with Platt"), Variety ("theatrically thrilling"), New York Stage Review ("beautifully executed"), New York Theatre Guide ("uniformly terrific cast ... [Platt and Diamond] deliver"); Charles Isherwood dissented in The Wall Street Journal, writing: "Even a first-rate Parade cannot disguise the conceptual problems". The production was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning two for Best Musical Revival and Best Direction of a Musical.
US national tour (2025)
A national tour of the 2023 production began technical previews at Proctor's Theatre in Schenectady, New York in January 2025, with an official opening at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Arden's direction and the production's creative team was retained. Seven cast members from the Broadway production continued with the tour; three retained their roles, and four stepped into roles they understudied in New York, including Max Chernin as Leo Frank. Talia Suskauer starred as Lucille. The tour is scheduled to end on September 7, 2025 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Concerts
On February 16, 2015, a concert production of Parade was staged at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center by Manhattan Concert Productions, directed by Gary Griffin and conducted by composer Jason Robert Brown. Jeremy Jordan and Laura Benanti starred as Leo and Lucille, with Ramin Karimloo as Tom, Joshua Henry as Jim, Andy Mientus as Britt, Emerson Steele as Mary, Katie Rose Clarke as Mrs. Phagan, John Ellison Conlee as Hugh, Davis Gaines as Judge Roan/Old Soldier, Eric Anderson as Detective Starnes, and Alan Campbell as Governor Slaton.
New York City Center staged Parade as the gala concert presentation of its 2022/2023 season, with a benefit performance on November 1 and a run continuing through November 6, 2022. Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond played Leo and Lucille Frank. Michael Arden directed and incorporated projections and photography of the real-life trial in the production. Other notable cast members included John Dossett as Old Soldier/Judge Roan, Manoel Felciano as Tom Watson, Jay Armstrong Johnson as Britt Craig, Sean Allan Krill as Governor Slaton, Jennifer Laura Thompson as Sally Slaton, Erin Mackey as Mrs. Phagan, Gaten Matarazzo as Frankie Epps, Alex Joseph Grayson as Jim Conley, Erin Rose Doyle as Mary Phagan, Howard McGillin as Luther Rosser and Paul Alexander Nolan as Hugh Dorsey. Jason Robert Brown conducted the onstage orchestra. Script and score changes from the 2007 Donmar production were retained. Reviews for the run were strongly favorable, with Steven Suskin giving it 5 out of 5 stars and writing in New York Stage Review: "Rather than leaving its audience suitably impressed but emotionally unmoved as in prior viewings, Michael Arden’s spare but meticulous production unleashes the gripping theatricality of the writing that has heretofore been trapped within."
Other productions
Parade was staged in May 2003 at the Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, California, in a production directed by Ryan Mekenian and produced by Susan Egan. It was mounted at the Neighborhood Playhouse in Palos Verdes Estates, California, from July 9, 2008. The production was directed by Brady Schwind. The production starred Craig D'Amico as Leo, Emily Olson as Lucille and Alissa Anderegg as Mary.<!-- Should we mention these small-scale brief productions that had few notable cast or crew members? -->
The Donmar production transferred to the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, California, in September 2009, for a run through November 15, 2009. Pulver reprised her role as Lucille opposite T. R. Knight as Leo. The cast also included Michael Berresse, Christian Hoff, Hayley Podschun, Rose Sezniak and Phoebe Strole. In 2015, to commemorate the centenary of Frank's lynching, Kennesaw State University's theatre department produced two amateur concert performances of the musical, one each at Marietta's Strand Theatre and Leo Frank's synagogue, The Temple, in Atlanta.
A German language production at the Theater Regensburg in Regensburg, Germany, played for a dozen performances from April to July 2023. It was directed and choreographed by Simon Eichenberger with translations by Wolfgang Adenberg and starred Alejandro Nicolás Firlei Fernández as Leo and Fabiana Locke as Lucille.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
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! width="5%"| Year
! width="20%"| Award Ceremony
! width="45%"| Category
! width="20%"| Nominee
! width="10%"| Result
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| rowspan="23" align="center" | 1999
| rowspan="9"| Tony Award
| colspan="2"| Best Musical
|
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| Best Book of a Musical
| Alfred Uhry
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| Best Original Score
| Jason Robert Brown
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| Best Direction of a Musical
| Harold Prince
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| Best Actor in a Musical
| Brent Carver
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| Best Actress in a Musical
| Carolee Carmello
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| Best Scenic Design
| Riccardo Hernandez
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| Best Choreography
| Patricia Birch
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| Best Orchestrations
| Don Sebesky
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| rowspan="13"| Drama Desk Award
| colspan="2"| Outstanding Musical
|
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| Outstanding Book of a Musical
| Alfred Uhry
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| Outstanding Music
| rowspan="2" | Jason Robert Brown
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| Outstanding Lyrics
|
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| Outstanding Director of a Musical
| Harold Prince
|
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| Outstanding Actor in a Musical
| Brent Carver
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| Outstanding Actress in a Musical
| Carolee Carmello
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| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
| Rufus Bonds, Jr.
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| Outstanding Set Design
| Riccardo Hernandez
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| Outstanding Lighting Design
| Howell Binkley
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| Outstanding Sound Design
| Jonathan Deans
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| Outstanding Choreography
| Patricia Birch
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| Outstanding Orchestrations
| Don Sebesky
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|New York Drama Critics' Circle Award
| Best Musical
| Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry
|
|}
Original London production
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
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! width="5%"| Year
! width="20%"| Award Ceremony
! width="45%"| Category
! width="20%"| Nominee
! width="10%"| Result
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| rowspan="7" align="center"| 2008
| rowspan="7"| Laurence Olivier Award
| colspan="2"| Best New Musical
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| Best Actor in a Musical
| Bertie Carvel
|
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| Best Actress in a Musical
| Lara Pulver
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| Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical
| Shaun Escoffery
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| Best Director
| rowspan="2"| Rob Ashford
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| Best Theatre Choreographer
|
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| Best Sound Design
| Terry Jardine and Nick Lidster
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|}
2023 Broadway revival
{| class="wikitable" width="95%"
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! width="5%"| Year
! width="25%"| Award Ceremony
! width="40%"| Category
! width="20%"| Nominee
! width="10%"| Result
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| rowspan="32" align="center" | 2023
| rowspan="6"| Tony Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Revival of a Musical
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| Best Direction of a Musical
| Michael Arden
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| Best Actor in a Musical
| Ben Platt
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| Best Actress in a Musical
| Micaela Diamond
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| Best Costume Design of a Musical
| Susan Hilferty
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| Best Lighting Design of a Musical
| Heather Gilbert
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| rowspan="4"| Drama Desk Awards
| colspan="2"| Outstanding Revival of a Musical
|
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| Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical
| Micaela Diamond
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| Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical
| Heather Gilbert
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| Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical
| Jon Weston
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| rowspan="2"| Drama League Awards
| Distinguished Performance Award
| Micaela Diamond
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| colspan="2"| Outstanding Revival of a Musical
|
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| New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards
| colspan="2" |Special Citation
|
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| rowspan="4"| Outer Critics Circle Award
| colspan="2" |Outstanding Revival of a Musical
|
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| Outstanding Director of a Musical
| Michael Arden
|
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| Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical
| Micaela Diamond
|
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| Outstanding Video or Projection Design
| Sven Ortel
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| Grammy Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Musical Theater Album
|
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|}
Notes
References
- Extensive website about the show
- Cast and other information from the GeoCities Jason Robert Brown website
- All the Wasted Time – Parade
- Parade at the Music Theatre International website
- Profile of the show at the NODA website indicating which characters sing which numbers
External links
- New York Times review, 12/18/98
- List of numerous productions of Parade between 2001 and 2004
- New York Times review of Los Angeles production, 12/14/09