Kentwood Players Presents PARADE, 3/18-4/23

Kentwood Players presents the Tony Award winning musical "Parade" with book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown from Friday, March 18 to Saturday, April 23, 2011 with performances on Friday and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm at the Westchester Playhouse located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Los Angeles, CA 90045.  The production is directed by Ben Lupejkis and produced by Victoria and Rocky Miller with special permission from Music Theatre International.

"Parade" is a fascinatingly evocative musical based on the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish man who was convicted in 1913 of the brutal rape and murder of Mary Phagan, a 13 year-old factory worker in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a riveting murder mystery, a gripping courtroom drama, a moving love story, a searing social commentary, but above all, in the humble words of its Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Alfred Uhry, "It is an entertainment."  The musical won Tony Awards for best book and best score (out of nine nominations) and six Drama Desk Awards.

Enhanced by its evocative score, the musical's events surround the investigation and trial that led to the birth of a premier Jewish civil rights organization, The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) which was formed in response to the anti-Semitism surrounding Leo Frank's trial and its aftermath. The trial also gave birth to a group called the Knights of Mary Phagan, later to become a revitalizEd Ku Klux Klan (KKK). 

The cast features Ryan Black, Elizabeth A. Bouton, Monica Allan, Giana Bommarito, Patricia Butler, Klair Bybee, MarLee Candell, Kim Dalton, Harold Dershimer, Martin Feldman, Jessee Foudray, Lawrence Hatcher, Ed McBride, Rocky Miller, Roy T. Okida, Catherine Rahm, Galen Schloming, Unique Shanklin, Dawn Smithey, Jeremy Speed Schwartz, and Marcus Alan Wynn.

Tickets are $23.00 with a $2.00 discount for seniors, students, and servicemen.  To purchase tickets, please call (310) 645-5156 during box office hours, Tuesday through Saturday from 4-7 PM.  Visa, MasterCard, and Diner's Club accepted, with a $1.50 convenience fee added per ticket charged to a credit card.  You may also purchase tickets online at www.kentwoodplayers.org.  For group ticket sales, please call the box office.

For more information about Kentwood Players, including our Current Productions, upcoming auditions, and our Kentwood Kids Children's Theatre Classes, please visit the Kentwood Players website at www.kentwoodplayers.org.  And you can also sign up and be a Kentwood Players friend on Facebook and My Space. 

To meet the "Parade" production team and learn more about Kentwood Players and what goes on at the Westchester Playhouse, the public is invited to attend our general membership meetings, which are free and held on the third Wednesday of each month at 8pm at the Westchester Playhouse located two blocks west of the San Diego Freeway and two blocks north of Manchester at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045.