Theatergoers accustomed to leaving Cahn Auditorium with warm, fuzzy feelings after Northwestern’s fall mainstage musical theater productions may be in for a surprise with “Parade.”
The name makes it sound like a pleasant walk in the park, but this fascinating musical drama, which mixes an exploration of anti-Semitism with a love story, is anything but lighthearted.
“This show is difficult because there’s a very deliberate story — and it’s just not funny,” said Weinberg senior Jesse Manocherian, who plays Leo Frank, the show’s protagonist. “It gives you a chance to get gritty in a musical.”
“Parade” is based on real events that unfolded in Atlanta in 1913. Leo Frank, a Jew from Brooklyn who is a newcomer to the South, is accused of murdering Mary Phagen (played by Communication sophomore Morgan Weed), a 13-year-old girl employed in the pencil factory where Frank works as a superintendent. The audience is aware of the falseness of the charge, but the people of Atlanta, fueled by anti-Semitic prejudices, are eager to pin the crime on an outsider.
“It’s all about fear and hatred, and I think what becomes interesting is that there’s also a love story tied in there,” Manocherian said. “It’s honest and daring. It takes steps to places where you’re not expecting it to go.”
And the music — an eclectic mix of pop, jazz and patriotic marches, performed by strong singers and a masterful 25-piece orchestra — is compelling and brilliant. Musical theater fans unfamiliar with the music of Jason Robert Brown will be pleasantly surprised by the variety and quality of the score.
“Parade” received mixed reviews when it premiered in New York in 1998 and its original run lasted only 84 performances, but in a year when Broadway was filled with mostly revivals, “Parade” was a breath of fresh air and garnered nine Tony nominations. Its collaborators — Brown, the composer-lyricist and playwright Alfred Uhry — won Tonys for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical. “Parade” was Brown’s first musical on Broadway, and he was only 28 years old when it opened. The show has since been reproduced by a touring company and at several regional theaters, but is often a smaller production than it was originally conceived.
“I’m delighted that at Northwestern we will be able to do it in a big, legitimate theater kind of way,” said director and theater professor Dominic Missimi.
The most passionate moments in the show blossom out of the music — especially in the scenes where characters are fueled by racism and prejudice.
“This is definitely the most intense show I’ve ever done,” said Music senior Mackenzie Thomas, who plays Phagen’s best friend, Iola. “It’s good to play dark characters. Musical theater is really cheesy and it makes people feel good, but I think it’s great to have a musical about serious matters that still pertain to today’s world.”
The show’s powerful narrative arises from playwright Uhry’s personal connection to the actual Frank case. Uhry grew up in Atlanta, and his great uncle owned the pencil factory where Leo Frank was employed. Uhry also knew Leo’s wife, Lucille Frank, as one of his grandmother’s friends. This is the third work Uhry has written about the city of his birth — the others being “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The Last Night of Ballyhoo.”
“Parade” opens in the 1860s, with a Confederate soldier preparing to leave home. He sings “The Old Red Hills of Home,” a southern anthem repeated frequently throughout the show. The song continues 50 years later at the Confederate Memorial Day parade, where the same soldier, now a crippled old man leads the people of Atlanta in extolling the glories of Dixie. Leo Frank describes the surreal feeling of being far from home and realizing that “being Southern is not just living in the South.” Mary Phagen is found dead at the factory and after the community comes together to celebrate her life in “There Is a Fountain/It Don’t Make Sense,” their sorrow is replaced by a thirst for revenge. Frank is charged with murder, and Governor Slaton and prosecutor Hugh Dorsey both stake their political careers on getting Frank convicted. This decision has repercussions for everyone in the second act. Another pivotal moment is Frank’s impassioned plea of innocence, “It’s Hard to Speak My Heart.”
“It’s surprisingly blunt in a time period where everything is very withheld,” Kohn said.
Missimi said his cast and crew spent time carefully researching the history of the case. This included flying the set designer to Atlanta, where he visited Mary Phagen’s grave and talked to people about the trial.
“I hope people will leave saying ‘We are ashamed that there was a time when prejudice was so rampant,'” Missimi said. “Greater respect for other human beings, greater tolerance: Those are the lessons I hope we can learn from this history put before us.”
“Parade” opens on Friday and runs through Nov. 21. Performances are at 8 p.m. on Nov. 12, 13, 18, 19, 20; and 2 p.m. on Nov. 14, 21. Tickets are $25 for general public, $22 for senior citizens, faculty and staff and $10 for students.4
Medill junior Eric Martin is a PLAY writer. He can be reached at [email protected].
