Weekly Kibbitz
A revival of “Parade,” a musical about the 1915
lynching of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank,
will arrive on Broadway this spring, following a
successful seven-performance run last November.

Ben Platt, the Jewish Tony-award winning actor
who originated the title role in the Broadway hit
“Dear Evan Hansen,” will star as Leo Frank. Micaela
Diamond will play Frank’s wife, Lucille. Both actors
performed these roles in the show’s New York City
Center run, which received strong notices. Director
Michael Arden will also return.

With songs and a book written by Jason Robert
Brown and Albert Uhry, the musical opened on
Broadway for a short run in 1998. The musical won
Tony awards for Best Book and Best Score.

“Parade” centers on the real-life story of Brooklyn-
born Frank, who managed a pencil factory in Atlanta
where, in 1913, the body of 13-year-old Mary Phagan
was found in a cellar. Despite very little evidence,
Frank was found guilty of her murder and sentenced
to death. In 1915, when his sentence was commuted
to life in prison, he was kidnapped by an armed mob
and lynched.

The case at the time immediately attracted rampant
and sensationalized press, both reinvigorating the
Ku Klux Klan and inspiring the founding of the
Anti-Defamation League.

In addition to centering Frank’s strained marriage,
the show examines the topics of antisemitism and
white supremacy — issues many noted were timely
amid worries about rising anti-Jewish and anti-Asian
hate in New York and elsewhere.

“This show is all about not only antisemitism,
but the failure of the country to protect lots of
marginalized groups, and we’re all feeling that really
intensely right now,” Platt told The New York Times
in October.

While critics have often wondered if “Parade” would
ever attract audiences with its serious message and
grim on-stage events, the New York City Center
performances garnered widely positive reviews.

Wrote Ben Windman in amNY, “on the strengths of
the casting, score and storytelling, this makes for a
gripping and thrilling production.”
“Parade” will begin previews at the Bernard B.

Jacobs Theatre (242 W. 45th St.) on Feb. 21 and
open on March 16.

— Julia Gergely/New York Jewish Week
Leo Max Frank (1884-1915)
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‘Parade’ Revival Stars Ben Platt as Jewish Lynching Victim Leo Frank