Laura Benanti, Ramin Karimloo, Joshua Henry, Andy Mientus and more Broadway faves have joined the previously announced concert presentation of Parade. The musical by Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry marks the third production from Manhattan Concert Productions’ Broadway Series. The one-night-only event will take place on February 16, 2015 at Avery Fisher Hall. Brown will conduct his Tony-winning score.
Benanti, who takes on the role of Lucille Frank, took home a Tony for her performance in Gypsy; the stage and screen fave was also nominated for Into the Woods and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Break Down. Karimloo, who will play extremist writer Tom Watson, currently stars as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables in his Tony-nominated Broadway debut. Henry, who will play Jim Conley, also earned a Tony nod earlier this year for his performance in Violet; he was also nominated for The Scottsboro Boys. Broadway.com Audience Choice Award winner Mientus will take on the role of Britt Craig; he made his Broadway debut this spring in Les Miserables.
The cast will also feature Katie Rose Clarke (Wicked) as Mrs. Phagan, John Ellison Conlee (Murder Ballad) as Hugh Dorsey, Charlie Franklin (Bridges of Madison County) as Young Soldier/Frankie Epps, Davis Gaines (Phantom) as Old Soldier/Judge Roan, Caitlin Houlahan as Iola Stover, Andrea Jones-Sojola as Minnie Mcknight/Angela/Nina Formby, Nathaniel Stempley as Newt Lee/Riley and Emerson Steele as Mary Phagan. Additional casting, including the role of Leo Frank, will be announced later.
Based on the true story of Leo Frank, convicted for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan in Atlanta in 1913, Parade recounts the press frenzy and public outrage about Frank’s trial and the crusade for justice waged by his wife, Lucille. Amid religious intolerance, political injustice and racial tension, the musical explores the endurance of love and hope against all the odds.