‘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.

‘PARADE’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PARADE’: (left to right) William Michals, Jackson Teeley, Paul Alexander Nolan, Eddie Cooper & Max Chernin. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PARADE’: Alex Joseph Grayson. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PARADE’: Jay Armstrong Johnson & Jake Pedersen. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PARADE’: Erin Rose Doyle & Jake Pedersen. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PARADE’: Paul Alexander Nolan & Alex Joseph Grayson. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PARADE’: Benn Platt. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PARADE’: Micaela Diamond. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PARADE’: Manoel Felciano. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘PARADE’: Stacie Bono & Sean Allan Krill. Photo: Joan Marcus.

The post ‘Parade’: Antisemitism & injustice in old South appeared first on StageZine.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: (left to right) Ebony Marshall Oliver, Michael Urie, Devere Rogers & Cleo King. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

CHICKEN & BISCUITS
Written by Douglas Lyons
Directed by Zhailon Levingston
Through November 28, 2021
Circle in the Square
235 West 50th Street
212-239-6202, https://chickenandbiscuitsbway.com/

By David NouNou

Since the inception of dramedies and a barrage of mediocre sitcoms on TV, comedies have gotten scarcer and scarcer on Broadway. Once a staple for entertainment (Neil Simon’s annual outings), they are now almost non-existent. However, one has managed to squeeze in this season. At times it borders on the absurd and broad farce, but we’ll take our laughs any way we can when comedies are so desperately needed in these times.

The story centers on the death of a Southern Baptist minister, whose family has come together for his funeral. What we get is a few more members that the family didn’t expect. The two sisters mourning their father are Baneatta Mabry (Cleo King), the older and more sensible one, and the self-proclaimed beauty and flashier younger sister, Beverly Jenkins (Ebony Marshall-Oliver). Beverly believes that displaying her bosom at her father’s funeral is more important to attract a man who has come to pay his respects than to be appropriately dressed.

Baneatta is married to Reginald Mabry (Norm Lewis).  He has taken over the ministry and is supposed to deliver the eulogy. They have a daughter, Simone (Alana Raquel Bowers) who has been dumped by her boyfriend—a man she was expecting to marry— for a white woman. They also have a son, Kenny (Devere Rogers) who is gay and the only person who accepted him was his deceased grandfather. Kenny has brought his white, flamboyant, sweet Jewish boyfriend, Logan (Michael Urie), and he has a tough time being accepted at a Baptist funeral. Also, there is La’Trice Franklin (Aigner Mizzelle), Beverly’s  high-strung, eccentric 15-year-old daughter whose father left her when she was young.  There is a last-minute secret character, Brianna Jenkins (Natasha Yvette Williams), whose identity I will keep a secret. Needless to say, they all have issues.

The premise is grand and really fun; there are even some very touching scenes between the characters voicing their feelings, but the playwright, Douglas Lyons and the proceedings are greatly misled by a young, inexperienced 27-year-old director, Zhailon Levingston, making his Broadway debut. The director has totally failed the show and the cast in giving them any nuanced direction. There is very little cohesion to the scenes other than what Mr. Lyons has given us. The cast are left to their own devices at times, mugging and ranting relentlessly. Their deliveries are not modulated and everything seems to run helter skelter.

Even seasoned performers like Norm Lewis and Michael Urie—both of whom have had many Broadway ventures and have always been interesting to watch—seem to be trying too hard. Cleo King does her best in being the matriarch of the family, but the most natural and enjoyable performance is delivered by Natasha Yvette Williams who comes near the end of the play and allows her natural sweetness to envelop the theatre.

You won’t get many surprises in Chicken & Biscuits, but you will get an enjoyable evening full of laughs.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 10, 2021
Reviewed at October 9, 2021 press preview performance.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: Norm Lewis & Cleo King. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: Aigner Mizelle, Ebony Marshall-Oliver & Alana Raquel Bowers. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: Alana Raquel Bowers & Devere Rogers. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: Ebony Marshall-Oliver, Michael Urie & Devere Rogers. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: The cast. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: The cast. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: Michael Urie & Aigner Mizzelle. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: Cleo King, Ebony Marshall-Oliver & Natasha Yvette Williams. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: Cleo King & cast. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘CHICKEN & BISCUITS’: Norm Lewis & cast. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

The post ‘Chicken & Biscuits’ a yummy but flawed dish appeared first on StageZine.