Next year’s 68th annual Dolphin Show will be the musical “Parade,” the show’s producers announced Tuesday night.

With its book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, the musical, set in 1913, tells the story of Leo Frank, a man who was lynched after being accused of killing a girl.

The annual Dolphin Show is the largest student-produced musical in the nation. It began as a fundraiser for the Dolphin Club and has progressed to a full-fledged student musical housed in Cahn Auditorium.

Director Scott Weinstein said students spent about 10 days reading scripts and listening to recordings before they settled on “Parade.”

“This is a show that we had all liked the music of,” the Communication junior said. “I had never seen it or read it before. I picked it pretty much the moment I started reading it. It connects with the audience in a way no other show we were looking at does – this is one that latches on to the audience and doesn’t let go.”

Weinstein said among his other roles, he’ll be responsible for determining the framing and character of the production with his team, adding that the show will stay true to its historical setting. Last year’s Dolphin Show, “The Wizard of Oz,” was framed as a modern fairy tale.

“With a story like this, because it’s a strong and emotional story, it’s kind of whatever’s going to tell the story best,” he said. “It’s told really cinematically. We’re just looking to tell the story in the strongest way possible.”

Casting for the show will start in October. The group has already assembled a design team and a rehearsal team and will have petitions for the leadership side of the production, including the business positions, this week, Weinstein said.

He said the Dolphin team is committed to keeping the show a campus-wide tradition.

“Between casting and production, (it) kind of breaks it free from just being a theater tradition,” Weinstein said. “We want to reach out to all areas of campus and not just the theater community with it.”

– MATT SPECTOR