Parade - National Tour at the Orpheum

 Parade, music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown with a book by Alfred Uhry, opened a limited run at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis. It plays till Jan 26, and it is a stunning production of a stunning musical. Originally produced on Broadway in 1998, this show was revived and back on Broadway in 2023. The National Tour had a few Tech performances in New York, but is opening here in Minneapolis. While the show was not a huge hit in 1998, it did still garner Tony Awards for Best Score, and Best Book. This revival won Best Revival, and Best Direction of a Musical at the 2023 Tony Awards. It is very clear why.

The show is about Leo and Lucille Frank, a newly married Jewish couple that lives in Atlanta in 1913. Leo does the accounting for a pencil factory, and on Memorial Day in 1913 something happens at the factory. A young girl is found dead - Mary Phagan. The blame is divided between Leo Frank, and Newt Lee, the African-American night watchman. From this point on we, the audience, get to see the machinations behind politics of the time. We see the governor decide that they can't blame another black man for a crime, but he leaves the decision up to the District Attorney. We see how the DA buys witnesses, and fully disregards true justice so that the governor can get a conviction, and the messy situation will be cleared.

photo by Joan Marcus

This is based on true events that took place, and we find towards the end of this incredible production that the case is still open as of 2019. It is an incredible show that also reflects our times and how we can see the way politics plays into justice, and often distorts the truth. That is the top layer of this story. Add layers of anti-semitism, racism, the fact that the feelings behind the Civil War were still alive at the time which provides a conflict between the folks of Atlanta, and Leo - who was raised in New York. You see and hear the difference that Leo notices between himself, and those folks of Atlanta. 

Musically this show is incredible. It sets the tone with a song named "The Old Red Hills of Home" and on stage we see a young soldier leave his girl to head off to fight the Civil War, and we see an older soldier return, wounded, getting ready to march in the Memorial Day parade. You hear traces of this song through out the show, and it is a powerful song. There is a lot of music in this work, and each song is so intrinsically tied into the moment that it has to be there. It is a brilliant score, and one worth hearing live and in person - especially by this incredible cast. The cast is on stage through quite a lot of the show - sitting in chairs on the sides of a raised platform. They are watching the parade, or at the funeral, or watching the trial. Yet even with a lot of folks on stage, the focus is very clearly where it should be. It is easy to see why this won Best Direction of a Musical. It is difficult to call out specific actors because it feels like an ensemble work. That being written - clearly Max Chernin as Leo Frank, Talia Suskauer as Lucille Frank, Ramone Nelson as Jim Conley are three that I would start with. Chernin and Suskauer wonderfully navigate their changing relationship through this work and it is a joy to watch - though difficult at times. Vocally they sound amazing in their solo songs, and mix together perfectly in their duets. It is sheer joy in hearing them sing. Ramone Nelson plays an integral role, and vocally is incredible. He has power, and versatility in his voice, and while the character he plays may be questionable, his talent is not. The whole cast provides such a powerful vocal presence through out the show...I honestly can't rave about this show enough. Go see it. It is moving, powerful, troubling, and yet fitting to our time.