{"id":152,"date":"2009-10-13T18:29:39","date_gmt":"2009-10-13T22:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/?p=152"},"modified":"2009-10-13T18:29:39","modified_gmt":"2009-10-13T22:29:39","slug":"parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/parade\/","title":{"rendered":"THEATRE: PARADE"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARADE<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

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When I think \u201cmusical,\u201d Legally Blonde, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, <\/em>and The Drowsy Chaperone <\/em>come to mind. Not erroneous hangings. On opening night of Parade <\/em>at the Mark Taper Forum, I seemed to be the only one who didn\u2019t think that a musical about a Jewish man being lynched for a crime he didn\u2019t commit, was not an upper.<\/p>\n

The audience stood and cheered, while I sat there, mired in morose-ness, trying to figure out why someone would even think to put music to this beyond-depressing topic. (I can understand it as a dramatic play, but a musical? I was half expecting the chorus to break into Springtime For Hitler <\/em>at any minute!)<\/p>\n

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Photo by: Craig Schwartz<\/p><\/div>\n

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Parade<\/em> has been around for about a decade now, with a book by Alfred Uhry, author of the wonderful, and sensitive, Driving Miss Daisy<\/em>. It even won the 1999 Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Music, though I can\u2019t figure out how.<\/p>\n

I knew the horrible true story going in, so was braced for the depression. But I had hoped that something in the show would uplift me and thus prevent me from staying up nights worrying about the injustices of the world. But alas, no.<\/div>\n

So, let\u2019s concentrate on the well done-ness of the production. I\u2019m glad the whole shebang was done in sepia tones because I couldn\u2019t have taken it in color. The cast was talented enough, though the ensemble effort prevented anyone from standing-out.<\/p>\n

I was pleasantly surprised, though, by T.R. Knight of Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/em> fame. Not being a fan of that show, all I knew about him was the big controversy over Isaiah Washington\u2019s sexual-orientation slur of him a few years ago. Looking at footage of Knight then, I would have never guessed that he would be so capable of pulling off the excellent performance that he did, as a little Brooklyn Jewish man in the early 20th<\/sup> century. (His unexpected diminutive stature really helped with the authentic look.)<\/p>\n

While obviously not a singer, he was able to hang in there with the cast members who were, and I was impressed by that. And, in the one number where he had to dance a bit, he acquitted himself really well.<\/p>\n

One of the problems, for me, is that there are no strong musical numbers. Nothing to hum, no show stoppers, nothing remarkable, which is a little disappointing.<\/p>\n

Again, I must point out that, by far, I seemed to be in the minority of opening night opinions, although my guest reluctantly gave it a B. (I feel that, to deserve a standing ovation, a performance must garner at least an A+.)<\/p>\n

But now to the fun of opening night. There were several famous faces in the audience, none more gorgeous than Gabriel Aubrey, Halle Berry\u2019s model boyfriend. (She wasn\u2019t too bad herself.) And the after-party was quite the sumptuous affair, held at the gorgeous downtown Chaya.<\/p>\n

The food, (sushi, salads, exotic appetizers) was actually out-shined for me by the unbelievably pleasant service of Daelen, one of the waiters. In a giant party such as this, the waiters are running around, re-plenishing and passing, and have little time for personal attention. But this guy, on top of being cute, was so nice and helpful. And gung-ho about the food he was offering. Pleasant-ness like that sure made me forget about the UN-pleasantness of the topic of the show we were celebrating.<\/p>\n

Parade<\/em> running through November 15, 2009 <\/strong>Mark Taper Forum \u00a0135 N. Grand Ave. \u00a0213-628-2772 <\/strong>www.CenterTheatreGroup.org<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARADE   When I think \u201cmusical,\u201d Legally Blonde, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, and The Drowsy Chaperone come to mind. Not erroneous hangings. On opening night of Parade at the Mark Taper Forum, I seemed to be the only one who didn\u2019t think that a musical about a Jewish man being lynched for a<\/p>\n

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