Parade

Parade is a musical dramatization of the accusation, trial and lynching of Leo Frank for the rape and murder of a 13-year old girl in 1913, the only Jew to ever be murdered in such a fashion in the United States. The book was written by Alfred Uhry (who won a Pulitzer for the play Driving Miss Daisy and an Oscar for its screenplay adaptation) and the music and lyrics are by Jason Robert Brown (Songs for a New World, The Last Five Years). The musical opened on Broadway in 1998 and won two Tony awards, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Musical Score.

Going into the theatre, I was under the impression that the main emphasis of this show would be the love story between Leo and his wife Lucille, as they find a deeper love and understanding of each other through the ordeal. This emotional side of the story is what was stressed on Wikipedia and on the theatre company's website. Considering Jason Robert Brown's other work (perhaps my favorite musical of all time, The Last Five Years), I thought the whole historical premise of the show would just be a vehicle for his unsurpassable talent at telling a love story.

However, it's actually the portrayal of this period of time and the South in general that steals the show. The music is complicated and beautifully fitting for the location and subject matter, something I was afraid of given it's a musical about a lynching, not your typical broadway fare. Granted it's not the happiest of shows. The songs are not the kind you leave the theatre humming away in glee. They work as part of the whole, not as individual ditties. And since we're so egocentric as a species, it's hard for a musical like this to become a favorite with songs so difficult to relate to (at least for me). Had the love story been played up more, I may have found more to connect with and to sing along to after the show ended. But I'd sacrifice my own personal satisfaction for beautiful art anyday. Parade should definitely be seen and appreciated, even if you won't fall in love with it. We rarely fall in love with what we should.

The production I saw was put on by Speakeasy Stage Company, a professional theatre company that specializes in Boston premieres. It was mostly done well. The leads were competent enough, with the actor playing Leo Frank being better than that. The real standout was the actor playing Jimmy Conley, the African-American janitor at the factory that Frank was manager of and that the victim, Mary Phagan, worked at. Conley is also suspected of being the real killer of the girl. His song, at the trial of Frank, was the best part of the musical. It's the kind of number that a performer would kill for: a minor character taking center stage, belting out a show-stealing song, and then fading away into obscurity for most of the story's remainder. And this guy nailed it. The rest of the cast was so-so. From reading their bios, I learned that most of them are attending or have attended The Boston Conservatory, which showed. Their voices were fantastic and everyone always sounded great. Unfortunately, the acting didn't always reach the same heights. No one was terrible, but there weren't enough standouts either.

All in all, see Parade if it's playing in town. Clearly, I can't vouch for the quality of its execution, but the concept and writing of the musical itself is beautiful and not to be missed.