Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Led by Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond, New York City Center’s vital, full scale revival of PARADE comes alive with forceful intent

• By drediman
• November 8, 2022
• No Comments

Last week, New York City Center’s gala revival of Parade embarked on a limited weeklong run. The show was originally the brainchild of legendary Broadway director Hal Prince, who tapped a young Jason Robert Brown and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Alfred Uhry to pen the musical’s score and book, respectively. The resulting work – which opened in 1998 to tepid commercial and critical success (since then, the musical has achieved cult status) – recounts the tragic true story of Leo Frank, a transplanted Jewish man in the South who was wrongfully accused of murdering a factory girl and was subsequently lynched at the hands of a group of vengeful men.

To say that last week’s endeavor was a success would be an understatement. In short, the revival needs to be rushed to Broadway ASAP, joining City Center’s other Main Stem transfer this season, Lear deBessonet’s tremendous revival of Sondheim and Lapine’s Into the Woods. With hate crimes – particularly of the anti-Semitic variety – on the rise and the incident on January 6, 2021 still fresh in mind, Parade is arguably more topical now than at the time it was written. Throughout, the City Center production was sung and acted with thrilling, forceful intent. Leading the way were Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond (both in exceptional voice) as Leo and Lucille Frank, both of whom gave majestic performances that radiated supple strength. Also quite exceptional was Paul Alexander Nolan, who played prosecuting attorney Hugh Dorsey with terrifying bigotry. With Brown himself at the helm of a luxurious full orchestra, the musical has never sounded more vital and urgent (Brown gloriously co-orchestrated his score with Don Sebesky).

Perhaps the MVP of the production was director Michael Arden, who once again proves that he is among the most intelligent musical theater directors currently working. Like his sensational revivals of Once on this Island and Spring Awakening, his work on Parade brings out the considerable strengths of the sprawling, at times unwieldy material. Despite some problematic sight lines (more the doing of the multi-tier set design by Dane Laffrey), Arden masterfully orchestrates the whole affair, punctuating key moments to unlock the under-sung musical’s ferocious heart.

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PARADE
Off-Broadway, Musical
New York City Center
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Closed