See “Parade” and Gain Understanding
By Skip Sheffield
It sounds like a rather dubious premise for a musical. Man
is unjustly accused of a heinous murder. Same man is exonerated of charges, yet
falls victim to bigoted vigilantes.
Surprise, “Parade” has its lovely and loving moments and
is always riveting entertainment. Slow Burn Theatre presents this little-known 1998
Tony Award-winning Broadway musical through Feb. 9 at West Boca Raton High
School Auditorium.
The book, by Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown, is based on
the true-life incident that rocked Atlanta
in 1913. A man named Leo Frank, who managed a pencil factory, was accused of
raping and murdering one of his employees, a girl named Mary Phagan. She was
just short of her 14th birthday. Thanks to an over zealous,
politically ambitious prosecutor named Hugh Dorsey and an anti-Semitic newspaper
writer named Tom Watson, the proudly Jewish Leo Frank was railroaded into a
guilty verdict.
That was not the end of the misfortune that befell Leo Frank,
as playwright Alfred Uhry and composer Jason Robert Brown meticulously recount
in words and music.
“Parade” ran just 84 performances on Broadway, but
courageous regional theater companies such as Slow Burn have breathed new life
into the show. “The Parade” is indeed a show, directed and choreographed with
compassion and understanding by Patrick Fitzwater, with precise musical
accompaniment of challenging songs by Manny Schvartzman, lighting by Lance
Blank, sets by Sean McClelland and costumes by Rick Pena.
Equity professional Tom Anello stars as Leo Frank, and in
her first major starring role Ann Marie Olson plays his loyal wife Lucille.
The mood is set with the “Prologue: The Old Red Hills of
Home.” The parade of the title is to honor Confederate soldiers. These folks
are proud of their rebel heritage, and they don’t much cotton to Jew boys from New York City like Leo
Frank. Though Lucille is also Jewish, she is a daughter of the South. Despite
her best diplomatic efforts she cannot overcome the blind bigotry and hatred of
Southerners still bitter about losing the Civil War.
Though the plot is dire, there are rays of light and hope in
some of the tender ballads sung beautifully by Leo and Lucille and the
marvelous Slow Burn chorus.
Slow Burn co-artistic director Matthew Korinko plays the
role of despicable villain Hugh Dorsey. He does not make him a cardboard
villain, but himself a victim of blind ambition.
Even more villainous is hate-mongering writer Tom Watson,
played by Rick Pena doing triple duty. The always entertaining Jerel Brown also
does triple duty in three widely contrasting roles.
The good news about the Leo Frank-Mary Phagan tragedy is
that it led to the founding of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League. The local ADL
in fact held a talk-back after the first Sunday matinee.
Though it is dark and challenging, “Parade” is
educational and provocative. It is yet another amazing show done by one of most
daring, resourceful theater companies in South Florida.
Tickets are $40 adults, $35 seniors and $25 students. Call 866-811-4111.
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