“Parade” is what they call a tough sell.
The musical, which opened its national tour this week at Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre, tells the tale of Leo Frank, a Jewish man from New York who supervises an Atlanta pencil factory in 1913. After a 13-year-old white, female employee is found dead on site, Frank is tried, convicted and sentenced to death by hanging for a murder he most likely did not commit. It’s a true story fueled by rabid media sensationalism, poisonous classism and unrepentant racism and antisemitism.
Griffin Binnicker plays newspaperman Tom Watson in the the national touring production of the musical “Parade,” which runs through Jan. 26, 2025, at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. (Courtesy of Joan Marcus)
The tragic affair — which ends with a mob lynching Frank — not only made national headlines, it led to both the formation of the Anti-Defamation League and the reemergence of the Klu Klux Klan.
Again, it’s a tough sell, a real feel-bad spectacle. Yet “Parade” is equally compelling and terrifying and told in such an expert manner, it’s an example of the art form of the musical at its very finest.
Much of the credit goes to the music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, who packs his songs with plot points while keeping them catchy and full of momentum. He won a Tony for his work on the original 1999 Broadway production, while the 2023 take picked up Tonys for best revival and best direction for Michael Arden, whose work continues on the tour.
The deceptively simple stage is situated around a raised platform that acts as everything from a grave site to a governor’s mansion to a gallows. Rows of pews and chairs fill the back of the stage and are often filled by members of the large cast, perhaps as a reminder the tragic events of “Parade” happened in full sight of the public.
The show’s name comes from the celebration of Confederate Memorial Day which acts a sort of bookend to the story. It’s asinine, Frank tells his wife Lucille: “Why would anyone want to celebrate losing a war?”
As politically charged as the storytelling gets, it’s mostly even handed, with obvious parallels to 2025. That said, the key role of Tom Watson, a newspaperman who begins his career as a man of the people before fully embracing racism and antisemitism, is played by young actor Griffin Binnicker, whose uncanny resemblance to JD Vance surely can’t be a coincidence, right? (It’s also worth noting the Broadway show’s first preview was protested by a group of neo-Nazis.)
To be sure, “Parade” is tough to watch. It’s even tougher to stop watching.
‘Parade’
When: Through Sunday
Where: Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis
Tickets: $150.95-$49.25 via hennepinarts.org
Capsule: A dark, yet riveting, historical tragedy fueled by excellent songs.
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