'Parade': Antisemitism & injustice in old South

‘PARADE’: Micaela Diamond & Ben Platt. Photo: Joan Marcus.

PARADE
Book by Alfred Uhry
Music & lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Conceived by Harold Prince
Directed by Michael Arden
Through August 6, 2023
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
242 West 45^th Street
(212-239-6200), https://paradebroadway.com/

By David NouNou

A lot has happened since Parade originally opened in 1998 at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. In its original form, it was compelling theatre; now it is very difficult to sit through. Not that the subject matter has changed—it’s the times that have changed. If anything, Parade is more relevant today than it was back then. Watching antisemitism in full display now, bigotry, the state of Georgia currently in turmoil and making headlines about an injustice perpetrated by a former president—plus, the divisiveness that is splitting the country on so many different issues—there is a lot to process here.

The story is set in Georgia, the time is 1913-1915, and it is about the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl, Mary Phagen (Erin Rose Doyle), and the subsequent arrest, trumped-up trial, unjust sentencing and lynching of a Jewish factory superintendent, Leo Frank (Ben Platt).

Leo Frank moved from Brooklyn to Atlanta to be with his Southern Georgian Jewish wife, Lucille (Micaela Diamond), whose uncle offered Leo a superintendent’s job and hopefully a better life to be able to raise a family. He is totally uncomfortable in this environment because he is Jewish and feels out of place. It is Memorial Day 1913: Mary Phagen (Miss Doyle), has come to the pencil factory on a Saturday for her weekly pay of $1.20. The next day she is found dead in the basement of the factory. The suspects at the time are the black janitor, Newt Lee (Eddie Cooper) and Leo Frank. Prosecutor Hugh Dorsey (Paul Alexander Nolan) is coerced by Tom Watson (Manoel Felciano), a writer for The Jeffersonian, an extremist right-wing newspaper, and conspire to release Newt Lee reasoning “hanging another Negro ain’t enough this time. We gotta do better.”

Leo is sentenced to jail to eventually hang. His wife Lucille goes to Governor Slaton (Sean Allan Krill) to show the inconsistences of the trial, which Slaton reluctantly looks over, and ultimately finds enough evidence of conspired lying decides to transfer Leo to another jail, only to be hauled away at night by “rebels seeking revenge” and hanging him.

The book by Alfred Uhry is fascinating and intriguing, while the score by Jason Robert Brown is too lugubrious and unmemorable. For such an intense subject matter, the play could have used more book and less score to make the point of injustice more effective. You yearn for the scenes that have Leo and Lucille speaking frankly to each other or Lucille making her point to Governor Slaton. Originally directed by Harold Prince, director Michael Arden has taken a darker approach to the proceedings. It’s apropos for the times.

What mesmerized me most and made the evening more tolerable was Ben Platt. With the role of Leo Frank, he has finally shed his teenage persona of Evan Hansen, and taken the mantle of Broadway’s next leading man. He is so convincing as Leo that I could not see a sign of Evan. He is solid, as an actor and a singer and genuinely believes in his role.

Two other performances that leapt out were Micaela Diamond as Lucille Frank, her unrelenting pursuit to exonerate her husband and the love behind her motives are palpable. The other performance is from Sean Allan Krill as Georgia Governor Slaton, with his commanding voice and charming Southern gentility; he delivers genuine compassion in trying to resolve this heinous case. The rest of the cast is the usual stereotypes one would find in the South.

Parade is making a meaningful and lasting impression on this year’s theatrical season. It’s mirroring the times in which we live.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 22, 2023
Reviewed at March 21, 2023 press performance.