Drama Learning Center to Present PARADE, Will Host Talkback with Rabbi Steven Lebow

Drama Learning Center's professional training company for emerging young artists will present the period musical drama Parade from June 10-18, 2016. Set in Atlanta in 1913, a Brooklyn-raised Jewish man by the name of Leo Frank is put on trial for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan. Already guilty in the eyes of everyone around him, a sensationalist publisher and a janitor's false testimony seal Leo's fate. His only defenders are a governor with a conscience, and, eventually, his assimilated Southern wife who finds the strength and love to become his greatest champion. Based on true historical events and adapted for the stage by an acclaimed playwright (Alfred Uhry - Driving Miss Daisy) and composer/lyricist (Jason Robert Brown - Songs For A New World, The Last Five Years, Bridges of Madison County), Parade is a moving examination of the darkest corners of America's history amid themes of religious intolerance, political injustice, and racial tension that pervade the dogmatic landscape of today.

Parade is presented by permission through special arrangement with MTI.

Show Dates & Times

June 10-11, 16-18 at 7:30 PM
June 12 at 2 PM with a Post-Show Talkback with Rabbi Steven Lebow - Temple Kol Emeth, Marietta, GA from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Rabbi Steven Lebow, of Temple Kol Emeth - Marietta, Georgia who has fought for Leo Frank's exoneration for decades, will be available via Skype after TYA's Sunday June 12 matinee performance for a Talkback with the audience and cast. He has graciously agreed to answer questions about the case and discuss why the Leo Frank story is important today. Also on stage will be TYA Parade cast members who will share how playing real-life people so intimately involved in this tragic story, has impacted their lives. Join us for the show and this special event. Ticket information follows.

Rabbi Steven Lebow

Rabbi Steven Lebow received his rabbinical ordination in 1983, and after spending three years with a congregation in New Orleans, LA, became the first full-time spiritual leader of Temple Kol Emeth, Marietta, GA in 1986. From that time to the present, he has taken important stands on child emotional and sexual abuse, the rights of the LGBT communities, building bridges between the Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities and more. He has received numerous awards including the Reform Jewish movement's Irving Fain Social Action Award; the Award for Courage from the Cobb Citizens Coalition; the Social Justice Award from the Metropolitan Churches of America; the Martin Luther King Award for Social Courage from Citizens and Clergy United; and Clergyman of the Year from Creative Loafing magazine. He has also been honored as the Atlanta Clergyman of the Year by the National Conference of Christians and Jews and as Humanitarian of the Year by the State of Georgia Holocaust Commission.

Rabbi Lebow has invested himself in exonerating Leo Frank, has extensively studied the case and has establishEd Strong relationships with descendants of those most intimately involved. For the past 20 years, he has visited the lynching site to commemorate Leo Frank's death and to say Kaddish - the Jewish prayer to mourn those who have died. His role in vindicating Leo Frank has been featured in numerous national articles and in the books "Murder in the Peach State" (Jordan, 2000), "Screening A Lynching" (Bernstein, 2009) and "An Unauthorized Guide to the Klu Klux Klan" (Hockfield, 2010).

Drama Learning Center's Professional Training Company, TYA (Teaching Young Artists)

Available by audition only, the TYA program allows students to work in a professional theatre environment as they learn about all aspects of theatrical work. TYA has a strong history of bringing cutting-edge titles to local audiences. The group has previously produced area premieres of First Date, Carrie the Musical, GHOST the Musical, 13 the Musical, Legally Blonde, and High School Musical. This production continues TYA's long-standing tradition of producing professional contemporary musical theatre.

Featuring TYA Company Members

Lauren Alberg, Flora Aubin, Patrick Campbell, Lila Cooper, Tommy Eyes, Brittany George, Keri Goto, Kendall Grove, BRandon Love, Lauren McKenna, Aly Murphy, Naomi Muwowo, Imani Nokuri, Ellie Parks, Austin Pearsall, Ava Pirie, Jason Quackenbush, Mark Quackenbush, Brina Rosen, Shannon Taylor, Sarah Tossman, Eli Vogel, Luka Yetter

Special Guest Artists

Jeff Miller and Taylor Washington

Swings

Dumar Valencia and Ceoli Jacoby

Tickets
On sale now at www.dramalearningcenter.com or by calling 410-997-9392.
$18 in advance
$20 at the door

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