Parade Concert at Lincoln Center — Page 2

"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."

Lucille is a difficult role. I didn't think Carolee Carmello was all that good originally. Maybe Victoria Clark could have pulled it off, but it's a role that requires Southern gentility, which is hard to play. It's why it's difficult to get a good Blanche DuBois.

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"it's a role that requires Southern gentility, which is hard to play"

That's it! Laura didn't do "Southern gentility," she came off more like a hick, a la Nellie Forbush. I still think she sang it and played the emotion wonderfully, but she didn't have that Southern gentility.

B'wayguy2, how many actors and actresses portraying real-life people have truly resembled them? Not many, I'd venture to say. I've seen various photos of the Franks, and some are more flattering than others. Also, we have to remember that standards of attractiveness have changed over the past century (Lillian Russell would be considered dumpy by many now) -- and especially in the era of the thigh gap. Standards are also highly subjective. As to a person looking "clearly" this or that ethnic, I don't know how many times someone I'd sworn was Scandinavian or Greek or Italian or Russian-Jewish or whatever turned out not to be. I find it's best to avoid language that could be construed as revealing one's tendency to stereotype or preconceived notions.

Updated On: 2/17/15 at 03:13 PM

IMO, Lucille should be played like Olivia de Havilland played Melanie in Gone With The Wind.

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Maybe it is a blessing to be 93 and slightly deaf...It filters the mechanical difficulties..and what remains is pure joy...The great Brown work presented with incredible performances..supported with magnificent musicians to the power of of two hundred singers was breathtaking!

In my 85 years of frequent theater going, this was one of the top experiences.

Updated On: 2/17/15 at 09:29 PM

WTF? Jeremy Jordan's mother is 100% Jewish. One of his maternal great-grandfathers was an Orthodox rabbi.

What is a "Brooklyn Jew"? Leo Frank was born in Texas, the exact same state Jeremy Jordan was born in. He moved to New York later, just like Jeremy Jordan. He was 31 during the time the play is set in, while Jordan is 30.

It really is such a remarkable disconnect from reality. Why do people have such a blind spot about the Jews? I mean, people said the same thing about Jordan and The Last Five Years, where the original stage actor, Norbert Leo Butz, wasn't Jewish, though a couple of Jews other than Jordan have played it since in minor productions.

With Parade, Jeremy Jordan is literally the first Jew to play the role in a major production. Brent Carver, Bertie Carvel, TR Knight, and David Pittu played it before. None of the four are Jewish.

In any fair and rational world, Jeremy Jordan would be seen as the Jewish actor who finally took over Jewish roles that have previously almost exclusively been played by non-Jews.

Instead, what's happened is that Jordan is seen as a non-Jew unfairly playing Jewish roles (and no one mentions that those roles were previously played mostly by actual non-Jews). Gee, I guess Jeremy is stealing these parts from the likes of Jason Biggs? (needless to say, Biggs is not Jewish at all).

Honestly, why is there such a disconnect from reality about the Jews?

Otherwise, how do you explain these complaints about Jeremy Jordan, a dark-haired 30 year old Texas Jew, playing Leo Frank, a dark-haired 31 year old Texas Jew, when Leo Frank in Parade was most famously played by Brent Carver, a 42 year old blond Canadian WASP? Nuts.

Updated On: 3/2/15 at 12:49 AM