History Theatre / Parade1998

* TheBadGuyWins: By the end of the show, Hugh Dorsey is elected Governor, Jim Conley never faces justice for killing Mary, Tom Watson is elected to the Senate, and the [[spoiler: lynch mob that killed Leo]] is never caught.

* IWantSong: "How Can I Call This Home?" for Leo, "What Am I Waiting For?" for Lucille, and "Big News!" for Craig.

* MaliciousSlander: Leo is a victim of this.

* MiscarriageOfJustice: Leo's conviction.

** "Factory Girls (Reprise)" originally begins with the same haunting feel as the original, as the girls once more describe the abuse they supposedly endured from Leo. It quickly becomes hilarious once Slaton calls out that they've clearly been coached (since their off-the-cuff descriptions are identical to their court testimony) and makes them tell the truth, all while they awkwardly try to keep repeating their coached statements.

* SmallNameBigEgo: "Big News!" shows that Britt is not the humblest guy in town by any stretch.

* TheBadGuyWins: By the end of the show, Hugh Dorsey is elected Governor, Jim Conley never faces justice for killing Mary, Tom Watson continues to write for his newspaper without anyone knowing what he did, and the [[spoiler: lynch mob that killed Leo]] is never caught.

* ACappella: The last note in "The Old Red Hills of Home" is sung without accompaniment. In the revised version, the chorus of the reprise in the finale starts out this way as well.

* VigilanteExecution: [[spoiler:When Leo's conviction is changed death to life imprisonment, a mob decides to take matters into their own hands, abduct Leo from prison and lynch him.]]

* DistantPrologue: The first scene in the show and the first half of the opening number take place in 1862, fifty-one years before the plot begins.

* DownerEnding: Coupled with ForegoneConclusion. [[spoiler:Leo gets [[VigilanteExecution lynched]] for a crime he didn't commit. Mary's rapist and murderer, implied to be Jim, gets off scot-free. Britt is [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone remorseful]] for his part in the smear campaign against Leo. Tom and Hugh get exactly what they want.]]

** Leo and Lucille's tender goodbye after "All the Wasted Time" is followed by [[spoiler: the mob coming to abduct and lynch Leo.]]

A Broadway revival opened on March 16, 2023, starring Creator/BenPlatt as Leo and Micaela Diamond as Lucille.

* GoodIsNotNice: Though he is innocent, Leo Frank is not depicted as a nice person (at least at first). He hates living in the South and despises its people ("These men belong in zoos. It's like they've never joined civilization."). He also fails to appreciate his wife's love and devotion until he sees how hard she strives to have him exonerated.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Leo Frank refuses to [[spoiler: to "tell a bald-faced lie" in front of the lynchers and asks to be covered so he wouldn't be exposed while hanging. Also, Ben Platt's performance in the revival really suggests that while Leo is in shock over what's going to happen, he is ready for the inevitable.]]

---> '''Lucille:''' See you Sunday.

** Leo's lawyer; Luther Z. Rosser. He initially seems like a smart enough man and acts confident that he'll win the day, but he's absolutely terrible at his job. He do nothing to fight back against all of the prosecution's ruthless tricks, even though we later see it would be quite easy to disprove their claims. His whole defense relies on getting an un-coached Leo to get an emotional response through his surprise statement. Appealing to solely to emotion rather than using simple logic to prove innocence is already a bad idea in court, but it's especially foolish since he knows that the town is already overcome with emotion and hate for his client. The revised version of the show makes him come off even worse, as he doesn't even have ''that'' plan going for him, to the point where you might think he wants Leo to lose based on such inaction.

* TheAlcoholic: We first meet Britt Craig as he's stumbling out of a local bar. Given his banter with the owner, they seem to know each other quite well.

* ForegoneConclusion: Since the show is based on historical events, Leo is ultimately going to die for a crime he didn't commit. The 2022 benefit performance leaned into this by having a projector showing the real-life plaque that rests at Leo's lynching site that tells the story of his murder before the show even began.

* HopeSpot: "This Is Not Over Yet." Lucille successfully convinces Governor Slaton to re-open Leo's case, and Leo and Lucille sing an exuberant duet about their fortunes finally changing. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, even though Slaton commutes Leo's sentence to life imprisonment, a mob takes it upon themselves to abduct Leo and carry out the original death sentence.]]
* IDieFree: [[spoiler:At the end, Lucille sings that Leo is "finally free".]]

* IntrepidReporter: Britt Craig thinks he's this, but he's actually an ImmoralJournalist whose smear campaign against Leo Frank contributed towards the prosecution's efforts in [[spoiler:ensuring the death of an innocent man.]]

* IWantSong: "How Can I Call This Home?" for Leo, "What Am I Waiting For?" for Lucille, and more subtly "Big News!" for Craig.

* KarmaHoudini: Jim Conley. [[spoiler: He rapes and murders a girl, but Leo Frank takes the fall for it and is eventually lynched. Also, Conley testifies against Frank in court. None of the Klan members who lynch Frank are ever punished either. And Hugh Dorsey, despite actions that should have gotten him disbarred or at least suspended/censured, is eventually elected Governor of Georgia, while Tom Watson presumably continues to write for his newspaper without his actions being discovered. Britt Craig goes back to covering "the police beat", and his remorse over his part in Frank's death is not mentioned as having any effect on his tactics.]]

A Broadway revival opened on March 16, 2023.

* BigBadDuumvirate: Hugh Dorsey and Tom Watson. They’re a BigBadEnsemble at first before they team up during "Where Will You Stand When the Flood Comes."

* VillainTeamUp: Hugh Dorsey, an AmoralAttorney working to send an innocent man to jail, and Jim Conley, an escaped convict [[spoiler:and the likely murderer]], team up to ensure Leo is found guilty.

* ScaryBlackMan: We eventually learn Conley was this. And despite being white, Frank is depicted as this because he's Jewish.

A Broadway revival is set to open on March 16, 2023.

* ImplausibleDeniability: Jim Conley refuses to budge on the vast majority of his testimony even after Governor Slaton gives him information that completely rips it to shreds (namely, Jim testified that Leo killed Mary ''before'' moving her corpse, even though the sawdust in her lungs proves she was still alive in the room she was found in).

-->'''Dorsey''': "There will be but one verdict in this trial: Guilty! ... Guilty ... GUILTY!!" [[spoiler: (Taken directly from court transcripts.)]]

* BasedOnATrueStory

* ForegoneConclusion: Since the show is based on historical events, a DownerEnding is guaranteed.

* KarmaHoudini: Jim Conley. [[spoiler: He rapes and murders a girl, but Leo Frank takes the fall for it and is eventually lynched. Also, Conley testifies against Frank in court. None of the Klan members who lynch Frank are ever punished either. And Hugh Dorsey, despite actions that should gotten him disbarred or at least suspended/censured, is eventually elected Governor of Georgia, while Tom Watson presumably continues to write for his newspaper without his actions being discovered. Britt Craig goes back to covering "the police beat", and his remorse over his part in Frank's death is not mentioned as having any effect on his tactics.]]

* MeaningfulFuneral: Mary's. Not only does it provide a forum for Frankie to vow revenge, but the number effectively reminds the audience the murder was a terribly sad event in the first place.

* MoodWhiplash: The end of "My Child Will Forgive Me". After how sympathetic Ms. Phagan is painted as, she quickly ends the song by rudely snapping at Leo.

* SayYourPrayers: Leo starts reciting the Shema Yisrael, a prayer Jews traditionally supposed to say as their last words [[spoiler:when he's about to be lynched.]]

* SoundtrackDissonance: The end of the trial - with Leo being found guilty and sentenced to hang until he is dead - is underscored by an upbeat ragtime cakewalk from the orchestra, as the citizens of Atlanta rejoice at the verdict. And yes, [[TruthInTelevision this really happened]].
** Which then veers into a protracted [[LastNoteNightmare cacophony]] (including the cakewalk being played in ''two keys at once'', an agonising semitone apart), just to hammer home how ugly and hateful the celebrations are.

* TheBadGuyWins: By the end of the show, Hugh Dorsey is elected Governor, Jim Conley never faces justice for killing Mary, and the [[spoiler: lynch mob that killed Leo]] is never caught.