Jason Robert Brown

Caroline Bishop’s review here. The First Night Feature: Parade First published 25 Sep 2007 Parade, Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown’s musical, picked up nine Tony nominations when it premiered in New York. Now, the team at the Donmar Warehouse has brought the true story of convicted murderer Leo Frank to London, with Guys And Dolls choreographer Rob Ashford taking up directorial duties. Caroline Bishop was in the first night audience. The American South in 1913 is a difficult place to be for a Jewish Yankee businessman from Brooklyn, New York. Despite being married to a southerner, Leo Frank makesRead More »

Nicholas deJongh’s review here. Parade Donmar Warehouse Earlham Street, WC2H 9LD Nicholas de Jongh’s rating: FOUR STARS Dir: Rob Ashford. Cast: Lara Pulver, Bertie Carvel, Helen Anker, Mark Bonnar, Norman Bowman, Shaun Escoffery, Joanna Kirkland, Gary Milner, Steven Page, Malinda Parris, Stuart Matthew Price, Zoe Rainey, Celia Mei Rubin, Stephen Webb, Jayne Wisener A musical that dares to be serious By Nicholas de Jongh, Evening Standard 25.09.07 Please don’t rain on it: Parade is a devastating, emotional show I cannot remember when the narrative and plotting of a musical last kept me engaged, let alone gripped. Parade, book by AlfredRead More »

Benedict Nightingale’s review here. From The Times September 26, 2007 Parade Benedict Nightingale at the Donmar Warehouse, WC2 Don’t go to the Donmar if you want a repeat of its Guys and Dolls. The parade that gives the musical its title seems a jaunty affair, with Atlantans and their belles prancing in smiling commemoration of Dixie’s doings in the civil war. But it comes in ironic counterpoint to the tale of Leo Frank, who was convicted of child murder in 1913 on no more solid evidence than that he was a Jew and a Yankee and – well, let’s justRead More »

Paul Taylor’s review here. Parade, Donmar Warehouse, London Daring and ambitious musical vindicated By Paul Taylor Published: 25 September 2007, The Independent (London) Nobody dared to rain on Barbra Streisand’s parade. But The New York Times managed to direct a fatal downpour on to Jason Robert Brown’s Parade. This musical, with a book by Alfred (Driving Miss Daisy) Uhry and music and lyrics by Brown, opened at the Lincoln Centre in 1998, garnered some very positive reviews and went on to win two Tony Awards for best score and book. But the thumbs down from the “Grey Lady” meant thatRead More »

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 fellRead More »