Posted on October 2, 2007 at 11:22 pm

Michael Billington’s review here.

PARADE (four stars)
Donmar Warehouse, London
Michael Billington
Tuesday September 25, 2007
The Guardian

As I watched this musical about racism and injustice in the Georgia of 1913, I wondered whether it would work even better as a docu-drama? But, in the end, the music and lyrics of Jason Robert Brown serve to reinforce rather than subvert the gripping story Alfred Uhry’s book has to tell.

The show, first seen in New York in 1998, is based on a notorious American scandal. In post-bellum Atlanta, a 13-year-old pencil factory worker was found murdered. Suspicion instantly fell on the plant superintendent, Leo Frank, partly because he was the last person to see her alive, but even more because he was a Jewish outsider. Frank was convicted largely on the say-so of a black cleaner who was a chain-gang fugitive, and a mass of trumped-up evidence. But, when the case aroused protests from the northern establishment on the grounds of anti-semitism, the Georgia governor commuted Frank’s death sentence. That, however, didn’t allow for the lynch-mob lawlessness of the deep south.

The musical doesn’t have time to set the story in context: in particular, the wave of anti-immigrant hostility that swept early 20th century America. But Brown’s music constantly underscores the key narrative points. Georgian pride is exemplifed by an opening and closing ensemble sentimentally hymning “the old red hills of home”. And the contrast between Frank’s alien status and the close-knit communal values of the south is established through the songs: the Brooklyn-born hero’s numbers have a Sondheimish sense of solitude while the Atlantans express themselves through traditional southern forms. Best of all is the courtroom cakewalk, full of riotous energy, that coincides with the sickening confirmation of Frank’s sentence.

The director, Rob Ashford, is best known as a choreographer and he shows a priceless ability to allow dance to erupt naturally from the action. He is also well-served by the cast. Bertie Carvel as Frank has just enough neurotic primness and clinical detachment to suggest why his initial reaction to the crime aroused misgivings. Lara Pulver also conveys clearly the sexual frustrations of his neglected wife. And there is staunch support from Shaun Escoffery as the black felon, who has a fine second-half blues number, and from Gary Milner as the mind-changing Georgia governor. Musicals primarily deal with romance: it is refreshing to find one that deals so eloquently with the roots of southern prejudice.

· Until November 24. Box office: 0870 060 6624.