History doesn’t just repeat—it sings, bleeds, and indicts in Parade, the scorching revival of Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry’s (Driving Miss Daisy) masterwork now playing at the Ahmanson Theatre. Under the blisteringly clear direction of Michael Arden, whose Tony-winning vision arrives in Los Angeles fully intact, this production doesn’t just resurrect the true tragic story of Leo Frank—it galvanizes it into something unshakably current.

Set in 1913 Atlanta, Parade charts the harrowing case of Frank, a Jewish factory supervisor wrongfully accused of murdering a 13-year-old girl, Mary Phagan. What unfolds isn’t just a courtroom drama but a national reckoning with antisemitism, mob mentality, and how injustice metastasizes when power manipulates pain. Yet what makes this revival all the more gutting is its dual portrait of a marriage—the evolving bond between Leo and his wife Lucille—that deepens and finds its voice precisely as the world around them collapses.

Parade is not just one of the most important musicals to see this year—it’s one of the hardest to forget.

Scenic designer Dane Laffrey creates a space that breathes both beauty and dread. The stage becomes a tribunal, a prison, a public square—with stark, minimalist architecture that serves as canvas for Sven Ortel’s searing projections. Actual images of the historical figures loom behind the actors, haunting reminders that this isn’t just a story—it’s a wound in American memory.

And what voices these are. In a bold and deeply effective departure from traditional musical theater norms, most of the male actors forsake florid vibrato for clarity, strength, and emotional urgency. Max Chernin brings nuance and restraint to Leo Frank—his internal storm conveyed not through grandiosity but through tightly held dignity and despair. Yet it’s Ramone Nelson as Jim Conley who nearly brings the house down. His performance of “Blues: Feel the Rain Fall,” a gospel-inflected chain gang number, channels the aching soul of Donny Hathaway.

The production doesn’t merely retell a story of prejudice—it interrogates it. While themes of antisemitism and institutional corruption are unmistakable, Parade sharpens its edge when laying bare how authoritarian power sustains itself: not just through fear, but through the weaponization of division—turning one marginalized group against another to maintain control. It’s a Machiavellian tactic that feels disturbingly familiar. With its unflinching moral clarity, breathtaking performances, and theatrical vision that cuts to the bone, Parade is not just one of the most important musicals to see this year—it’s one of the hardest to forget.

— Ghalib Dhalla

CTGLA’s “Parade” plays though July 12th at the Ahmanson Theater. More information at https://www.centertheatregroup.org/