Royal Players to Present “Parade,” Story of Lynching of Leo Frank, Feb 7-17

The Royal Players will present Parade on stage at the Royal Theatre February 7-17, 2019. The theater is located at 111 S. Market Street in Benton. Parade is based on the true story of the trial and lynching of a Jewish businessman in Georgia, Leo Frank. This production is co-sponsored by ARVEST Bank and Big Red Stores.

Some of the cast members from the Royal Players took a trip to Georgia to examine the history behind this play. Read their account below, as well as the play summary and info about showtimes, tickets and cast and crew members.

Amid religious intolerance, political injustice and racial tension, the stirring Tony Award-winning Parade explores the endurance of love and hope against all the odds. With a book by acclaimed playwright Alfred Uhry (Driving Miss Daisy) and a rousing, colorful and haunting score by Jason Robert Brown (Songs For a New World, The Last Five Years, Bridges of Madison County), Parade is a moving examination of the darkest corners of America’s history. Parade was co-conceived and directed on Broadway by Harold Prince.

In 1913, Leo Frank, a Brooklyn-raised Jew living in Georgia, is put on trial for the murder of thirteen-year-old Mary Phagan, a factory worker under his employ. Already guilty in the eyes of everyone around him, a sensationalist publisher and a janitor’s false testimony seal Leo’s fate. His only defenders are a governor with a conscience and, eventually, his assimilated Southern wife who finds the strength and love to become his greatest champion.

Daring, innovative and bold, Parade is filled with soaring music and a heart-wrenching story, offering a moral lesson about the dangers of prejudice and ignorance that should not be forgotten.

TICKET INFORMATION

General Admission – $15
Seniors, Military and College Students with ID – $12
Students through High School – $6
For reservations, call 501-315-LIVE (5483) or visiting www.theroyalplayers.ticketleap.com.
See the Facebook event to RSVP and get more info.

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

7pm Thu Feb 7
7pm Fri Feb 8
7pm Sat Feb 9
2pm Sun Feb 10
7pm Thu Feb 14
7pm Fri Feb 15
7pm Sat Feb 16
2pm Sun Feb 17

: Archive Newspaper article from The Atlanta Constitution, Jul 18, 1915. “LEO FRANK’S THROAT CUT BY STATE FARM PRISONER” Ffffff, Burbank and Angie

: The Temple

: Taylor at Lucille Frank’s grave site.

: Angie at Lucille Frank’s grave.

Director Mark A. Burbank, Angela Morgan (who plays Lucille Frank) and Taylor Fulgham (who plays Leo Frank), took a research trip to Atlanta to study the case and learn more about the history surrounding the events. The photos here are courtesy of their trip. Angela writes:

“We visited 6 different locations in the span of 24 hours. We started bright and early Tuesday morning in Marietta (which was actually about 20 miles from our hotel. just like the song from the show states). We started off visiting Mary Phagan’s grave and then moved on to Leo’s lynching site. The opinions that the town has about the case is still really prevalent. Mary’s grave was decorated and well taken care of, and Leo’s lynching site is next to an expanding highway. We later learned that if we had come a month earlier the sign for the lynching site wouldn’t have been there at all because they took it down while doing road construction. Obviously tension surrounding Leo is still high in that town.

We came back into Atlanta and visited Oakland Cemetery where Lucille was buried. Her ashes were put between her parents graves in the 1960’s years after her death in 1957. It’s said that her nephew buried her there after her ashes had been stored in the attic for years. After that we went to the Breman Jewish Heritage Museum where we met with the archivist Jeremy Katz who showed us countless artifacts from not only the case but of regular life for Leo and Lucille. We saw their marriage certificate, Leo’s Cornell university diploma, letters and notes written by both, news papers dictating the case, and even Leos journal that he had in prison with him.

We took a very cold walk through Piedmont Park which is mentioned in the show, and then ended our day at The Temple. The temple is the Jewish temple that Leo and Lucille attended together. They actually had a piece of the lynching tree and a pencil that was made inside the national pencil factory where Leo was superintendent and Mary and the other factory girls worked.

I can only speak for myself obviously, but it was a life changing trip. I got to know and understand Leo and Lucille so much better by walking in their footsteps.”

PRODUCTION CREW