Parade - Broadway

The Broadway revival of Parade is captivating theater on a grand scale.  The themes of antisemitism and racism that pervade the musical, which takes place in 1913 are, sadly, still in the forefront today, making this a powerful and relevant production.

The show is based on an abhorrent chapter in American history - the lynching of a Jewish clerk for a crime he didn’t commit.  The locale is Atlanta, Georgia. The story revolves around Leo Frank (Ben Platt), an unassuming foreman at a pencil factory, and his wife, the dutiful Lucille Frank (Micaela Diamond).  When a young girl is found murdered in the basement of the company, Leo Frank is soon arrested and put on trial by the unscrupulous prosecuting attorney Hugh Dorsey (Paul Alexander Nolan).  Before and during the trial, the public is worked up to a frenzy by the sensationalist articles written by reporter Britt Craig (Jay Armstrong Johnson).  Through a procession of unreliable and untruthful witnesses as well as an abundance of circumstantial evidence. Frank is convicted and sentenced to death.  However, after continued pleadings of innocence by Frank’s wife to the Governor of Georgia, the politician reexamines the case and after careful consideration commutes the sentence to life in prison.  Seeing the new decision as unjust, a group of men break into the prison, kidnap Leo Frank, and carry out their own form of justice.

The Tony Award winning book by Alfred Uhry, an Atlanta native whose relative actually owned the pencil factory where Leo Frank was employed, is direct and unflinching in its depiction of race relations and the antisemitic environment of the emerging New South.  Uhry’s libretto is filled with numerous supporting players, all fully rounded and superbly acted.

Jason Robert Brown’s score, his first for the Broadway stage (which also won the Tony Award for Best Score) is one of his richest and most satisfying works.  They adroitly set the show’s shifting moods and deftly define character and plot.

Michael Arden’s direction reads like a true crime docudrama with authentic period costumes by Susan Hilferty and photographs of real-life historic players and scene setting captions periodically projected on the back of the stage.  He positions Dane Laffrey’s elevated set piece front and center, giving it the feel of a political, speech-making podium.  Chairs flank the monolith, serving both as a staging area for the performers and as an area where the crime and injustices are silently witnessed.  Assisted by well-placed and concise choreography by Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant, the director skillfully weaves in all the central characters and tangential storylines to create a fluid, energized production.

The outstanding cast is led by Ben Platt as Leo Frank, naive and trusting with the wheels of justice and somewhat aloof and condescending with his wife even as she works tirelessly for his release.  His actor’s transformation into a realist and, more importantly, into a loving and caring husband is heartfelt and convincing.

Micaela Diamond, as Lucille Frank, is the heart and soul of the production.  Her unwavering support and dedication is the thread that connects the musical from beginning to end.

There are so many marvelous performances by the supporting cast, with too many to mention.  Some of the more notable portrayals are Jay Armstrong Johnson, who is striking as the cynical, smooth talking, sensationalist reporter Britt Craig.  Paul Alexander Nolan is first-rate as the aspirational, underhanded, and wily prosecutor Hugh Darcy.  Sean Allan Krill provides an even tempered, subtle performance as Governor Slaton, who’s portrayal strongly balances the more devious characters.  Alex Joseph Grayson is sublime as the duplicitious, self-aggrandizing Jim Conley, the custodian of the pencil factory.

Parade, an exceptional revival, playing at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway.