Brown's Parade Has UK Premiere at Edinburgh, Aug 9-28
By: BWW News Desk Jun. 21, 2005
Jason Robert Brown's Tony Award-winning Parade will receive its UK premiere at SouthSide, Edinburgh on August 9th as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; it will run until August 28th, with previews beginning on August 5th. Directed by Pia
Furtado (The National Theatre's Young Directors Course 2005) with musical
direction by Tom Deering (Creation and Still Life – Bridewell Theatre), the production will feature
design by Morgan Large (Don Giovanni-Opera East) and choreography by
Nick Winston (Ain't Misbehavin'-HarroGate Theatre). Parade's cast of
22 will be led by Ashley Lilley and Chris Colley (Jesus Christ Superstar),
with Wendy Morgan (Martine-RNT. Olivier Award-Best Actress),
Russell Whitehead (Finalist–Internationl Voice of Musical Theatre–BBC
Radio 2), Tim Hardy (Henry V and Marat/Sade – RSC, on Broadway and film),
David Freedman (Jesus Christ Superstar-Palace Theatre), Chris
Coleman (Oklahoma-RNT), Brian McCann (Tommy-UK Tour), Nathaniel
Kelly (Oliver-London Palladium)and Simon Bishop (Ragtime-Piccadilly
Theatre).With a score by Brown and a book by Alfred Uhry, Parade based on the seminal trial of Jewish factory manager Leo
Frank in 1913, Atlanta, Georgia, as the murder of a young girl
ignites dormant prejudice and media frenzy incites a community to
revenge. Parade opened on Broadway at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre on December 17th, 1998 for a run of 39 previews and 85 performances. Directed by Harold Prince with choreography by Patricia Birch, the show originally starred Brent Carver as Leo and Carolee Carmello as his bold wife, Lucille. Parade netTed Brown a Tony for Best Original Score, and Uhry's book was also honored in addition to the show's 7 other nominations.
Brown's first musical, Songs for a New World, debuted at off-Broadway's WPA Theatre in October 1995, and was subsequently
recorded by RCA Victor. For his work on that show and others in
progress, Brown was given the 1996 Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Musical
Theatre Award. His The Last 5 Years,
which was cited as one of Time Magazine's "10 Best of 2001," won
Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics. Brown's extensive work arranging includes William Finn's A New Brain (Lincoln Center Theater), and as orchestrator, Andrew Lippa's
John and Jen (Lamb's Theatre)and Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie
Hall. Two new musicals--13 and Honeymoon in Vegas--are currently in the works.
For more information and tickets, visit www.edfringe.com.
For more information and tickets, visit www.edfringe.com.
Videos