Jason Robert Brown

JUDGE ROAN
It is hereby adjudged that the appeal of Leo Morris Frank for a new trial be rejected.  It is further adjudged and ordered that on the twenty-eighth day of May, nineteen and fourteen, said defendant shall be hanged by the neck until he is dead, and may God have mercy on his soul.

A bell tolls, and then, in silhouette, we see the parade from Act One.

CRAIG
We had a murder – that ain’t enough.
We had a trial – that ain’t enough.
Poor Mary died one year ago
And still this story keeps on growin’,
It goes on and on and on…

Now Leo’s fightin’ – he files appeals.
He gets rejected – guess how he feels?
I got a plaque and a citation
From the Press Association
And it goes on and on and on…

Yes, it goes on and on!
Ain’t no way to stop it,
Ain’t no finish in sight!
It goes on and on!
Hear the people talkin’ on a Saturday night;
Hear ‘em gettin’ ready for a Hell of a fight;
See your fav’rite newsman flyin’ high as a kite!
It goes on and on and on and on and on…

Several children chant as they dance around the tree:

CHILDREN
Mary Mary four feet high
Mary Mary don’t you cry
You fall down and break your head
When the Jewman comes to kill you dead…

CRAIG
You toss a pebble into the flow,
It starts a ripple that starts to grow.
He’s just a few months from the grave,
And now the ripple is a wave,
And it goes on and on and on…

Yes, it goes on and on!
Spinnin’, goin’ crazy, runnin’ out of control!
It goes on and on!
Goin’ for a year, no end in sight, bless my soul!
Here comes Leo, diggin’ his way outta the hole!
You never know just where that wave is fixin’ to roll…