Customer Reviews

Parade / V.L.C. (W/Dvd)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This new recording of the 2007 London production of Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry's "Parade" is excellent. It's not a replacement for the fantastic 1999 recording, but it's a necessary complement-- a must-have for any musical fan, especially if, like me, you consider "Parade" among the finest modern musicals.

Based on the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish man falsely accused of murdering a young girl in the racist South of 1913, this is a grim but important story, deftly told with a smart script and some of the best theater music of the last decade. In all honesty, the original recording, with its lush orchestra and larger cast, shows off the music better. That's the disc I'll continue to throw on for casual listening. But for overall dramatic power, this one actually bests the original.

Containing all the music and dialogue, including some new music and smart revisions, this deluxe set offers the opportunity to really revel in what a well constructed piece of musical theater "Parade" is. The swiftly paced, suspenseful first act, in which Leo is charged and convicted (climaxing with the show's audacious courtroom scene), and the subtly moving love story of the second act, as Lucille attempts to free her husband, are all here to enjoy-- word for word and note for note. There is an intimate intensity brought by the smaller orchestra, and the strong cast, headed by Bertie Carvel and Lara Pulver as Leo and Lucille, serves the material with skill (Carvel and Pulver do a fine job differentiating themselves from the excellent portrayals by Brent Carver and Carolee Carmello on the original).

Admirably packaged on two discs (plus a dvd with a making-of featurette), this is an essential recording of an important work.

Now Jason Robert Brown is amazing. He could write a musical listing names in a phone book and I'd be all for it, but I feel that this Parade recording does not do justice to his Tony winning score.

I will say that I am used to the lush and beautiful original cast recording but the orchestrations on this CD are disappointing. I understand that its been revamped into a chamber piece but I don't know (just judging by the recording, I have seen neither performed live) if it can be done with this piece, specifically "Old Red Hills of Home" and "Where will you stand when the Flood Comes" sound weak and lose the power that they are supposed to hold over the listener.

The biggest problem with the recording are the accents and Leo Frank. English people + southern accents = unsuccessful mush, I would have preferred them to just stick with the English accent and not attempt Southern accents. Leo Frank, at least for the first half of the production is hard to listen to. His voice is so annoying at times that I really can't stand it. The best songs are when he is not singing. Although he sounds fine in the second half (the second half is by far much stronger than the first half). I don't know if the director wanted you to HATE Leo Frank with all his whining and complaining and voice but you do, and then have him change through the story...I don't know.

The rest of the cast is pretty good, especially Jim Connelly, he has a great voice.

I was completely let down with this recording because I love the show and score. It is still one of my favorite scores, and if not the best score of the last 10 years but this CD I feel is not a good interpretation. By the Lincoln Center Recording, memorize it, cherish it, love it, then by "Songs for a New World" and the "Last five Years" and "Wearing Someone Else's Clothes" because I believe that this Parade isn't even in the same league as his other recordings.

I didn't want to rip on this recording because I really wanted to love it but maybe I will grow to love it. Hopefully.

Parade is one of the most underrated musicals, and it's criminal how this brilliant piece is overlooked. Jason Robert Brown's splendid melodies and libretto explore the trial and murder of Leo Frank, amongst examining the discourses of romance, justice, grief and Anti-Semitic tensions - to name a few.

This 3 disk set boasts a variety of impressive variations from the original cast recording. There are several new songs, different interpretations and expansions on character roles, and the entire show including the spoken dialogue has been recorded. There is also a bonus DVD full of some brief interviews with Brown, Alfred Uhry, and several collaborators of the show - saying how good the show was, and basically making you jealous if you didn't manage to catch it. While the artwork on the cover and the CDs are a bit ambiguous (Frankie?), the booklet is crammed full of gorgeous images of the cast and the production, and features the libretto of the songs. It's wonderful that so much consideration was put into this album.

The cast are mostly phenomenal. While Bertie Carvel may not be Brent Carver's strong willed Leo Frank, his rendition of the role is prudent, anxious, and timid - and it's fantastic. The gradual transformation of his role genuinely communicates the helplessness and anguish of Frank's position, delivering a profoundly passionate and sparking 'It's Hard to Speak My Heart'. Likewise, Lara Pulver presents a lively Lucielle Frank, and her frustration, intensity, but also her compassion, are flawlessly executed. When it all comes together, such as 'You Don't Know This Man', it's a moment that you can truly appreciate the depth and heartbreak of the production. Not everyone is excellent as these two. Helen Anker is the weakest link, her moment to shine in 'My Child Will Forgive Me' is marred by her awkward emulation of the Southern accent, which, when combined with her equally awkward timbre, presents a pretty soulless piece. It lacks the guilt, and later the venomous and resentful final lines, that were so powerful in the original. The rest of the cast are great - Jayne Wisener plays the bright Mary Phagan, multitalented Gary Milner plays Slaton, Craig, and Peavy, and both Norman Bowman and Mark Bonnar play their roles with poison to drive them as the antagonists. Overall, the cast are great representations of the roles.

The new material is intriguing, but not as strong as the previous work. The powerful and imperial justice theme has been replaced with the 'Hammer of Justice' - a motif that weaves in between the trial, and highlights the scathing Anti-Semitic prejudice by the people led by Tom Watson. 'Lullaby' does the same. 'Minola McKnight's Testimony' (and the reprise) has a non-existent melody, but it highlights the important role of Minnie's testimony within the manipulation of the trial. 'The Glory' is dreadful, and is painful to sit through - but again, it's important to emphasize the political ties and nepotism conjured in the community within the story. The new material, albeit relatively tuneless, helps the album run as a standalone experience.

The sweeping orchestration may be missing, but the new arrangements compliment the small ensemble size, and offer great variations of the original tunes. There are too many fantastic moments in this production, it seems redundant to list highlights when every song is outstanding. The most notable main theme 'The Old Red Hills of Home' is a revelation - it's a stirring, powerful and moving anthem, which re-emerges gloriously through the score and evokes the patriotism and reminiscence of the glory of the Confederate States. The essentials include 'The Picture Show', 'You Don't Know This Man', 'That's What He Said', 'It's Hard to Speak My Heart', 'Do It Alone', 'This Is Not Over Yet', 'All the Wasted Time' and the Finale.

This musical isn't merely entertaining - it's also touching and incredibly moving. The love story found in the dedication shared by Leo and Lucille is the soul of the show. At their last meeting, Lucille says "You are coming home, Leo!", and it's indescribably moving with the knowledge that Leo never will come home. Likewise, the finale is chillingly beautiful. When Phagan cheerfully says "Happy Memorial Day!"...it's one of the greatest moments in musical history.

'Parade' is heart-breaking and breath-taking, and it is essential to own either of these magnificent albums. Jason Robert Brown's magnus opus is a gorgeous, intimate and even evocative at times, with clever lyrics and outstanding melodies. Perfectly complimenting the original, this album has a wonderful cast and band, with addition material. There is no other musical I'd recommend more.

'Parade' is a great show, and it's great that it got to have a second chance in London. The orchestrations are reduced but are expertly handled and sound great. Also, the double-CD format is really nice in that it includes a large amount of dialogue. This definitely helps a show like this more clear to someone who is just listening to it. The other nice features are the new song and the bonus DVD with Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry shedding light on the work and the new production. Lots of good listening and good watching. Here's to hoping this version comes to Broadway at some point.

The seller got the product to me immediately in good condition. Much appreciated. The 2007 London version of Parade is great. Uses a smaller orchestra than on Broadway, but it still has a very big, full sound. The orchestration's really good. This CD also includes much of the dialogue from the show so that the listener can understand the plot of the musical, if unfamiliar. On the flip side, some of the London actors southern U.S. accents are not quite right, and Jason Robert Brown cut "Big News" from this version--one of the best songs in the show. The DVD is informative. I wish, however, that it would have included the docu-drama, The People v. Leo Frank, that showed on PBS stations a year ago.

PARADE in its original recorded form, struck me as a piece that was honest, beautifully rendered, angering while inspiring, and most of all... a platinum addition to the American Musical Theatre pantheon that had, due to many reasons beyond the theatergoers' control, been overlooked. Of course the original Broadway production won key TONY awards, but how many people actually saw it?

This recording of the very pared-down production at the Donmar Warehouse in London from 2007, is enlightening. As much as I love the lush orchestrations of the original B-Way cast recording, there is something about the soul of this show that almost demands that it be presented in a way that is closer than many may deem comfortable. This production and its subsequent recording takes on the challenge and delivers tenfold.

Turning the piece into almost a chamber piece drives the story deep into the listeners' psyche. There is no denying that. It's as if we, the listeners, are in Marietta, GA... at a time when there would have been no full orchestra... only the instruments that could be found house-to-house. The arrangements hold true and because of their sparsity, uplift the lyrics and thus turn the spotlight on the story.

The performances are absolutely heartfelt, worthy and executed by a cast that is equal to, if not more effective than, the stellar members of the Broadway cast.

This show is based on a story that at it's core is quite RAW. This recording / production embraces that fact and yet stays away from turning the production into something many would call HARSH. The inclusion of the show's dialogue allows the listener to fully follow the complete story. What a plus!

If you love this show... if you love musical theatre, especially when it's not saccharine... then by all means invest in this recording. (And if you live in Los Angeles or close-by and you fit the above description, then look into the Mark Taper Forum's production of PARADE slated to hit the boards in October 2009. It's a transfer of the Donmar Warehouse's production.)

-e.

I never saw this show (but the Donmar production is coming to the Ahmanson in L.A. in 2009....thank you CTG!!!) I bought the original RCA version when it first came out and was touched and surprised by the work. Since then I've seen more of Brown's work ("13" on the top of my list)but I never thought about the difference between various productions. Usually GB productions practically photocopy the original Bwdy show. Listen to the British production of THE RINK. Imitation? Of course, it works the same with the US national touring companies.

And then comes the Donmar production. I was blown away. It was like listening to an old wrinkled photo found in someone's trunk. It was intimate, it was gripping. As others have noted, I was taken aback by the characterization of Bertie Carvel's Leo Frank...did I need to listen to this whinning qvetch for the entire show? And then realized that this made the man even more lost, more human and less likely to make it through the strong anti-Northerner and anti-Semitism that walked hand in hand with racism and ingnorance at that point in history.

The smaller production, the new numbers, the beautifully realized sets and costumes(thanks to the DVD interviews) created an early Americana that was so real and touching I couldn't believe these weren't southerners telling their story.

Some of the music is brilliantly evocative, while some of it raises the hairs on the back of my neck.

I urge anyone who is concerned about the state of AMERICAN musicals and the theatre in general, when we can create and export this kind of art to the world, someone is doing something right. Congratulations Messrs. Uhry and Brown (or mazel tov). I can't wait for L.A.'s upcoming premiere.

I loved this recording. Never seen the musical so the spoken parts creates a complete picture in the mind.

I was fortunate enough to see this production at the Donmar Warehouse in London. To date this is probably the best production of any musical I have seen (and yes, I have seen plenty). I didn't have any trouble believing the accents (and yes I am an American). I own the original soundtrack, but prefer this cast even though the original stands out in many ways. I was thrilled when they released the cast recording of the Donmar production. The major standout to me was the ensemble. The leads held their own, but the supporting players made every second count throughout the entire performance.

I find this a brilliant recording of an amazing production. I would give it six stars if I could. I would just like to make a comment on the observation made above that Leo Frank in this version (Bertie Carvel) is annoying. The poster raises the point that maybe this was a deliberate directorial decision. Whether this was the director's (or actor's) idea, it worked wonderfully for me. In the beginning I had great difficulty sympathising with Leo's predicament. In the song in which he expresses his inability to understand and feel comfortable in his new cultural milieu ("How Can I Call this Home?), he struck me as a pedantic, judgemental geek. Little by little, however, my perception changed and I saw him as a vulnerable human being, who desperately needed to cling to his old, indigenous values in order to survive in a strange and hostile land. He reminded me, in a way, of Albert Camus' The Stranger, a man who is condemned not by what he actually did, but simply because he was different. Being nice, warm and likeable has nothing to do with being right or innocent. Great people become victim of injustice merely because they fail to appeal to the people in whose hands their destiny lie, often aggravating, vexing or alienating them. In a brilliant production of An Enemy of the People, Ian McKellen gave Dr Stockmann such unappealing psychological traits, that it made it impossible for him to gain adherents to the righteous cause he was defending, proving indeed that "the strongest man in the world is the man who stands most alone." By showing Leo as a flawed person, we get a sharper sense of his humanity and fragility, making his fate in the end all the more poignant. Great show!