Tony Tuesday: Parade

This week we are going back to the late 90’s for musical theatre at its absolute best. Today’s TONY Tuesday is:

“This Is Not Over Yet/The Old Red Hill Of Home” from PARADE at the 1999 TONY Awards ceremony.

PARADE is a 1998 book musical that dramatises the 1913 trial of Leo Frank, who was accused of raping and murdering his thirteen-year-old employee Mary Phagan. The Frank case was one of the first trials that was sensationalised by the media, which caused an arousal of antisemitic tensions in the south. Initially sentenced to death, Frank’s sentence was commuted to life based upon the resurfacing of evidence and the inconsistency of testimony and coercion. However, the media had already done its job of arousing hate against Frank, which ultimately lead to a lynching mob breaking him out of prison and hanging him in Mary Phagan’s hometown of Marietta, Georgia.

The show was helmed by Broadway veteran director Harold Prince, who sought Jason Robert Brown to compose the score. His daughter had recommended him after Stephen Sondheim turned the project down. Prince also enlisted book writer Alfred Uhry, who had the advantage of being the great nephew of the owner of the pencil factory where Leo Frank and Mary Phagan had worked at in Atlanta. As the trial was never unequivocally solved, its ending is ambiguous however, it does allude to the likelihood of Jim Conley, the janitor, being the killer.

The musical premiered on 17 December 1998 at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center. Although the musical was praised for its score, it received mixed reviews and closed in February 1999. Despite its short run, PARADE was nominated for nine TONY awards, ultimately winning two. Although it was not successful when it opened, PARADE has received praise since and is considered one of the finest examples of musical theatre of its time. The original cast included the late Brent Carver as Leo Frank and Carolee Carmello as Lucille Frank. The original production included choreography by Patricia Birch, orchestrations by Don Sebesky and set design by Riccardo Hernandez.

After closing on Broadway, the musical underwent a tour starting in 2000, again directed by Prince and opening in Atlanta. The first major London production opened in November 2007 at the Donmar Warehouse, starring Bertie Carvel and Lara Pulver as Leo and Lucille Frank. This production was directed by Rob Ashford and had a revised score by Jason Robert Brown and a band reduction. This production transferred to LA in 2009 with Pulver reprising her role as Lucille and T. R. Knight taking on the role of Leo.  The show was part of the 2011 season at the Southwark Playhouse, directed this time by Thom Southerland and starring Alistair Brookshaw as Leo and Laura Pitt-Pulford as Lucille. The most recent UK production was seen as the inaugural musical at The Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester in 2016. This iteration was directed by James Baker and starred Laura Harrison and Tom Lloyd as Lucille and Leo respectively. The show was a critical success selling out its run.

Besties, if you haven’t listened to this simply gorgeous show, you must. It is overwhelmingly heartbreaking but is the most courageous story of bravery and love.

Cast recordings available on Spotify and AppleMusic.

FACTS:

Music: Jason Robert Brown
Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown
Book: Alfred Uhry
Theatre: The Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center
Run: 17 December 1998 – 28 February 1999 (39 previews, 84 regular performances)

TONYS:

(NOMINATED) Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical – Brent Carver, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical – Carolee Carmello, Best Direction of a Musical – Harold Prince, Best Choreography – Patricia Birch, Best Orchestrations  - Don Sebesky, Best Scenic Design – Riccardo Hernandz

(WON) Best Score – Jason Robert Brown, Best Book – Alfred Uhry