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The Mark Taper's "Parade" a sobering reminder of Red/Blue State realities, racism and anti-semitism
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Who was Leo Frank? No, he was not Ann Frank’s father. And, while he was also a Jew, he was an American and not a German. And no, he did not die at the hands of the Nazis. He was lynched by Georgia whites in 1917 for a murder he may not have committed and after the Georgia Governor had reduced his sentence from death by hanging to life imprisonment.
Why are we talking about Leo Frank? It’s because the play with music Parade is currently being performed at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Fresh from runs in New York and London, where, respectively, it won a Tony award and was nominated for an Olivier award, an ensemble of about two dozen talented men and women deliver a powerful performance of this “musical” about a subject which, although almost 100 years old, still has relevance today in our “red state vs. blue state” reality.
Here’s a quick summary of the story: Frank was a Ivy League educated New York City Jew who moved to Atlanta to manage a pencil-manufacturing factory. After a 13 year-old girl employed in the factory was found raped and murdered, Frank was charged, tried, convicted and sentenced to death based totally on circumstantial evidence that may well have been based on perjured testimony. A courageous Governor reviewed the case and reduced the punishment to life imprisonment. A mob, led by prominent Georgians and the Ku Klux Klan, kidnapped Frank from the prison and hanged him.
Southern Jewish author Alfred Uhry is best known for “Driving Miss Daisy”, a story also set in Atlanta. Being Jewish and Southern, Uhry says (see video below) have always been conflicting parts of his identity, and this story has meant a great deal to him. Jason Robert Brown composed the music. The “co-conceiver” of the show is Harold Prince, the director of a long list of landmark shows including Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, Phantom of the Opera, Candide and A Little Night Music .
The fact that you will not walk out whistling any of the tunes might be one of the greatest strengths of this show, but the music does fit the story well. Some of it sounds vaguely familiar, as the composer tried to fit differing parts of the story to ragtime, gospel, square dance, country roots and other genres. The composer may not be a Cole Porter or a Gershwin, but his compositions for this show do match the tenor of the story.
One audience member said, "It's sort of the thinking man's musical: macabre and brutally honest in it's detailing of these horrific real-life events. Hardly ever, if ever, do we walk about singing and dancing in real life, and the song and dance numbers in Parade serve to enhance the story and move the plot along, rather than detract from it or strive to exist in their own right. I think that's why I liked it more than the average song and dance fan-fare musical."
None of the performers in the L.A. production are well known, except for T.R. Knight who has recently shifted away from television, you'll know him from Grey's Anatomy, but all of them were well cast for their parts. (Some play multiple roles.) If anyone steals the show, it would be David St. Louis, who plays three parts. His raw, raspy voice is perfect for the parts of the African-American characters trying to make their way in the South only 50 years after the end of the War between the States. Also delivering a strong performance is Lara Pulver as Frank's wife Lucille, who stood beside her husband and worked tirelessly to save him from the gallows.
This piece was reported on by Jamie Freedman's father, Jeff Freedman, a lawyer in Los Angeles.
[I should also add that I was told that my mother was on her feet at the end of Parade. This is almost unheard of for her as she does not easily or often join a standing ovation.]
For tickets: The Mark Taper Forum is located at the Los Angeles Music Center on Grand Avenue between First and Temple Streets. The production closes November 15. Tickets can be ordered at 213-972-7211
Learn more about the creation of "Parade"
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