The connection between three queer Broadway talents, a Tony-winning revival, & the lynching of Leo Frank
Parade, the musical revival based on the real lives of Leo and Lucille Frank (Ben Platt and Michaela Diamond), a newly married Jewish couple living in 1910s Atlanta.
Leo worked as a pencil factory superintendent, where Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old factory worker, was found murdered. Prosecuting attorney Hugh Dorsey led a racially and religiously charged trial, resulting in Leo’s conviction and death sentence.The case made national headlines, and after two years, several appeals, and a change of heart by then-governor John M.
Slaton, Leo’s case was commuted to life in prison. But on August 16, 1915, several dozen men kidnapped Leo, drove to Marietta, and lynched him near where Phagan had once lived.Parade — despite a title that evokes patriotic American flags and marching bands — tells a much different story, one that our nation continues to reckon with.
Our ideologies around race, religion, and sexual orientation continue to collide. And with the next presidential election looming, the threats against marginalized communities are more vulnerable than ever.The following are excerpts from our conversation, just days before Parade won the Tony Award for Best Revival and Arden was honored with Best Direction of a Musical.A groundbreaking night at the Tony Awards saw two nonbinary actors win for their performances.I saw the original 1999 production of Parade at Lincoln Center as well as this revival— both at City Center and its Broadway transfer.
