Blog: “Parade” produced by Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Program
Before I talk about the play, “Parade,” a note about the Brown/Trinity MFA program.
It’s a three year professional training program for 18 talented students, very talented, as I saw the other night, sponsored by both Brown and Trinity rep., IT’S INTENSE!!
Many of the actors in the program are featured at times in main stage Trinity Rep productions…and when you read they are students in the MFA program, you’re stunned at the talent.
Case in point: Mia Ellis in the recent “Clybourne Park.”
I had a chance to see their latest production, “Parade.”…TOUGH subject matter and a TOUGH play to produce, with a CHALLENGING musical score. (Think “Les Miserables,” …nearly three hours with singing the entire time)
First the plot:
It’s based on the true story of Jewish Factory manager Leo Frank in Atlanta in 1913.
He’s accused in the rape and murder of a 14 year old girl he employed….and convicted on CIRCUMSTANTIAL evidence…it’s pretty much proven by the end he didn’t do it.
The play tackles tough subjects, anti-Semitism, and our WHOLE justice system.
The book’s written by Alfred Uhry, who wrote ‘Driving Miss Daisy ‘(another play tackling racism) with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown.
Although it won a few Tony Awards on Broadway, it didn’t last long, probably due to the subject matter.
The 16 students in the production and its director, Talya Klein, who staged this musical for her MFA thesis project…, accomplish close to the impossible….keeping the pace of this long musical WITHOUT missing a beat…
From the costumes to the props, to the scenery to the choreography and dialogue…At time, I thought these young people were right off a Broadway stage…
They’re all wonderful......!!!............
The play is performed in the round … you can see them prepare in the wings, waiting to go on,…and at some points…..they sit in the seats next to you, in character of course.
At the entrance of the show are pictures of the REAL Leo Frank, his wife, Lucille, the judge AND jury that convicted him, along with what the city looked like in 1913.
For 12 bucks, its one of the best buys in town…
Next up “Waiting for Godot,” starts the first of March through the tenth….GO!!
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