Parade, the Jason Robert Brown-Alfred Uhry musical that won twin Tony Awards in 1998, was revived and revivified in November in a concert version at City Center. This was so instantly successfully that the figurative troops have been reassembled for a full commercial run. The good news — or “Real Big News,” as a standout first-act production number headed by a hack journalist is called — is that Parade, now at the Bernard B. Jacobs, is even stronger than it has ever been (at least in the experience of this viewer). Which is to say, better than last fall at City Center, and better than the original, Hal Prince-directed production at the Vivian Beaumont.
This is the real-life tale of Atlanta factory manager Leo Frank (Ben Platt), a displaced Jew from Brooklyn, who was accused of the 1913 murder of factory girl Mary Phagan. Following a trumped-up trial and last-minute reprieve from the governor, Frank was pulled from prison and lynched by loyal sons of the post-Confederate South. Not your typical musical theater fodder, which counted against its popularity 25 years ago. But now, perhaps, Parade’s time has come. At least, as presented here, with Platt not only selling tickets but giving a searing knockout of a performance.
[Read Bob Verini’s ★★★★★ review here.]
Unlike with many quick transfers from non-profits, director Michael Arden and his entire production team seem to have taken the time and effort to think things through. This is immediately apparent in Dane Laffrey’s scenic production; the central, raised acting platform remains, as much of the key action takes place up there. But without the onstage orchestra claiming acreage, there is space to spread out the actors and free up the dancers. (Beneath the stage platform, it is revealed in a nice touch at the finale, is a layer of Georgia red clay.) The projections by Sven Ortel, too, have enhanced power. The “landmark marker” prominent at City Center as the audience entered — which spelled out, in advance, the salient fact that the apparently innocent Frank was lynched — is no longer in evidence.
Arden’s staging includes numerous episodes in which the principal players seem to be surrounded by the swirling maelstrom of the ensemble; this was likely the director’s concept from the beginning, although it was not conducive to the limited stage area and rehearsal time at City Center. Arden takes what was good before and enhances it. The same can be said for the choreography, which seems intriguingly developed from the bare bones of what was there. Last November, the choreography was credited to “Cree Grant.” Now, the program lists “Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant.” In any case, the combination of Arden, the two Grants, and music director/conductor Tom Murray bring full value to the power of Brown’s masterful but underappreciated score.
There is a slightly smaller orchestra here than at City Center, with 24 pieces reduced to 17. But Murray’s band is considerably more impactful now that it has been removed from City Center’s on-stage platform. There, the sound dissipated into the fly space above the stage. Placed in the pit of the Jacobs (formerly Royale), the music rings out and across the auditorium. What’s more, the orchestra pit has been restored in front of — rather than beneath — the stage. That is, the back wall of the pit descends from the front wall of the proscenium. The producers lose 40 or so top-priced seats in this manner, yes, which is why most current Broadway orchestras are hidden from view (and direct hearing). The results fully pay off. And those 17 pieces are plenty; they’d be hard pressed to fit more into the Jacobs pit.
Ben Platt remains the raison d’être of the production; if the Broadway transfer was predicated on the hunch that the former Evan Hansen would prove a ticket-selling draw, the sales thus far seem to bear this out. Platt — in adult shoes, as it were — proves himself an adept musical theater (and dramatic) actor. Relative newcomer Micaela Diamond was the welcome surprise at City Center; the 23-year-old handily carried the difficult and somewhat treacherous role of Lucile Frank, the passive wife who — when hope is lost in the second act — grabs the narrative and, thanks to composer Brown, the stage. If Diamond was an instant success last November, the intervening months have given her time to add assurance to talent and bring out heretofore hidden facets of the role of Lucile. She is very good indeed. Brown, along with his co-orchestrator, the late Don Sebesky, well understand the massive power of two people singing out at the top of their lungs over crashing cymbals. Platt and Diamond do precisely this, in “This Is Not Over Yet,” and the power crackles throughout the house.
The cast is mostly the same as City Center, with many players resuming their roles. Among those standing out are Sean Allan Krill as the governor; Paul Alexander Nolan and Manoel Felciano as villainous politicos; Jay Armstrong Johnson as the muckracking reporter; Jake Pederson as a teenaged suitor; and Alex Joseph Grayson as the ex-con and likely murderer. Erin Rose Doyle, as the victim with the white balloon, has an enhanced presence due to some new staging; and the factory girl trio (Sophia Manicone, Emily Rose DeMartino, and Ashlyn Maddox) remains highly effective.
But the star of the show, even more than Platt and Diamond, is composer/lyricist Brown. Broadway has never heard anything quite like the startling Trial Sequence which brings down the first act curtain. Brown combines 10 distinct musical sections of astonishingly divergent style, tone, and emotional temperature, building to wildly unbridled hysteria. In the quarter-century since writing Parade at the age of 24, he has had several Broadway opportunities (namely 13, The Bridges of Madison Country, Honeymoon in Vegas, and Mr. Saturday Night). All of these musicals, including the original Parade, had disappointing and ultimately unsuccessful runs. This new Parade seems likely to finally give Brown the artistic and commercial success he has well earned over the years.
Parade opened March 16, 2023, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre and runs through August 6. Tickets and information: paradebroadway.com
