Photograph courtesy of The Croswell Opera Home
“Parade” is, definitely, one of many best theatrical experiences of my life.
And but, hesitation lingers, not as a result of there aren’t phrases to reward this manufacturing of “Parade,” however due to the sheer weight of what has been completed.
With a e book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, “Parade” is predicated on the harrowing true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish manufacturing facility supervisor in Atlanta who, in 1913, was accused and finally convicted of murdering 13-year-old Mary Phagan. Regardless of contradictory proof and mounting doubt, Frank was sentenced to loss of life, later commuted to life in jail, earlier than being kidnapped and lynched by a mob in 1915. Greater than a century later, the case stays a haunting portrait of systemic injustice, antisemitism, and mob violence, one whose echoes really feel disturbingly related at this time.
As Frank, Matthew Porter delivers the efficiency of a lifetime, capturing each the character’s prickly reserve and his quiet dignity because the world turns in opposition to him. Reverse him, Kristin Kukic imbues Lucille Frank with unwavering resolve and emotional hearth, her evolution from supportive partner to decided advocate forming the reveals ethical core. Collectively, they anchor “Parade” with devastating humanity.
Director Michael Yuen guides the manufacturing with precision and urgency, making certain the present’s historic weight by no means feels distant. Steven Kiss, Jared Hoffert, and Joshua Egnatuk embody real-life figures like prosecutor Hugh Dorsey, Governor John Slaton, and Tom Watson with unsettling conviction, reminding us how ambition and prejudice can corrupt reality. Even in smaller roles, AJ Landingham, Nate Adams as Leo’s protection legal professional Luther Rosser, Jeffery King as Decide Roan, CaSaundra Taunton, Bradley Baker, Love Ruddell, and the ensemble contribute hanging authenticity and texture.
The staging, after all, is enhanced by Tony Award nominee Tobin Ost, whose turntable set turns into a robust visible metaphor for the story’s momentum and inescapable forces. Choreographer Sabriyah Davis and Music Director Todd Schreiber deliver additional vitality to the manufacturing, making certain that motion and music not solely complement the narrative however deepen its emotional resonance.
The rating, one in every of Jason Robert Brown’s most interesting achievements, pulses with ardour and unease, marches, anthems, and ballads that illuminate each the fervor of the gang and the quiet resilience of the person. On this manufacturing, numbers that humanize even essentially the most unsympathetic characters, delivered to vivid life by Nikolas Brown, Will DuPis, and Riley Epps, underscore “Parade’s”unsettling reality: that hatred is commonly strange, disguised in acquainted faces and communal fervor.
What makes this staging extraordinary isn’t just its historic accuracy however its immediacy. Although set within the early twentieth century, “Parade” feels chillingly trendy, its themes reducing into the perils of at this time with startling readability. The musical doesn’t merely recount a tragedy; it holds up a mirror to the current, asking whether or not we’ve actually discovered from the previous, or whether or not we’re nonetheless trapped in the identical cycle of worry and violence?
“Parade” isn’t just theatre, it’s a reckoning, a piece that calls for to be seen, felt, and wrestled with. This manufacturing rises to that demand, providing a visceral, unflinching expertise that lingers lengthy after the ultimate observe.
Go see “Parade.” It’ll change you.
The Croswell’s manufacturing of PARADE continues by means of Sunday, September twenty first. Tickets may be bought at right here.