By: Jared Evan
Jewish themed shows continue to draw audiences on Broadway, and the NY City Center production of the 1998 musical “Parade” is now heading to the Jacobs Theater, joining several other Jewish shows.
The musical dramatizes the 1913 trial of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank, who was accused and convicted of raping and murdering a thirteen-year-old employee, Mary Phagan. The trial, sensationalized by the media, aroused antisemitic tensions in Georgia.
Currently on Broadway several Jewish shows are making waves. Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt”, a play about Jews in Austria at the start of the 20th Century has become a smash hit, in addition to the popular off Broadway “Fiddler on the Roof” (in Yiddish) and the musical “ Beautiful Noise” about Jewish pop icon Neil Diamond. All of these shows are doing quite well.
New York City Center’s Encores! Is a nonprofit series of Broadway revivals done every year at NY City Center, a long standing nonprofit 2,300 seat theater for the arts .
The New York City Center Encores! production of “Parade” is set to transfer to Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre for a limited-engagement Broadway run. Previews will begin on Feb. 21 ahead of an official opening night scheduled for March 16; the production will run through Aug. 6. The musical ran from Nov. 1-6 as part of City Center’s 2022-2023 season.
Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond played Leo and Lucille Frank.
Originally directed by Harold Prince, the musical premiered on Broadway in 1998 Running for a month at Lincoln Center. Jason Robert Brown wrote the score and lyrics, Alfred Uhry wrote the book.
The show received nine 1999 Tony nominations and winning two, for its book and score. In the years since, a major revision premiered at London’s Donmar Warehouse in 2007, which later played Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum in 2009. The upcoming revival uses the revisions from the work’s London premiere.
The sold-out gala engagement at New York City Center ran November 1–6, 2022, with the composer, Jason Robert Brown conducting the orchestra.
“Twenty-five years ago, we were honored to bring the story of Leo Frank to the musical stage, guided by our visionary director, Hal Prince,” shares Uhry and Brown in a statement. “It was an extraordinary gift to watch a whole new audience connect with Parade at City Center under the thrilling direction of a new visionary: Michael Arden. We couldn’t be more grateful that this production is now moving to Broadway, where even more people will get to see Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond deliver phenomenal performances and lead this large and gifted cast.”
“I am delighted that Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown’s musical will be seen by Broadway audiences again after our brief run last fall,” adds Arden. “Parade has been a seminal piece of theatre for me as an artist since it premiered 25 years ago, and to be collaborating with this incredible group of producers, designers, and artists led by the brilliant Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond is truly a dream come true. The story of Leo Frank is more important than ever to re-examine, and it is my hope that audiences are both inspired and activated to reflect on both the past failure and the enduring promise of the complicated tapestry we call America.”
