"Parade" by The Cast

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

I've been a big fan of the work of Jason Robert Brown, who provided the music and lyrics for this musical, for many years now. I've loved the fun in his lyrics for the musical "13", the wonderful "Songs For A New World" and his delicate and observational breaking up musical "The Last 5 Years". This is the first time that I've seen this particular musical, and after waiting so long, I was eager to drink in the whole emotional cocktail.

"Parade" tells the true story of Leo Frank: a Brooklyn-raised Jewish man living in Atlanta who was wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of his thirteen-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in 1913. Because Frank’s trial was riddled with faulty testimony and lacked any clear evidence, Georgia’s governor eventually changed his sentence from death to life imprisonment.

Despite this ruling, a lynch mob hanged Frank in Mary Phagan’s hometown of Marietta, Georgia. Frank protested his innocence throughout, but the musical leaves you without any positive answer as to who did commit the crime.

The case drew national attention to Anti-Semitism, and was pivotal to the founding of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as well as the reviving of the Ku Klux Klan in the South.

The musical score won Jason Robert Brown a Tony Award for the Best Original Score in 1999, and hearing it performed live, you can see why he warranted such an accolade.

They say size isn't everything but when it comes to cast size, this is everything in this musical. That said the cast numbers never overpower the stage.

Leo Frank is played by Chris Grantham, and the first thing you notice about Chris is his voice. I could listen to Chris sing forever; he has one of the best voices for musical theatre locally, and he knows just where to inflict emotion. Just listening to him sing "It's Hard To Speak My Heart", which has always been one of my favourite songs from the soundtrack, will have your heart-strings well and truly pulled. He also has some very rapid costume changes to contend with, as is on stage for the majority of the musical.

Sara Evans-Bolger plays Lucille Frank, Leo's wife. The teaming up of Sara and Chris was perfection and their wonderfully emotional duet, "All The Wasted Time" highlights what excellent voices this pair have. This could be one of my favourite duets from local theatre productions ever. Sara is yet another who has one of those voices that you can listen to and never tire.

Playing Judge Roan is Adam Guest, so you can be safe in the knowledge that you are going to get a rock-solid performance, and you do.

Hugh Dorsey, who is the attorney for the prosecution, is played by Graham Buchanan. Hard-nosed and blinkered, Dorsey has made up his mind that Frank is guilty and does everything he can to impress this on the jurors and townsfolk. A perfect character driven role for Graham to get his teeth into.

Neil Ledders plays Luther Rosser, the defence attorney. Rosser failed while questioning to ask any vital questions, all of which could have resulted in a different outcome for Leo.

Jarrod Makin is Governor John Slaton, and first off let me say that it's good to see Jarrod back on stage. One of my favourite tracks from the soundtrack has always been "Pretty Music", which is a jolly little ragtime tune which has some nice choreography to go along with it. Jarrod brings out the light-hearted feel in the song wonderfully.

Sally Slaton, the Governor's wife is played by Kathryn McAuley. Sally is a strong woman with high morals and it was due to her insistence that John Slaton re-evaluate the evidence and paperwork for the Frank trial. Kathryn is a well-respected theatre reviewer around the area and I am sure that she will be happy with the performance that she put in as Sally, and also as Mary Phagan's mother. Kathryn combines her obvious acting talent with a memorable vocal in the emotive "My Child Will Forgive Me"

Emma Lowe plays Mary Phagan, the 13-year-old who worked at the factory. It must be , let's say "not easy" to play a 13 year old but Emma made me believe in the character.

Melfia Ballin (Minnie McKnight - Frank's housemaid), is a newcomer as far as my memory goes, and it's lovely to see newbies, especially ones who are as confident on stage as Melfia.

Desrick Francis (Jim Conley - a fellow worker whose testimony did Frank no favours), again a newbie to me. This man has a voice to die for; a blend of spiritual, blues and gospel, and the power and control he has made the hairs on my arm stand up. A nice character performance as well from Desrick.

Cat Prescott (Newt Lee, the nightwatchman who discovered Mary's body at the pencil factory), and while this part is not a major one, but Cat makes her mark. And yet another member of The Cast with a distinctive vocal style.

Arden-Caspar Jennison (The Guard, Mr Peavy), is the first actor we see. Arden-Caspar is a young actor, so to kick the whole musical off on his own shows great confidence. A relaxed performance also as Leo's prison guard.

Phil Deakin (Detective Starnes) is also an actor like Adam Guest that you can rely on to nail a performance. He has a great voice with just the right amount of vibrato. Phil doubles as Tom Watson.

Jake Gelernter (Officer Ivey) is an actor I've seen through University productions and just knew that he would have no issues getting roles away from University. Ivey's one of the lynch mob but starts to have second thoughts about Frank's guilt and is the man that Frank gives his wedding ring to, to return to Lucille.

Rob Chilton (Britt Craig - the reporter who broke the story of the trial) is another actor I was pleased to see back on stage. Rob gets to wear one of the most stylish costumes on stage and also gets to deliver a couple of great songs in "Big News" and "Real Big News" with class.

Matt McAuley (Frankie Epps - Mary's close friend) is an actor, and I've said it before, makes you feel confident in his performance even before he steps on stage, because of his vast experience of stage work. His voice gets better every time and delivers emotional songs like "It Don't Make Sense" as well as fun songs like "The Picture Show".

The Townsfolk were played by Philippa Buchanan, Becky Morley and Charlotte Howarth.

The rest of this large cast are Rob Corner (Old Soldier) who also produced the musical, Emily Corner (Iola Stover), Anna McAuley (Monteen), Sian Scattergood (Essie), Emma Weir (MacDaniel), Sascha Cornelius (Angela).

Choreographed by Emily Owen, with such a large cast, not an easy job, but I loved what Emily and the cast produced.

Directed by Beth Yearsley and Co-Directed by Kim-louise Sparks, this was a job done incredibly well with many changes of pace. Not sure if it was the Director's decision to close the play without final bows, to add that finality and sudden closure, but it was very affective. I wanted to give a standing ovation to show my appreciation of the wonderful production and appreciation of what I'd seen but couldn't.

Musical Direction is by Martin Lewis, fresh from being eaten by a large man-eating plant just a couple of weeks ago. I'd already fallen in love with the soundtrack many moons ago, but to hear this gorgeous soundtrack played so well, and sung so incredibly, it really brings home the emotion of the music and lyrics.

With such a vast cast, stage manager Lisa Smith and her assistants will have been kept on their toes all evening.

The sound was well mixed by Dave Dallard and the lighting was operated by Dave Martin. There were a few missed lighting cues, but it is opening night, so I'll forgive that. Just thought I'd mention it.

If you like a musical which has a great story with heart, presented by a very talented cast who can really cut the mustard, then this is the one for you. It's not performed that often, so don't miss your chance to see it this week.

"Parade" is at the Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton until Saturday 26 March.

Photos courtesy of Andy Chick.