{"id":235494,"date":"2012-03-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-30T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/painful-history-handled-well\/"},"modified":"2012-03-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-30T07:00:00","slug":"painful-history-handled-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/painful-history-handled-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Historia dolorosa manejada bien"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cParade\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Painful<\/a>
The cast of \u201cParade\u201d (Photo by Daren Scott)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Through April 29
\nCygnet Theatre
\nWed & Thurs 7:30 p.m.
\nFri 8 p.m.
\nSat 3 & 8 p.m.
\nSun 2 & 7 p.m.
\n619-337-1525
\ncygnetteatro.com<\/p>\n

Cygnet\u2019s musical a poignant look at race and bigotry<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Cuauht\u00e9moc Kish | Downtown News<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is not much parade watching going on in Cygnet Theatre\u2019s latest, \u201cParade,\u201d playing through April 29 at their theater in Old Town, but that is expected considering Alfred Uhry wrote the book about a very painful chapter in American history.<\/p>\n

Although it garnered accolades and a few Tony Awards when this rather dark musical opened in 1998, it never truly found an audience. In 2007, the show was reintroduced with a much smaller cast and orchestra, and this latest rebirth seems to have found a solid, devoted fan-base all its own.<\/p>\n

The story focuses on Leo Frank, a transplanted New York Jewish man who moved to the South after wedding a Georgia peach named Lucille. Leo, the hard-working boss of a pencil factory, is accused of raping and murdering a thirteen-year-old worker named Mary Phagan. The rather somber musical plays out Leo\u2019s 1913 trial and its aftermath, and speaks non-apologetically about racism, bigotry and the mob mentality. It also chronicles a love story between the two lead roles.<\/p>\n

Jason Robert Brown\u2019s music and lyrics are solemn, dark and energetic, and have the ability to make the audience think about the consequences for actions. The lyrics also raise the question of Leo\u2019s innocence, but never quite answer it.<\/p>\n

Director Sean Murray\u2019s cast of sixteen works hard and captures the spirit of the South, with most actors handling multiple roles. Murray\u2019s superb staging makes everyone look especially good, even when races are pitted against each other and venality is raised.<\/p>\n

After the prologue paints a beautiful picture of Georgia, with \u201cThe Old Red Hills of Home,\u201d audiences meet Leo as he sings, \u201cHow Can I Call This Home?,\u201d where he laments the fact that he has left the city for the South. The song underscores the character\u2019s emotional isolation from not only his Jewish community but also from his wife, who still thrills to celebrate \u201cConfederate Memorial Day.\u201d It seems there is always talk of a parade passing by in this production.<\/p>\n

Sandy Campbell plays Lucille with tenderness; making us believe in the love she has for her overly principled husband. Campbell hits all the right notes, musical and otherwise, especially in \u201cYou Don\u2019t Know This Man.\u201d For his part, Brandon Joel Maier as Leo is a perfect stoic, balancing cold, scornful and dignified at one and the same time. Their duet, \u201cAll The Wasted Time,\u201d will tug at your heartstrings.<\/p>\n

The other cast members managed ensemble and individual numbers with bravado. Standouts include Bryan Barbarin, who belts out gospel notes while taking on the roles of Newt Lee, Jim Conley and Riley; Jacob Caltrider, who plays multiple roles including Frankie Epps; and Rick Meads, who plays Governor Slaton. David Kirk Grant and Steve Gunderson make nice music throughout the show, but especially on their fishing duet, \u201cThe Glory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sean Fanning\u2019s set design was mostly bare, allowing the large cast to strut their stuff unimpeded, all under the large canvass of a giant old tree. Shirley Pierson\u2019s period costumes were appropriately dark and subdued. David Brannen made many a magic turn as choreographer, especially in the number \u201cThe Picture Show.\u201d<\/p>\n

The seven-member musical ensemble, led by Billy Thompson, mastered the challenging score.<\/p>\n

Although \u201cParade\u201d is no jukebox musical with the standard forever-smiling faces, it is good to be reminded of history, even when painful.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cParade\u201d Through April 29 Cygnet Theatre Wed & Thurs 7:30 p.m. Fri 8 p.m. Sat 3 & 8 p.m. Sun 2 & 7 p.m. 619-337-1525 cygnettheatre.com Cygnet\u2019s musical a poignant look at race and bigotry By Cuauht\u00e9moc Kish | Downtown News There is not much parade watching going on in Cygnet Theatre\u2019s latest, \u201cParade,\u201d playing […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":235495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Painful history handled well","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}