History Theatre / Parade1998

* MoodWhiplash: The end of "My Child Will Forgive Me".

* 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.
** 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.

The show examines the relationship between Leo and Lucille as well as racism and other issues in the post-Reconstruction American south.

* AcclaimedFlop: It won Tonys for best book / score, and a host of Drama Desk Awards, but closed after only two and a half months on Broadway. Subsequent productions around the world have since cemented its reputation as a modern classic.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: at least for a commercial Broadway show. Composer Jason Robert Brown is hugely proud of ''Parade'' but even he has acknowledged this, on one occasion referring to it as "everyone's favourite lynching musical".

* SettingIntroductionSong: "The Old Red Hills of Home" introduces the audience to life in postbellum Atlanta, GA, particularly the undercurrents of injured Southern pride and a simmering hatred for the North.

* DistantDuet: "Leo at Work / What Am I Waiting For?" Leo is at his office; Lucille is at her vanity. Also notable in that Leo and Lucille are singing completely different songs that keep stepping on each other's heels, conveying how distant and disconnected they are in their relationship.

* FinalLoveDuet: "All the Wasted Time" (also the ''only'' love duet)

'''''Parade''''' is a [[TheMusical musical]] with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown (his Broadway debut). It opened in 1998, and received nine Tony award nominations the following year, including best musical, winning two (Best Book and Best Original Score). Critics gave it mixed reviews.

* ActingForTwo: Depending on how large the cast is, actors may play multiple parts, although it is somewhat traditional for the Old Confederate Soldier to double with the Judge. It's also common for the actor playing the Young Confederate Soldier to double as Frankie Epps.

* CutSong: "Big News," "People of Atlanta," and "Letter to the Governor" from the London production and subsequent productions.

* EvilSoundsDeep: [[TheFundamentalist Tom Watson]] and [[AmoralAttorney Hugh Dorsey]], are both baritones.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Leo

* IntrepidReporter: Britt Craig

-->'''Dorsey''': "There will be but one verdict in this trial: Guilty! ... Guilty ... GUILTY!!" [[spoiler: taken directly from court transcripts]]
* LastMinuteReprieve: Played straight when Governor Slaton commutes Leo's death sentence to life in prison; subverted in that [[spoiler: it didn't matter in the end, Leo was lynched]].

* PersecutedIntellectuals: The violently anti-Semitic people of rural Georgia are already suspicious of Leo Frank because he is Jewish, but the fact that he is one of the few men in town with a college degree doesn't help matters. Prosecutor Hugh Dorsey, milking the SimpleCountryLawyer persona for all it's worth, even cites Leo's "big fancy talk" as evidence that he can't be trusted.
* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Lampshaded

* SmugSnake: Britt Craig

* {{Flashback}}: The first part of "The Old Red Hills of Home" to the AmericanCivilWar.

The show, BasedOnATrueStory and staying mostly true to history, opens on Confederate Memorial Day and proceeds to follow Leo Frank, a Jewish businessman from Brooklyn, living in [[DeepSouth Atlanta, Georgia]] with his wife Luicille in 1913. When a young girl named Mary Phagan is found murdered in the basement of the factory Leo manages, Leo finds himself fighting to prove he is not a murderer, grudgingly accepting his wife's help. Proving Leo innocent is made difficult by the relentless work of prosecutor Hugh Dorsey, determined to convict Leo on flimsy evidence with the testimony of Jim Conley. Furthermore, public opinion against Leo is stirred up by newspapermen Britt Craig and Tom Watson. And meanwhile, Mary's friend Frankie Epps vows revenge on her murderer.

* 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.]]

-->'''Dorsey''': "There will be but one verdict in this trial: Guilty! ... Guilty ... GUILTY!!"

--> ''"It's like a foreign land''
--> ''I didn't understand''
--> ''Being southern's not just being in the south"''
---> -- '''Leo''', "How Can I Call This Home"

''Parade'' is a [[TheMusical musical]] with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown (his Broadway debut). It opened in 1998, and received nine Tony award nominations the following year, including best musical, winning two (Best Book and Best Original Score). Critics gave it mixed reviews.

Includes Examples of:

* KarmaHoudini: Jim Conley

--> "It's like a foreign land
--> I didn't understand
--> Being southern's not just being in the south"
---> -Leo, "How Can I Call This Home"