Parade Concert at Lincoln Center

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 1:53am

I know it's late, but I'm still reeling from the Parade concert tonight. I don't see any other posts about it on the board (unless I'm missing them?), so I'd love to post my thoughts:

In summary: I was completely blown away by the entire thing. I had seen a regional production of the show before, and I'm very familiar with the score, so it was especially a treat to see it done with such an incredible cast and orchestra.

The show was done with some simple staging, and props throughout. The costumes seemed very carefully done. None of the clothing seemed entirely outdated, but it was reminiscent of the era without going full-on period. The background was a black-and-white American flag, with a Georgia Flag in front of it. During the show, they projected things onto the space where the Georgia flag was at the top of the show, to give us a sense of where we are (the courthouse, the factory, etc.). The only problem was the microphone trouble. The people running the soundboard often weren't able to anticipate which mics were supposed to be on at a given time, and several lines and moments were lost because the mics came on too late.

From what I could tell, they did the version of the show that was done in London, rather than the original Broadway version.

The cast was phenomenal overall. Jeremy Jordan particularly impressed me. I liked him in Smash, I liked him in Newsies, I liked him in the Last Five Years, but he really did an outstanding job with Leo. It was a complete departure from his usual characters, and he pulled it off wonderfully; his acting, singing and physicality were all perfectly executed in my opinion.

Ok, I adore Laura Benanti, and she did a really great job as Lucille. However, I thought that she was just the slightest bit miscast. I can't quite put into words why. Maybe I'll sleep on it, and it'll come to me tomorrow.

Joshua Henry was the biggest standout of the supporting characters, for my personally. He played Jim Conley, and WOW does that man have the most incredible voice and charisma! He received very loud and lengthy rounds of applause after "That's What he Said" as well as after "Feel the Rain Fall." Andy Mientus, Ramin Karimloo and Katie Rose Clarke were great in their respective roles, but didn't have much material to work with (especially since this version of the show did not have the song "Big News" for Brit Craig). All-in-all, the whole ensemble of actors did top-notch jobs.

At the end, JRB gave a short speech thanking those involved with the production. Much to our surprise, Alfred Uhry came onstage for the curtain call right before JRB's speech! It was such a treat to see Brown conduct one of his best scores.

Many familiar faces were in the audience, including Norm Lewis, Rob McCure, Christian Borle, Celia Kennan-Bolger, Constantine Maroulis, Stephen Pasquale, Kate Weatherhead, and probably many more that I didn't see. Also, the stage door was a surprising success! After what was said in that thread earlier today, I did not expect to see many people come out. Luckily, Jeremy Jordan, Laura Benanti, Andy Mientus, Josh Henry, Katie Rose Clarke and several other actors came out and signed and posed for pictures (not Ramin, unfortunately). Those of us who stuck it out until midnight (the show let out at 11) got a special treat! Jason Robert Brown came himself came out and was very gracious generous with his time.

Overall, it was an incredible and unforgettable experience! Sorry for the long-winded post.





Updated On: 2/17/15 at 01:53 AM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 2:08am

Who sang "Old Red Hills?"

[E.Davis]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 2:30am

Charlie Franklin sang Old Red Hills of Home and played Frankie also.

That wasn't Hal Prince, it was Alfred Uhry.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 3:04am

Can someone please post a pic of the Playbill? I'd love to see it!

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 8:54am

Ok, I adore Laura Benanti, and she did a really great job as Lucille. However, I thought that she was just the slightest bit miscast. I can't quite put into words why. Maybe I'll sleep on it, and it'll come to me tomorrow.

I was also a bit disappointed in Benanti, who I usually love in performance. I think I'm just so used to everything about Carolee Carmello's performance that even Benanti's very good work wasn't enough. Although I also think taking the score up removes a lot of Lucille's strength and determination, which might be what Benanti's performance was lacking. (A line that, to me, really lost its heft was "Or I could start to scream / Across the whole damned South / And never shut my mouth / Until they understand.")

I was also very impressed with Jeremy Jordan, who I honestly never had much of an interest in. His body language during "The Factory Girls/Come Up to My Office" was pretty much perfect.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 9:06am

Are you sure that was Alfred Uhry and not Hal Prince? I just googled pictures of them both, and the guy on that stage looked a hell of a lot more like Hal Prince, at least the way I remember it. I was sitting in the 2nd of the orchestra, if that makes any difference.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 9:10am

It was Alfred Uhry.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 9:10am

Jason Robert Brown said Hal Prince wasn't up on the stage with them, so it was definitely Alfred Uhry.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 9:13am

I couldn't sleep last night because I just kept running the score through my head. It sounded so phenomenal with that huge orchestra and chorus. The percussion section itself was enough to get me hot and bothered. There is so much musical texture to this piece, I wish I could see it again and again to unpack it all.

My only quip was with the microphones. Mic cues were being missed way too often so you'd often miss the first line or two of a character's entrance. Mics in general needed to be brought up a bit, particularly when the full chorus was singing behind the soloists. The balance was off.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 9:19am

Yes, it was Alfred Uhry, not Hal Prince. I am positive.

Josh Henry was amazing (as always) and Jeremy did a fantastic job. Yes, Laura was miscast, but we knew that going in (at least I did).

I'll have to agree with the comment about the mics. The orchestra often drowned out the vocalists. For the amount of money they were charging for the tickets, the sound really should have been better. Specifically Andy & Ramin were very tough to hear, and I was sitting pretty close.

Updated On: 2/17/15 at 09:19 AM

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 9:20am

Alrighty, the nays have it. I stand corrected :) Just changed it in my post. Sorry about that.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 9:39am

I love how BWW put clips up and not one of them was Jeremy singing

[ggersten]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 9:53am

Nor a clip of Joshua Henry who, per twitter, brought the house down. Maybe theatremania will have better clips soon - more like the clips for the Titanic concert last year.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 10:12am

Josh Henry did bring the house down. Largest applause of the night. And he bowed third to last, before Laura and Jeremy.

[203bbf]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 10:22am

Are there any plans to release an audio recording of this (or any of the other Manhattan Concert Production)?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 10:36am

No.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 10:58am

Something else I just noticed: all the press announcements about the cast said that Nathaniel Stampley would play Newt Lee, but last night it was played by Alvin Crawford. Crawford did a fantastic job, but I'm curious what happened there.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 11:07am

Nathaniel Stampley is in Big Love. Probably had conflicting rehearsals.

[RW3]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 11:13am

Revive Parade!

[emilyfaye48]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 11:15am

Does anyone know if Carolee was in attendance last night?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 11:20am

Jordan and Benanti both, as absolutely wonderful as they are and as beautiful as they sing the score, were both terribly miscast if you think about the real Leo and Lucille.
Leo is late-20s / 30 year old Broklyn Jew of slight build and a bit nerdy looking.
Lucille is mid-20s, clearly Jewish though she doesn't embrace that in the way Leo does, and short and a bit stocky, not terribly attractive.

[nycncbrguy]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 11:31am

I completely agree. I couldn't understand why the Sound Team couldn't get the stand microphones working. They were onstage during Intermission making adjustments so clearly they were aware of the problems. But the sound didn't improve in the second half either. It is unfortunate to have such a dazzling cast who are delivering such outstanding performances that the audience is unable to hear. It felt like the Sound Designers had been hired the day of the show and didn't have an opportunity for a tech rehearsal. Or was faulty equipment to blame???

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 11:36am

It can't just have been the "equipment." There were missed cues. Seems like combination of operator error. Do the MCP concerts usually have sound problems? Last night was my first one.

[little_sally]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 12:26pm

I recall Titanic having great sound (and I was in one of the last rows of the balcony).

[firebolts]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 12:31pm

I wish I could have seen this - such a wonderful cast in beautiful musical (though the actual story is very depressing/scary). Do you think it will be uploaded on YouTube at all? Not now, but at least sometime in the future? I know that some previous productions at Lincoln Center are on YouTube in full.