Review of Parade on Broadway

Ever since I knew Parade was going to transfer over from its original venue, I’ve been wanting to snag a ticket for the show. Despite people not liking Ben Platt for being a nepo baby (not denying he is), the man is still pretty talented. He’s an incredible performer (although he spits a lot while singing, so if you’re front row, beware), and I’m glad I got to see him live.

I also recognized Micaela Diamond from years ago, when she won Youngarts for musical theater. I was a young writer applying to Youngarts back in the day and remembered her performance video, and she’s only gotten better with age.

When I saw it at the end of March (I went to a matinee on a Wednesday), the ticket prices were still pretty high, and they weren’t showing up as an option for my TDF membership. I ultimately ended up getting a partial view orchestra seat in Row E: Seat 12. And let me tell you, for $94, that seat was absolutely incredible.

It was partial view in the sense some of the projects, when showing the names of people, were cut off, but that didn’t really matter. You could easily see the entire show pretty much and it was extremely close to the stage. I think if you’re worried about the elevated platform, try to sit farther back, but I was so so happy with that partial view seat and the price.

Onwards with the review!

Parade tells the story of Leo and Lucille Frank.

It wouldn’t do much good to recall the entire plot of the show in this review, especially if you’re about to see it. As someone who works in theater and goes to a lot of shows, I tend to approach shows with a critical eye, which might explain some of my critiques of Parade. But, overall, this is a pretty fantastic show when it comes to the performances. The standouts to me were Micaela Diamond and Jake Pederson.

Diamond absolutely should land a Tony nomination for her role as Lucille Frank—I didn’t expect her to come on stage with a thick Southern accent, but she did. Jake Pederson was the surprise for me—his voice was not only clear, but after the death of Mary Phagan, he quickly spirals from a song into a fit of anger, explaining how he ends up doing what he does.

It would be extremely difficult to fit an entire historical arc into this one show, but Parade does a decent job of nailing down the core facts of the Leo Frank case, trial, and the unfortunate ending.

I think this is a show where one should read up on the history before going into it, or it may not only be triggering, but perhaps more emotionally fulfilling to see how it plays out on the stage. Others may like to go in blind, though, so in that case do not read up on it. But in the opening scene of Parade, we have an older man’s flashback to when he was a young boy fighting in the Confederacy and how he wishes to preserve the spirit of old, racist Georgia.

That scene establishes the facts of the story. There are Confederate flags being waved around, and Black characters appearing fearful for what’s to come. Leo Frank establishes immediately he sees himself as an outsider in the first song, and how he ultimately wishes he could return to New York.

There’s friction between him and Lucille, and while they resolve their issues with each other in a rather brisk, quick manner sparked by the tragedy of Leo’s imprisonment, I’m not fully convinced as to how they work as a couple in the first arc. Lucille goes from doubting Leo and thinking he might’ve done it to becoming his faithful supporter, and as a viewer, I’m not confident in how they make that jump in the script.

The way the stage is set up is that there is an elevated platform at the center, which serves as Leo’s jail later on.

Projections that are historically accurate appear on the wall behind the characters, and lights dangle above that are lowered and raised as needed. Something I found especially interesting is that Ben Platt stays on stage during intermission, and a lot of people were getting up and posing with him sitting in jail in the background of their pictures.

I thought of this as a particularly cutting edge of commentary; the irony of going up and posing with someone representing a man about to be hanged, then posting it on social media. I was later discussing it with someone, and she compared it to how back in the day, people sold pictures of lynchings as souvenirs. It was a spectacle, and if you know how Leo’s story ends, taking that picture has a more nuanced meaning. This is food for thought, but perhaps opening up more conversations about it.

My biggest critique of Parade comes from the fact that I think the book and story is lacking in several regards. One of my favorite songs if the first arc of “Factory Girls,” as the girls literally come to embody hysteria as they sing in a chorus the same, rehearsed story.

However, in the second part of the song it has Leo Frank acting out their story as if it actually happened. I found that to be undermining the power of the first section of the song and their narrative, and further clouds the storyline to try and make a time quota. I didn’t think it was necessary at all, especially after the girls act as a chorus to break into such a tangent. This happens several times throughout the show, and it doesn’t feel like it’s needed from a plot perspective.

Despite those plot issues, the songs themselves are gorgeous when performed. A lot of talented and very good performances in this show, and it was worth the price of a ticket alone.

It’s also still relevant today, as seen with the neo-Nazi protestors showing up on the first preview—these things are still alive today in the United States. I think this is currently the must-see on Broadway, and while it cannot last forever, I’m glad I got to witness this show in the early stages of its Broadway run. It’s going to stick with me, that’s for sure.

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