Parade, 45 Downstairs, Thursday September 25th 2014

Parade, 45 Downstairs, Thursday September 25th 2014

"The Collective" is a new theatre company that presented the Jason Robert Brown award winning musical "Parade" at "fortyfive downstairs" theatre.

For those new to my blog, I pay for my own seats and I do not retell the story. If you want the story click on one of the links to the title.  I write from a holistic experience of attending the theatre. I also provide lots of links for you to follow if you want further information. Some of the links may appear to be same but there could be a different link for example "Parade" may direct you to the Broadway site or to another site.

Congratulations to the company for presenting this rarely performed work and marking its Australian professional premiere.  We have just come back from seeing 16 shows in Chicago and New York and my partner thought this was the best of all of the shows he had seen this year.

"Parade"  is a thought provoking work that is based on true events of 1913 and these themes are as relevant today and,  sadly, will be relevant in the future.

This ensemble cast of 14 bring to live the story through their commitment to story telling and their skill as performers.

The traverse stage had the audience sitting in four long rows on opposite sides of the central stage.  This type of staging worked very well except for the four columns supporting the building which impeded our view.  Sitting in the back row centre had a good view of the central area, but it was particularly annoying as the columns blocked our view of the two ends of the staging area.  The traverse stage worked well to create the sense of a street and we were watching a parade go by. At one end there was a raised area with the Confederate Flag  hanging.  While at the other end loomed the ominous tree that Leo Frank would be strung from.

Queuing up, (or rather down) the stairs is so much like attending an Off Broadway show in the Lower East Side of New York.  This venue has safer stairs and more toilets than in most Off or Off/Off Broadway Theatres.

The bar was decorated with the Confederate Flag to continue the theme.

What I did not like was not being able to buy a programme and read it prior to the show.  Yes, they had one hanging at the ends of a row of seats and one posted on wall.  But it got crowded trying to read the programme on the wall.  I had to wait until I got home to print up my own copy and it did not look as good as if it were professionally printed and bound.

The story has many parallels with Jesus Christ which was also made into the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar."  There appeared at times to be similarities with the persecution of Leo Frank to Jesus Christ and other characters were similar to the Pontius Pilot and Herod characters.

"Parade" is so rich in many layers of story telling and I would thoroughly recommend adding the cd to your collection.  The actual Parade is meant to occur three times to juxtapose the story.  I thought the visual parade was only clear at the start.  The memorial parades are meant as a counter point to the tragic story and are also meant to serve as a release of the tension to allow the slow build up to the climatic conclusion.

Direction by James Cutler was so focused and rich in developing the story.  He also provided us with so many wonderfully seamless transitions between scenes.  This no doubt was a collaborative effort with the designers and choreographer David Harford.  It did not feel like "and this is the dance part" of the show.  The movement and dances were in keeping with the period and David integrated these into the musical.  Not being perfectly danced added to the honesty of the performances.

With a reduced cast of 14, playing multiple characters caused a bit of confusion with the audience at times.  Clearer delineation of characterisations and costumes, posture and voice would solve this.

Musical direction by Cameron Thomas led his orchestra to play this magnificent score with the right amount of balance to juxtapose between the sombre and the celebratory.

I cannot applaud this production highly enough.  Though I would be remiss in not mentioning some key performances:

Luigi Lucente as Leo Frank was sublime.  I do not say this lightly.  His commitment to the character of Leo Frank transported us into his nightmare journey.  Vocally rich and emotionally connected at all times to his character.  He was Leo Frank. 

Laura Fitzpatrick as Lucille Frank pursued an honesty with her stressful situation to support her husband.  Her connection with Leo allowed us into both of their inner turmoils surrounding their tragic situation. You cannot separate the connection between their union.

Cameron Macdonald was sheer magic as the journalist Britt Craig.  He had made solid and defined choices about his character and these could carry in a huge 2000 seat theatre.   Though  I felt Cameron's brilliant performance needed a bit more support with costume or colour changes to differentiate between his Britt Craig and Governor Jack Slaton character (as some people thought Britt Craig had been promoted to Governor.)  I think they should have had two actors playing these two important roles as in the original Broadway cast.

Luigi Lucente and Cameron Macdonald's characterisation and immersion in their roles are some of the best I have seen this year other than Dave Thomas Brown in "Heathers."

Congratulations for presenting this fine work with such a talented cast.  I look forward to supporting your ventures in the future.