'Parade' well worth your time

I must admit, I am probably not the person to write a thoughtful, unbiased review of "Parade." Why, you might ask? Because I adore the show with every fiber of my being. I love it. I love the way the music gets under your skin and brings goose bumps to the surface. I love the message and the passion that went into the storytelling. The show is so wonderful because it is so real. So obviously there is no way I could not recommend this, the final production of the Department of Theatre and Drama's 2001-2002 season.\nSometimes being as infatuated with a show as I am with "Parade" can be a dangerous thing for a musical theater-lover such as myself. But having high expectations and knowing the show by heart was not at all detrimental to my enjoyment of this wonderful new production of "Parade."\nDirector George Pinney and his cast have moved me in a way that IU theater rarely does. I cared about the characters -- every single one of them. Alfred Uhry's book creates vivid and complex embodiments of historical figures. They have all the gifts, flaws and woes that any member of the audience could identify with and very few of the stereotypes that often saturate musical theater.\nSet in Atlanta at the turn of the 20th century, "Parade" tells the story of the murder of a young southern girl, Mary Phagan (played by junior Sara Dobbs) and the faulty conviction of her northern Jewish employer, Leo Frank (played by senior John Armstrong). The innocent Mr. Frank is railroaded by prosecutor Hugh Dorsey (played by junior Heath Calvert), who simply wants a conviction that will make the headlines.\n"Parade" manages to tell this story without the morality plays and broad lessons one might expect from a historical parable. In two-and-a-half hours it manages to thoughtfully consider turn of the century relations between the North and South, between Christians and Jews and between blacks and whites.\nSome of these issues come up in the musical numbers. In the ensemble song, "Real Big News," the people of Atlanta discuss the fact that Leo Frank, the "shifty" and "untrustworthy" Jew from Brooklyn, grows wealthy running a factory where little girls fasten erasers to pencils. Then there is the song, "A Rumblin' and a Rollin'," where the local black residents note the fuss the northerners are making over the wrongful conviction of the Leo Frank. They point out that young black men hang from trees all the time for no good reason and that if a little black girl had been attacked no one would have noticed.\nThe cast brings these songs to life with heartfelt gusto. As an ensemble play with many important supporting characters, the show works on all levels. Especially strong are Armstrong as Leo and junior Kate Lindsey as his wife, Lucille. Initially, the two are portrayed as selfish, spoiled aristocrats whose day-to-day worries are vacuous and shallow. But as their perfect world is shattered and they are taken away from each other, they begin to grow as individuals and eventually gain the sympathy of the audience.\nThe way Armstrong and Lindsey portray this transformation is beautiful and touching. Their final duet, at which point they have fallen back in love, is one of the show's highlights.\nPinney, the choreographer as well as director, is surely responsible for this high level of graceful narrative development. The themes and plot details are carefully delivered to the audience in a thoughtful manner and are never heavy-handed. The musical direction is also on target. Jason Robert Brown's complex score seems to glide off the stage on a breeze thanks to masters student and musical director Vince Lee.\nThe design elements of the show are just right as well. The costume, scenic and lighting designs, by Robbie Stanton, Jared H. Porter and Robert A. Shakespeare, achieve the right amount of emotional impact without becoming a distraction from the story.\nIt is rare to find a musical that packs this much emotional punch without being manipulative. Those expecting the traditional song-and-dance, happy ending that most musical theater fare provides should brace themselves. "Parade" asks a lot from its audience emotionally. But for those who are up to the task, what "Parade" delivers is well worth it.