Customer Reviews

Parade (1998 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(112)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Wow...the score to Parade has left me utterly speechless. I have been purchasing most major cast recordings as soon as they are released for the past several years and I have yet to be more impressed by a score than I am by Jason Robert Brown's melodic, amazingly emotional score to this fantasitc musical. Unfortunately, I was not one of the lucky ones who got to see Parade when it was playing at the Vivian Beaumont. I'll admit that I, too, was deterred by the mixed to negative reviews. Oh, how mistaken those critics were. However, I have a feeling that Parade will be returning either on Broadway or as a national touring company sometime in the near future. Granted, Parade did lose the Tony for Best Musical of the year, but this is the same award that they gave to The Lion King over Ragtime and Phantom of the Opera over Sondheim's brilliant Into the Woods. Please..."I'll take 'lack of any credibilty whatsoever' for 500, Alex...". I refuse to believe that the public will allow what has the potential to be one of the greatest musicals of our time simply fade away into the darkness. Please, buy 'Parade' immediately! Don't let this overwhelmingly powerful experience pass you buy because of a few lousy reviews. Parade is an amazing creation. Believe it.

Parade was the first I ever heard of the 1913 Leo Frank trial. I borrowed this cast recording from my local library and wasn't very eager to listen to it, knowing that it would be incredibly depressing. Well, much like happened with Side Show, when the beginning song started I knew I was in for something amazing. The minute I heard "The Old Red Hills of Home" I was hooked. And by the end, when I got to the "Sh'ma," I started bawling. Honest-to-God sobbing my eyes out. I cried more than I did at the end of Aida or Miss Saigon, and that is saying a LOT.

The thing that I love about Parade is its paradox. The music is happy and beautiful even when something sad and horrible is happening. Even the title belies the show. It's also brilliant how JRB gives it a Dixie flair; it not only makes it very fun ("People of Atlanta" is so awesome I cannot get over it) but it also takes us into post-Civil War Georgia, when Confederate pride was still high and, for some parts of the show, we sort of feel the pride, ourselves (I sent "The Old Red Hills of Home" to my friend from Georgia and he absolutely loves it) When the soldier bids farewell to Lila, we are on his side. Even though I am northern and do not regret the south having lost, I feel the pain that they feel. Now, this may seem irrelevent--but it's not, because the Leo Frank trial had everything to do with southern attitudes at the time.

Someone earlier decried "Come Up to My Office." I personally feel that the person missed the point; if one just heard the song he or she would not know better, but in the context of the show, where you know Leo's character pretty well, just his acting that way is so ridiculous that you are convinced even further of his innocence. Also, who can deny that it's a super catchy song? And mixed with the factory girls' song at the end, it is incredibly powerful.

While I have never seen the show, I bought the libretto and will say that it is the musical's weekest point. I don't feel that I miss much by only hearing the cast recording.

Anyway, you're probably wondering why, if I love this musical so much (and indeed I do; it has become a favorite,) I did give it a full five stars. Well, the thing is, while I am a theatre nerd I am also a history nerd. Parade got me so interested in the case that it became an obsession of mine; I read everything that I could find on it. The more I found out, the more I began to realize that people are wrong about Parade having very little historical inaccuracies. It is chock full of them: details, important things, etc.

Some of them are understandable, of course. But a problem that arises is that its portrayal makes everything very black and white. By everything, I mean Leo Frank's innocence. Okay, let's face it, who when seeing it feels that they weren't crazy and idiotic for convicting and later lynching him? Sure, we've given the explanation "Yay Confederacy! Boo Union!" And we understand that... but it isn't enough, is it?

So, Parade's other explanation is anti-semitism. THAT is where the show goes wrong. I do not believe that there is much evidence of anti-semitism in the case--heck, some members of the jury were Jewish. The only one who seemed racist to me was Watson, who didn't really appear until later, when Frank was trying to get an appeal. Misunderstandings about Judaism DID affect people's views of Frank's character, but Frank's lawyers were the ones who brought character into the trial in the first place. Thing is, his character wasn't what was on trial there. Aside from Jim Conley, Parade likewise only presents the character witnesses and not any that would actually point to Frank's having murdered Mary Phagan, like Monteen Stover (who said that he wasn't in his office at the time he said he was.) It also doesn't talk about any of the physical evidence (whether it was for or against Frank) until Slaton's research--which only mentions a tiny part of it, anyway.

Anyway, you may think that my protesting this means that I believe Frank is guilty, like Mary Phagan-Kean and some others do even today. I don't; I believe that he was innocent, for conclusions I reached during my research. However, Parade doesn't even begin to touch upon the botched things in the trial: repeated perjury, mishandled evidence, an autopsy that came far too late, overlooked evidence, conflicting accounts, etc. Parade ignores that stuff. I can understand that, but I wish that they wouldn't make it so hard to understand how Frank could have possibly been convicted, southern attitude at the time aside.

Another major problem I have with Parade is the misportrayal of Leo and Lucille Frank's marriage and even characters. They had, as far as we know, a very healthy marriage. Their respective characters were exaggerated--Leo wasn't as northern as they make him seem (for pete's sake, he was born in Texas!) and Lucille wasn't as southern belle (she would use Jewish words and everything.) I realize that Parade needs character development and a romance, but one has to remember that these are real people who were misconstrued so badly.

Having said these things, do I still listen to Parade? Of course! I listen to it a great deal and I still love it. If I weren't such a nitpicky person I might have given it five stars. It is a great musical, and I think is nice that it actually teaches you something (someone said its message is "Bigotry is bad" but one must consider that Parade is teaching about a famous historical court case) It got many more people interested in the Leo Frank case, and for that alone it should be commended.

"Parade," based on the real-life experiences of the wrongly-accused, and subsequently lynched, Leo Frank, a northern Jew convicted of murdering a young soutern girl, turns out to have a colorful and vibrant score and a compelling story, despite its inherent darkness. The varied and fresh score, provided by Jason Robert Brown, combines various musical styles including pop, blues, a hint of country, in addition to more standard Broadway fare. "Parade" successfully incorporates this diversity with considerably greater distinctiveness then, say, "The Civil War," and with less stuffiness than "Ragtime." The two most obvious reasons for Parade's musical success are Brent Carver and Carolee Carmello who lead the vocally-talented cast. Carver's style is mellow, and, at times, reminiscent of James Taylor. Always understated, Carver eases in and out of his numbers with aplomb. Carmello's performance is more dazzling and electric, and she is filled with passion and energy. Together, they are magical in "This Is Not Over Yet" and "All the Wasted Time." Overall, this album delights on many fronts, and despite a short Broadway run, will continue to please curious listeners.

Lots of people have reviewed Parade, saying that the show contains little memorable songs or catchy melodies. Not only is this inaccurate (see "It Don't Make Sense" or "It's Hard To Speak My Heart"), but since this is a musical it really shouldn't matter.

Consider this: the term that has come into use to describe this type of theater is "musical theater". Notice how "musical" is the adjective and "theater" is the noun. This shows that the music is supposed to modify the theater: i.e, the music enhances the emotions of the show. The term is not "theatrical music", which would suggest that the show is merely there to enhance the musical. This is very important to Parade.

In writing Parade, somehow I doubt that Jason Robert Brown was saying "man, I'm going to try and write some really catchy and memorable melodies". So you can't criticize him for not creating something "hummable" as one reviewer put it. That's not the point of musical theater.

That aside, I think that due to its brilliant characterization and deep, heartfelt emotion, Parade is the most memorable show of the 1990s. Lots of people would disagree with me, citing Wicked or Rent. But however catchy those shows are, they cannot equal the sheer emotional depth of Parade. The a cappella sh'ma at the end of the show is one of those brilliant bits of theater that comes along once a decade.

Parade doesn't depict it as "South bad, North good". It's more mature and complex than that. We feel Frankie Epps' pain ("It Don't Make Sense") and Mrs. Phagan's ("My Child Will Forgive Me"). These are grieving people and they want somebody to pay for their loss, and Leo Frank is their scapegoat. There is no black and white here.

But of course, Parade could most be considered a love story between Leo and Lucille. While perhaps not historically accurate, it makes for brilliant theater. You can see from the beginning of the show that they do care for eachother: there's just some sort of barrier that prevents them from truly loving eachother. And throughout the course of the show, they overcome that barrier with tremendous strength and courage.

The musical aspect of the show is also completely wonderful. Just look at the song "That's What He Said"; JRB starts out with the dizzyingly amazing cacaphony of the crowd; their noise is not noise however, it is beautifully representative music. The cello in the back helps enhance this. The song goes trhough 3 key changes in the first 25 seconds, all of which highten the tension of what exactly is this Jim Conley going to say? After they quiet down, Jim begins his show; and that's what it is, a show. His radical voice inflections and fast mouth mesmerize both the listener and the crowd; he even plays to the crowd's stereotype of what a black man should be: obedient and loyal. This makes them believe him even more. The song builds untill Conley almost shouts "And these stupid rednecks never gonna know!" (on a high C and Bb no less) which further invigorates the crowd. Their anger palpably builds (we hear their rage and feel shivers of fear for what will happen to Leo) until the ominous "highs" come along; building on a G from Frankie, the singers spell the most ominous chord I have ever heard, and it's a blues chord! This is how "good" this score is. And not a catchy melody in sight in that song.

I could dissect each song like that, but I doubt anybody would read it. Overall, compared to the massive catharsis felt after watching Parade, I'm sure the jovial "Wow, that show was so catchy!" feeling felt after Wicked or Rent is paltry. This is the musical of the 90s.

My first exposure to Jason Robert Brown was The Last 5 Years. After hearing this, I thought that it didn't live up to it's hype, so I was a little skeptic about Parade. This one, however, delievers. From the grand opening of "The Old Red Hills of Home", I knew this was something special. The story in this is a deep and tragic tale that really tugs at the heart strings. I really felt for this poor man that was being accused of this crime, but felt even more for Mary Phagan. The moving ballad "It Don't Make Sense" is one that could have probably have been used after Columbine to depict the agony felt there. Overall, I think that the story combined with the big and powerful music really served this incredible story justice. The final duet "All The Wasted Time" really summed up the entire relationship of the two leads, and it made it so hard to say goodbye to Leo. Jason Robert Brown truly impressed with this recording, which is one the best Broadway soundtracks I've heard. I think I'll give The Last 5 Years another try.

I am a young musician who attends a summer camp every year. The camp is based around the performing arts, and has a national reputation for helping students to learn and develop in their studies as artists, musicians, actors, dancers, and singers. I was one of the campers lucky enough to have the opportunity to play in the pit orchestra for a production of Parade at camp this summer, and though I had never seen the show before, I fell in love with the music and the show. Parade went off as one of the biggest and best productions of the summer, and gripped the hearts of everyone who saw it or took part in it. I ordered this CD as soon as I got home, and now that I can truely listen to the lyrics without focusing all of my attention on playing the brilliant score, I love it even more. Jason Robert Brown, the musical and lyrical genius who wrote the score for Parade, visited the camp and helped us work on the show. I will forever be thankful for the experiences I had this summer, because Parade truely is a work of art. I highly reccomend seeing the show live if you can, but if you can't, the Cast Recording being offered here is more than enough to make up for it.

Some of the reviewers compare Parade with another musical, "Ragtime". However, comparing the two would be like comparing apples and oranges. "Ragtime" is a musical that is more of a collage of songs -- each song could stand on its own (some songs could be rearrange, and the "story" would not change). However, for PARADE, to fully appreciate it would require continuous (and uninterrupted) listening. It takes time before it sinks. At first, I find the numbers disjoint -- it is very difficult to really identify what the musical is trying to say. When it does sink, one could not help the enormity of it. Personal and political conflicts are perfectly pictured by PARADE. You have a jewish man, who seems to live a predictable life, thrusted towards the public eye. Political issues on perceptions and racial discrimination is interestingly presented. The trial songs and the mob songs are very intelligently done. The drama is there and highlighted. Jason Robert Brown is very good in this (counter texting). The mob songs and the trial songs are concluded by a mix of various melodies which seem to turn to chaos. It is very interesting and effective. Just a word of caution, one should listen to PARADE intently to really appreciate it.

When I saw Parade at LCT, I thought it had a couple moments but overall was sort of a mess and not very engaging. I am pleasantly suprised at how much stronger it is on disc. "The Funeral", "Come Up to My Office" and "You Don't Know This Man" have been in my head for days. Carolee Carmello is a goddess! Brent Carver comes across much better on the recording than he did in the theatre, where I found him miscast. The supporting cast is excellent -- with special kudos to Jeff Edgerton, Jessica Molaskey, Kirk MacDonald and the sweet voiced Brooke Sunny Moriber (would love to see her play Mary).

As to why the show failed on Bwy... I don't think it was the "darkness" or other factors cited, the tone of the show was somewhat cold emotionally and the black and white nature of the "big" points -- i.e. "Southerners are bad people" -- and too obvious political correctness distanced the audience. If they had made it less safe and a taken a chance on offending someone, it might have made a better evening of theatre. Another problem was that we weren't sure whose journey to follow -- Lucille's or Leo's. Lucille's was more accessible (and interesting to my taste), but we never had quite enough of her. As for Leo -- who is obviously the linchpin of the evening -- we weren't really allowed into his journey until very late in the show and by then not a lot of people cared...

Overall, I'm definitely looking forward to Jason Robert Brown's next show. He is an interesting (and what's more, *accessible*) new voice in musical theatre. Thank you Hal Prince for taking a chance on this guy!

For those of you wondering whether you should buy this CD -- you should take the chance too. There are some great rewards and more importantly, great promise!

I know "Parade" only through this CD. It is hard to believe that this show closed two months after it opened. For this reason alone I remained reluctant to purchase the CD ("how good could it be?" I thought). All that I can say now is, there is no predicting "show biz." This is a remarkably fine CD. I finally purchased "Parade" because of the outstanding contributions of Jason Robert Brown to Audra McDonald's CD. I had no idea that Jason Robert Brown could write an entire show with such maturity and grace. I really like (instead of merely "tolerate") this music. And Mr. Brown's score is enhanced by first-rate vocal performances from everyone in the cast. How refreshing to enjoy top vocal talent instead of having to endure poor singers' abuses of fine songs. "It Don't Make Sense" and "A Rumblin' and a Rollin'" are especially mature and pleasurable works; it is amazing that Mr. Brown is in his 20s. How great for American theater that he is so young and so talented. So although the Broadway debut of "Parade" may have lasted only two months, this musical will live long after most of what appeared on the Broadway stage in the 80s and 90s has faded (thankfully) from memory. I will purchase the next work from Jason Robert Brown without hesitation.

"Parade" is only one of Jason Robert Brown's works and it is nothing short of brilliant. The story is of Leo Frank, Jewish Factory manager in Marrietta Georgia, and the murder of Mary Phagan, a thirteen year old girl who works in this same factory. Google Leo Frank to learn the story. The truth is not as important as the miraculous way in which Brown presents the story. The music is not at all difficult to hear. It is written in an American style appropriate to Georgia in the early part of the 20th century-a compositional element that Wildhorne failed to do with "The Civil War". There isn't an instrument in the orchestra nor a chord nor lyric that does not fit Georgia in 1913. The music weaves it's way through the story and is filled with beautiful arias that speak not only of truth but of human nature. The choral writing is as beautiful as that of Randall Thompson and the use of thematic material with individual characters is both subtle and impressive. This is a musical (opera) that doesn't require a multitude of listenings, but certainly gets better and better the more familiar with it you become. Now that Stephen Sondheim is in his seventies and has grown jaded by the stench of the corporate broadway musical, it is a relief to see that there is a brilliant young composer and lyricist to step in and continue the movement forward. Keep an ear and eye on Jason Robert Brown. He will be an important voice in American music through the next century and beyond. This musical is a must for all of us, as it is a commentary on American culture, but also because some art simple has to be heard.