PNC Broadway’s Parade brings the march of social injustice to Kauffman

January 29, 2025

Kat Alfieri,

Photo by Joan Marcus

Set to premiere at the Kauffman Center on January 28th, PNC Broadway in Kansas City presents Parade, a story of social injustice and enduring love based on the historical trial of Leo Frank, a Jewish man accused of killing a 13-year-old girl. Set in the red hills of Georgia, the story recollects the trial and lynching of Leo Frank in which a community’s justice and humanity endured the ultimate test.

In 2023, Parade won a Tony Award for “Best Revival of a Musical.” It’s a critically acclaimed musical, but not one many folks are familiar with. Alyson Ewing, who plays Sally Slayton in the production, had to do some homework when offered the audition, and soon learned this was the kind of project that makes waves.“I admittedly knew very little about it,” she says. “This was not what I thought it was going to be.”

Photo by Joan Marcus

Ewing believes Parade should resonate with all audiences on tour. “It really holds a mirror up and makes the audience have a reflection of how we today still treat marginalized groups of people.” Ewing goes on to say that “It makes the audience realize that in today’s time, especially with our current election and what’s happening today, that over 100 years later, we’re still dealing with the same types of issues.”

When asked about how the show has relevance to Kansas City, resident and Parade Company Manager Stacy Myers says, “I think one of great things about Kansas City is that we’re such a diverse and beautiful group of people, but in that, we’re coming with our own pain and so we’re seeing a lot of that. And I think there are similar themes in the show.”

Themes include anti-semitism, minority oppression, and white nationalism, heavy concepts that can be emotionally taxing on the audience, but also the cast and crew. Ewing talks about a specific scene in the show where emotions are pulled taut for everyone in the room. “During that moment, in the show, our directors had said to us in this moment, you are all backlit…You don’t need to act, you don’t need to get involved. You can just remain neutral and stand there and breathe.”

Parade has garnered praise in the theatre community for its emotional depth to which Stacy Myers recollects having a visceral reaction to when seeing the show for the first time in the ’90s. “I just remember sitting in the theatre and just sobbing because I didn’t really know the story before I watched it right. I didn’t know what I was gonna be seeing on stage and just to see this powerful, terrible story unfold with this gorgeous music, it’s like this crazy juxtaposition of like so much hurt and pain.”

Parade is directed by Tony Award winner Michael Arden and stars Max Chernin and Talia Suskauer as Leo and Lucille Frank. It runs January 28th through February 2nd at the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts.

For more information and tickets, visit https://americantheatreguild.com/kansascity/