NYU Parade Review

I'm not one for seeing school shows or community theatre, but I had to see this, considering that I had never seen it, and loved the score so...

What an AMAZING show.
Jason Robert Brown is definately a musical theatre genius, as he has written one of the best scores ever to have graced the Broadway stage...

That being said, I had a few problems with last night's performance. There were many good points, and some bad points. I'll start with the good...

#1 The ensemble as a whole. Of course, this was a vocal performance, so they had an amazing sound. Very strong when they sang together. As the intensity grew in the courtroom (during the "Hang Him" chaos), I had chills. I found it to be one of the most amazing parts of the show. I also got chills when the chorus would sing "Old Red Hills of Home". Beautiful sound.

#2 Leo and Lucille Frank. (Ryan Driscoll and Rebecca Ryan) Great Performers. Lucille really had the Southern thing down. At first, it bothered me that she would smile a lot, but, i started to realize that, as a character choice, it was a very subtle southern thing to do.
"No, It Isn't Over Yet" - one of the best moments in the show.
Also, during Leo's statement towards the end of Act 1, when he turned to his wife and asked if she understood, just the look on her face, and the subtle nod, was very touching.

#3 Iola Stover, Essie, and Monteen. (Stephanie Barnum, Rachel Blackburn, and Laura Hartle) These three girls were amazing. They sounded ten times better than the girls on the recording. Their acting was just as good, but their harmonies...what voices! Mary Phagen (Alison Grace Bradbury) was also great, as she had the look, and was adorable...

#4 Mrs. Phagen (Caitlin Crosbie Doonan) had a very touching moment with her song, "My Child Will Forgive Me". As much as I love Jessica Molasky, I was never crazy about the song on the recording. But Caitlin did a wonderful job with it.

#5 Britt Craig (Michael Craig) did a really great job with his "Big News", and Governer Slaton (Matthew Schmiedel)was also wonderful.


Now, for the bad points...

#1 Jim Conley, (Maurice Parent) though he had a decent voice was way too over the top. A little self-indulgent, as he played more for the laughs. Personally, I do not feel that this character is comedic. We are supposed to dislike him, not applaud him. I also feel that Maurice was too "modernized" in his performance. His courtroom entrance was a 70's "jive" walk, and with his "Chain Gang", came a preacher from the late twentieth Century. This was not how people acted in 1913.

#2 Many of the Ensemble - as individuals, were kind of weak. When I hear the Young Soldier sing the opening number, I expect to be blown away. Didn't happen. The guards, especially the first prison guard (now, that was supposed to be the comedic role) was very bland.

#3 Tom Watson (Christopher LaCroix)and Hugh Dorsey (Chris Fitzgerald) were the two I did not care much for. Dorsey did not have the greatest voice, and Watson just bothered me. I don't know if it was the character that bothered me, or the actor, or the fact that they had the worst songs in the show...

To sum it all up, there were a few moments where I felt I was watching a very proffesional production (i.e. Broadway) and some moments where I felt I was watching a high school production (Aged characters played by very young people is hard to get past). I don't like going to these kinds of productions, because there are so many biased people in the audience - peers and co-classmates, who will cheer whether good or bad. But, on the other hand, I am glad I went. The Good points outweighed the bad, and I had a good time. I can now say, after seeing a production of it, that Parade is one of my favorite shows.

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Senor,

You are absolutely right. I did not mention how well the lighting and sets, being minimal, were wonderful. Most of the staging was well done, though I found sloppy moments (the hanging was kind of off). I liked how in the cortroom scene, your attention would be directed elsewhere, and when you look center, there would be someone unexpectedly sitting in the chair...

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Yes Senor,
Fiddlin John played at the beginning of one of my favorite songs "It is Time Now".
He was off with the violin, and I think that through off his vocals. Needless to say, it messed up my fave song.

It kinda dissapointed me because that is a role I want to play badly (Young Soldier/Fiddlin' John) But, if fiddle playin' is a requirement, then I will never get to play it. 8(

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LOL...

That is close to a compliment to think that I was mistaken for Dorothy Dandridge.
Only problem, I am very much a white male...

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I'm so glad you liked it!! Michael and Ryan are very good friends of mine (I stage manage for vocal performance sometimes) so I'll make sure to pass along the good news!

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Hey could you post a cast list?

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I went and Saw Northwestern's performance earlier in the year. IT WAS AMAZING, not saying that NYU's wasn't cause i havent seen it. but just u know throwing that in there.

I'm seriously doubting the validity of the review you posted. While I certainly appreciate your oppinions of the show, you can not make such judgements without merrit about the different character and directorial decisions without backing them up. I saw the show as well, and found that while your review was quite positive, the remarks about Maurice Parent especially disturbed me. You said he had acted like a 20th Century Preacher rather than a black man of 1913. The score and book never hinted itself of being authentic 1913 speech or music(aside from the funeral hymn) and to make Jim Connely's charcater so theatrical is a testament to the score/libretto. The real Jim Connely, had been on the stand for several days, 7 hours at a time each day, during the trial. He was very coached and pretty much performed his entire statement. To dismiss an actor's performance for following the intent of the score and book is not very fair. Also, how do you know that a pompous African American man of 1913 put in a "showy role" of a huge court battle would not walk/act as Parent had? The 1970's pimp walk had to originate from somewhere.

You also seemed to base entire performances based on songs. Dorsey and Watson, two heavily dramatic roles with very little singing, were put in your negative category, while both actors were extremely effective in their roles. "Did not have the greatest voice" or "bothered me" is not a very informative way of reviewing someone.

Tell you what...postpone your reviews for a while until you have some experience in reviewing shows with the ability to discriminate from personal oppinion and factually based statements.

Updated On: 2/19/05 at 02:39 PM

Though I am glad you enjoyed the show, Justice, I'd caution you against posting reviews of college shows. It is my opinion that we college kids (I don't go to NYU, so this isn't a personal thing for me) are still developing our own crafts even if we are performing at our Universities. I can tell you that I would be pretty crushed if someone were to say negative things about a performance of mine on the internet, though I would get over it. Another performer may have an even more difficult time. At this age, one's self esteem can easily be shattered completely. I do realize that if students of the theater are serious about continuing into a proffessional career then we have to be prepared for bad reviews, but that doesn't mean that we should be prematurally exposed to them, not while we are still finding out who we are as performers.

Updated On: 2/19/05 at 05:40 PM

I can agree with a few of you here. Yes, I dont think it is very fair to write things negative about students, but then again... schools and community theatres do recieve reviews as well. As for Jim's character, I felt the same way when I left. I, however, will blame the director for the most part. It seemed Jim was going to break into some Jazz routine while entering the court. No matter what time we assume for the peice/music, Jim seemed to be on a different page then the rest of the cast. Mary's costume also extreemly bothered me. Little Boe Peep? what?

I was very impressed with the show. Blown away, in fact. I've loved the score for years, but had never seen it, so I expected to get something from it that I hadn't gotten up to that point, and boy did I ever! I loved it.

I'm a student in Steinhardt at NYU (not a performer, music composition), and I had gone to see Tisch's production of Sweeney Todd last semester. I was disappointed when I saw it because it was clear they had cast actors who could sing a little bit (although some of the acting choices were questionable). Anyway, that production lacked, musically. So when it was announced that the vocal performance program was going to do Parade, I expected it to be the opposite: singers whose acting was somewhat weak.

I was very pleasantly surprised with the acting. Some were better than others, but no one took me out of the momentum of the piece because of poor acting. I bought everyone's performance, and was genuinely impressed and moved by ALL of the leads. The only thing that bothered was that Lucille didn't belt any of her role. It bugged me at first during 'What Am I Waiting For?', but it didn't end up being a problem. First of all, the role isn't exclusively a belting role. Secondly, even though Lucille would switch into her head voice, it didn't matter because she had a very strong head voice. There wasn't a noticable difference, and the actress covered her break extremely well. Though I did wish for a little more from 'You Don't Know This Man', and though the balance was a little off during her duets with Leo, it really didn't matter because her singing choices were strong.

Frankie kind of bothered me, but again, not enough to take me out of the action of the story. And in the end, though he kind of annoyed me, I thought it was crucial that we understand how young Frankie is, and the actor certainly conveyed that. I'm also one of those people who can look past my personal preference for a voice as long as that voice is being used well. Frankie was spot on all night. He had impeccable pitch, he had the necessary range for the part: technically, he never faltered, and I would much rather have that than someone whose voice I loved going flat on every other note and screeching during the higher passages.

The ORCHESTRA was so great! It was too bad that they had to be stuffed behind the back wall, because they didn't really get to show everyone that there was live music, but their presence was still felt. They were excellent. As someone above already mentioned, I think my favorite moment of the show, musically speaking, was during 'That's What He Said', the "Hang him!" section. The layering upon layering of voices, the escalating intensity, the sheer volume (yet quality) of the sound: it was breathtaking. I think it's important for us to realize that this sort of effect can't really be achieved unless EVERY SINGLE PERSON on stage is singing precisely and perfectly and EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the orchestra is playing exactly as they should. The fact that this happened is a testament to the quality of the production, even though it was just one moment.

Anyway, I've been rambling on, but that's very indicative of my feelings after the show. I've done nothing all day today except think about last night. Different moments have been running through my head, different melodies, different fragments of lyrics. This is not an experience I will forget soon.

I'm not (I'm not a performer, at least not one studying performance). I haven't heard a lot about that show, so I don't really know.