The atmosphere is not the same at the Kennedy Center since we’ve entered the era when many who love the institution show their love and support by not going there. This might create a heavier lift for the artists and performers welcomed into the space, like the cast and company of the musical drama Parade.
A touring production of Michael Arden’s Tony-winning 2023 Broadway revival, which starred Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond, this Parade trudges a bit through openers “The Old Red Hills of Home” and “The Dream of Atlanta” before the show really gets marching.
That’s when Max Chernin brings the spark of urgency to his vivid portrayal of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager from Brooklyn, New York making a go of it in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Lucille (Talia Suskauer), who was born and raised Jewish in the South.
Chernin’s “How Can I Call This Home?” earns laughs while relaying Leo’s poignant sense of dislocation living down in Dixie. Confederate flags are flown lavishly in Parade, a show both steeped in Southern pride and deeply critical of the South’s history of discrimination and oppression.
Co-conceived by legendary director and producer Harold Prince, with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, and a book by Alfred Uhry, the musical was inspired by the real-life Leo Frank, whose 1913 trial — and conviction — for raping and murdering 13-year-old factory employee Mary Phagan caused a nationwide scandal.
For many, the scandal was that Leo was accused or tried in the first place. Evidence turned up since (and some even known at the time) suggests he was railroaded at trial by politically ambitious prosecutor Hugh Dorsey, and in the press by antisemitic newspaper publisher Tom Watson, both depicted in the show.
So is little Mary Phagan, well-played by Olivia Goosman in the most compelling passages, recreating events leading up to, but not including, the actual crimes committed against the girl. Though the crimes remain unseen, the show is staunch in its conviction that Leo is innocent, as is his devoted Lucille.
She expresses that devotion firmly in the solo “You Don’t Know This Man,” a heartfelt defense of her husband that Suskauer sings beautifully. On the other hand, as local teen Frankie Epps, Jack Roden lifts his voice forcefully in “It Don’t Make Sense” to accuse Leo Frank and curse his name.
D.A. Dorsey (Andrew Samonsky) and muckraker Watson (Griffin Binnicker) each sing their piece, too, with Michael Tacconi’s opportunist reporter Britt Craig also getting in on the grift, and adding one of the show’s livelier tunes, “Real Big News.”
Prentiss E. Mouton and Oluchi Nwaokorie, as side-eyeing servants of Georgia Governor Slaton (Chris Shyer), contribute another upbeat highlight in second-act opener “A Rumblin’ and a Rollin’.” But that comes after the lengthy sequence of Leo’s trial finally plods to an end.
Beset by slack pacing, an audio mix that doesn’t always resonate clearly in the house, and the creators’ urge to fit in the perspectives of seemingly all of Atlanta, Parade loses step before its finale. The show’s view on this vexing chapter in American history comes through, but taxingly, like a soldier marching through molasses.
Parade (★★☆☆☆) runs through Sept. 7 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $49 to $159, with a limited number of $39 Rush tickets available two hours before each performance. Call 202-467-4600, or visit kennedy-center.org.
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