Leo and Lucille Frank are a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in the old red hills of Georgia. When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. Riveting and gloriously hopeful, Parade reminds us that to love, we must truly see one another.
Leo and Lucille are respectively played by Max Chernin and Talia Suskauer. They are a handsome couple, and Suskauer has a special voice that she uses for the dramatic effect that defines Lucille Frank. Particularly in the second act when she sings her aria, “Do It Alone,” and the duet with Chernin, “This is Not Over Yet,” her voice and her dramatic ability are riveting. Chernin is her vocal mate, although his character is calmer and more complacent, and this limits his dramatic impact in their music.
The heart of the show is assigned to Leo and his wife Lucille, played by Max Chernin and Talia Suskauer. The pair is charged with embracing the Franks’ rough edges — his aloofness, her initial desires to cling to her privileged life and flee the hardships of her husband’s trial — and eliciting empathy. Chernin’s Leo is a heartbreaking, tightly coiled ball of anxiety, one that softens with the desperation of his final courtroom plea, "It's Hard to Speak My Heart.” Lucille glows with fiery determination for justice and fierce love, thanks to Suskauer expertly calibrated performance, and the pair's chemistry makes the Franks’ reignited tenderness in act two palpable.
1998 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
1999 | US Tour |
US National Tour US Tour |
2007 | West End |
Donmar Warehouse Revival West End |
2022 | Off-Broadway |
Encores! Off-Broadway Concert Production Off-Broadway |
2023 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
2025 | US Tour |
North American Tour US Tour |
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