Stuco's flier for the show.
The Jewish Theater Ensemble's production of Parade this weekend delivered 2½ hours of disbelief. I could not believe that I was seeing college students and not professionals. I could not believe that such horrifying stories of discrimination could coexist with such exquisite love. And I could not believe that the Louis Room looked this good.
Parade is based on the true story of Leo and Lucille Frank, a Jewish couple in Georgia, and Leo's 1913 conviction for the alleged murder of Mary Phagan, a worker at his factory. Although the plot focuses on the progress of his trial, the heart of the musical rests within the evolving marriage of Leo (played by Communication junior Adam Brody) and Lucille (played by Communication senior Julie Busch).
At first, Leo treats his wife with condescension and not much kindness, let alone love. Even when he is at his lowest, in prison, he scolds Lucille for talking to reporters. But slowly, he begins to realize that he has greatly underestimated his determined wife. In the stunning 11 o'clock number, the Franks reflect on "All the Wasted Time" that they could have had together. However, the story ends in tragedy when a group of local men take Leo from jail and lynch him.
Communication junior Axel Mark's versatile set and Communication junior Nathan Selinger's clever lighting transformed the room from a job fair site into a prison, a courtroom, a fishing spot, and more. The designers' work enhanced the brilliant performances of a cast with an incredibly difficult, moving story to tell. Every actor had at least one moment that awed me.
There were dozens of transcendent moments in Parade – too many to recount here. Brody was truly a star as Leo Frank. His twitchy, irritable physicality, as the Jewish Brooklynite amidst the Georgians he disdained, was suddenly transformed in a trial scene flashback, when some factory girls accuse him of predatory behavior. In Selinger's hellish orange light, Brody's shoulders went back, his movements became more fluid and his facial expression transformed from Leo’s to a terrifying leer. This was only one piece from a lot of brilliant work.
As Lucille, Busch matched this brilliance note for note, step for step. In "You Don't Know This Man" and "Do It Alone" especially, her musical performance emanated frustration and yearning for things to be different. Busch and Brody's performance of "All the Wasted Time" was so tender and sweet that it made me cry. A member of JTE’s board, she said she had loved the show since the group chose it last March.
Many actors played multiple roles, utterly transforming thanks to Communication junior Sophia Sinsheimer's costuming and their own physicality. Communication juniors Robert Cunningham and Quinn Kelch deserve particular shout outs.
Cunningham vocally dominated the stage as Jim Conley in "Feel the Rain Fall." As a servant named Riley, his fiery duet with Communication sophomore Amira Danan made me more aware of the racism in Leo Frank's trial, specifically how a black child's death wouldn't have gotten as much attention as Mary Phagan's.
Kelch killed it as Governor Slaton and reporter Britt Craig. As he sought out the story in "Real Big News," he was a victorious maniac with bug-eyed intensity, lifting everyone else on the stage higher in their performances. His portrayal of the governor, who changed Leo's sentence from hanging to life in prison, illuminated the power of a public figure speaking out.
Though people of any religion can likely appreciate the themes of love and justice in the show, I found Parade particularly poignant as a Jewish person. Before Leo's lynching (which the band and lighting team created a terribly great atmosphere for), he sang the Sh'ma, a prayer speaking of his belief in one God. The terror and injustice of the moment was heightened in Brody's broken, lonely voice. It cut straight into me, into what it means to be religious even in the most difficult of times.
The technical team and cast of Parade created a musical that wowed on so many levels. Running just two days, Feb. 3 and 4, the production was one of the most powerful I have seen at Northwestern. If you were lucky enough to see it this weekend, I'm sure you couldn't believe it either.