Posted: 11/1/22 at 9:18am
Tonight starts the week long run of Parade at NYCC. Seven Performances only. Anyone going tonight? I'll be there on Saturday.
Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen) returns to the New York stage as Leo Frank alongside Micaela Diamond (The Cher Show) as Lucille Frank in this starry Gala presentation of the Jason Robert Brown (Songs for a New World) and Alfred Uhry (Driving Miss Daisy) musical. Inspired by historical events, Parade follows the Franks—a Jewish couple living in Marietta, Georgia—as they’re pulled apart and drawn together by Leo’s 1913 murder trial, conviction, appeal, and eventual lynching. Brutal legal drama contrasts with haunting pastoral lyricism as an unlikely love story unfolds—a unique blend of tones that won both Brown and Uhry Tony Awards (for Original Score and Book respectively).
Almost a quarter of a century later, Parade’s urgent exploration of the bitter roots of American bigotry couldn’t be more timely. Tony-nominated director Michael Arden (Deaf West’s Spring Awakening) delves deep into the murky complexities of an imperfect justice system, even as he highlights the sweeping beauty of love songs like “All the Wasted Time,” “Do It Alone,” and “The Old Red Hills of Home.”
