Posted on December 17, 2016 at 5:58 pm
In honor of the 18th anniversary of Parade‘s opening night on Broadway (at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater), here is a rarity: a private demo of the opening number, “The Old Red Hills of Home,” recorded in New York City a month after our first reading of the show (at the Plays & Players Theatre in Philadelphia) in 1996.
You’ll hear some interesting things here – my improvisations for the opening montage and the transition between 1863 and 1913; a verse for the Old Soldier that was subsequently cut; our original drummer, Tom “Partucci” Partington; and, on backup vocals, the wonderful composer Jenny Giering, actress and recording artist Anastasia Barzee (both of whom had done the Philadelphia reading), and the inspirational founder of the Broadway Inspirational Voices, Michael McElroy. Twenty years ago, our credits looked a little different!
Happy anniversary to Parade, and thanks to Hal and Alfred and all the actors, musicians and theatre artists who helped bring it to life. Telling the story of Leo Frank seems even more important right now than it did back then – I’m so honored to be able to help tell that story.
3 comments
Still one of the best opening numbers ever written – congratulations, JRB! Thanks for sharing this – happy anniversary!
Congrats. Cannot believe it is 18 years. One of the great works in musical theatre. Time for a revival
Amazing. Can never get enough of this show.
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