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'Parade' Music and Technical Aspects | The Box Seat Babes Podcast · The BSB Podcast

• 0:28
  Welcome to another episode of the Box Seat Babes podcast.
• 0:32
  Today we will be continuing our discussion of the latest show to arrive on Broadway in Detroit Parade.
• 0:38
  And for those who don't know, we just took us three times to get through that.
• 0:43
  But before we discuss what you can expect from this musical, please like, follow and subscribe to Box Seat Babes and on all social media platforms at Box Seat Babes.
• 0:52
  And as always, spoiler warning, if you have not seen Parade,
• 0:55
  or at least this version of Parade, the 2023 revival that is currently on tour across North America, feel free to scroll on.
• 1:04
  Other than that, welcome back, RJ.
• 1:06
  You just watched me stumble through that opening so many times.
• 1:10
  What was that like for you?
• 1:15
  Only I'm so glad we don't do this live because the post...
• 1:19
  I mean, we're all, we're human.
• 1:21
  Nobody would, everyone would just chuckle.
• 1:25
  I mean, like I said, one day it would be like a great blooper for them to see just how many times we mess up and we have to re-roll.
• 1:32
  this is not our day job.
• 1:34
  So
• 1:35
  Nope.
• 1:36
  Nope.
• 1:37
  As much as we would love it to be, I would love.
• 1:40
  sponsor us or have us on their podcast or all the things, let us know, hit us up.
• 1:48
  We will.
• 1:49
  We will do that.
• 1:50
  Absolutely.
• 1:51
  Get us on your podcast.
• 1:52
  We're great.
• 1:53
  We're hilarious.
• 1:54
  We are a true comedic bunch of dudes.
• 1:59
  That didn't sound right.
• 2:00
  when we try to open the podcast.
• 2:05
  Yeah, the only part of this that's actually scripted and I can't seem to get through it.
• 2:12
  so before we dive into the music, the staging and our final verdicts, real quick recap for all those that didn't maybe watch part one, we talked about the story of parade, which is
• 2:26
  the dramatization of the real life experiences of Leo Frank, who was convicted of murder.
• 2:35
  that he did not commit and subsequently was killed because of that.
• 2:41
  And so it's very powerful story telling a universal story of resilience, hope, fear, injustice, all these different aspects that we all can appreciate.
• 2:55
  And so it really does.
• 2:57
  It kind of speaks volumes and we highly encourage you to check it out if you haven't.
• 3:03
  But that being said,
• 3:05
  We talked about the story last time, RJ.
• 3:07
  I want to talk about the music, because you are our quote unquote music guy.
• 3:12
  You are the musical expert of the box seat babes.
• 3:19
  What did you think of Jason Robert Brown's score for Parade?
• 3:26
  Yeah, I honestly I was trying to pick a genre.
• 3:31
  I mean, obviously aside from musical theater that it felt it fell into and it's really hard because it is a timepiece, right?
• 3:42
  Like it is we're going back over 100 years and I felt like that was true.
• 3:50
  Everything seems
• 3:56
  to be in line with what felt organic for the characters and what felt organic for the show.
• 4:03
  I will say...
• 4:08
  The piano specifically for the show felt like it had a massive role in the score.
• 4:16
  I'd be really interested in seeing it just a lot of it almost felt acoustic with the piano.
• 4:24
  but also just logistically, the conductor was
• 4:35
  Seemingly, you know, a lot of times when you go see a show, a conductor's kind of, maybe you see that just the top of their head.
• 4:44
  Seemingly, like I saw most of his upper body for all of, know, from where he was standing.
• 4:53
  And I found that to be really interesting.
• 4:57
  And it did add for me to...
• 5:01
  the feel of this old timey, like that is what I would have expected to see had I gone to a live show maybe in that time period.
• 5:15
  even though that's not technically the music, the literal physical music, it did feel like it kind of to the show.
• 5:24
  I'm so glad you brought that up because I was actually going to mention that the right off the bat as soon as the show begins that conductor is there and most of the time now I feel
• 5:34
  like they really high conductors for some reason like you like you don't see most of them and a lot of the shows it feels like with the tour you don't see them at all or like when
• 5:42
  we went to New York I can't remember a single conductor and sometimes we sat high like you would you would see them but like there's a lot of these shows that there was not
• 5:55
  Conductor and this one was very obviously there, like very prominent.
• 5:59
  Like they wanted to remind you of an older classic time period of theater.
• 6:07
  At least that's how it, that's how it felt like it was presented.
• 6:09
  And it kind of gave me chills just seeing that.
• 6:11
  And I felt like, we're entering into the golden age of theater almost.
• 6:16
  Like right off the bat.
• 6:19
  Yeah, yeah.
• 6:22
  Yeah, it's it's an alignment with what they what they would have gone and seen.
• 6:27
  And I think it speaks to to the staging as well.
• 6:33
  Now, I could be you know, this could all actually just be a lie.
• 6:37
  Like, they could have, you know, as I think about the set, because of the height of the set and the and the dynamic
• 6:50
  Like you're pretty far away from the pit from for most of the set height wise, whereas a lot of shows, obviously they're either one floor or they're further back or they're moving
• 7:04
  like they're not consistently that far from from the conductor.
• 7:09
  And yes, they do have screens in the back of the auditorium to reference as well.
• 7:16
  But yeah, it did just it felt it felt different.
• 7:20
  for some reason, and I could just be totally reading into that, but.
• 7:24
  No, I wouldn't say because we'll talk about the stage in a little bit as well, but like this stage is significantly higher than everything.
• 7:31
  And so I feel like it makes sense that maybe even for the people surrounding the stage, you almost probably need to see the conductor a little bit better.
• 7:37
  So you have to almost have him set up on a pedestal a little bit so that you can be like, okay, granted I know you have the screens, but like it did give you that old timey feel
• 7:48
  for the musical.
• 7:50
  But speaking of the music.
• 7:53
  I got this feel and this is more for like the old timey feel, not for the same type of music vibes, if that makes any sense to anybody out there.
• 8:02
  But I felt like I was watching the music man.
• 8:07
  I felt like I was watching Suffs, you know, which again is another period piece that was felt that also hearkens back to like that golden age of theater.
• 8:16
  It felt like.
• 8:19
  I know, I felt like this is the kind of show you would see when Sound of Music was on Broadway.
• 8:23
  You know, this is the kind of music that you would see out of like a Roger Hammerstein, like an old school feel.
• 8:32
  And while the songs are a lot different than that, there was this, I don't know, the music felt very classic, very, like very timeless.
• 8:43
  And dare I say, like, you know, like you said, the piano, the piano was almost like a character unto itself.
• 8:48
  for this show.
• 8:52
  Yeah, I think the music in this show does a lot of the storytelling.
• 8:58
  And so the lyrics are super important.
• 9:02
  You're getting way more characterization.
• 9:05
  I think more recently we've seen shows where the music is like an addition, but it doesn't particularly like you could exist without it.
• 9:16
  This show, I'm not sure you can do that because so much of what the characters are feeling is inside of the music and not spoken that it just, adds, it adds a different layer.
• 9:34
  and the story would be substantially less powerful, without it.
• 9:41
  less powerful and I also think that it would have had a little less humor.
• 9:46
  It's funny to think of a show like this having humor, but there was a lot of humor in some of the songs that should have been heavy.
• 9:54
  And the one I'm thinking about is, that's what he said, which is like kind of like one of the last songs of act one, but it's the story of Jim Connelly kind of telling a fabricated
• 10:06
  story of what Leo Frank said and Leo Frank's kind of dancing.
• 10:11
  in a very comical, twirly, villainous way.
• 10:15
  And there was a lot of humor in that, of how they were telling the story.
• 10:19
  And you're telling the story of somebody being murdered.
• 10:23
  Why are we of laughing?
• 10:26
  So while it was very deep and was very emotional, the songs gave a huge amount of emotionality to the show, but also gave it really decent amount of humor.
• 10:36
  Would you agree with that?
• 10:38
  Yeah.
• 10:42
  The...
• 10:44
  It just, it shines a light, I think, where maybe if the show didn't have that song or didn't have some of these songs, you would feel differently or you would perceive, your
• 11:00
  perception of a character would change.
• 11:03
  And the extreme level of whatever is happening on stage...
• 11:10
  wouldn't be as extreme.
• 11:11
  like in that song in particular, it's just bringing to attention how absolutely bizarre and just completely untrue these accusations are, which we know them to be untrue because
• 11:27
  of previous scenes.
• 11:29
  But
• 11:33
  without that kind of play on, know, here's what it would actually look like if this was true.
• 11:40
  And it's so bizarre and crazy.
• 11:45
  Here's a physical representation of that, that you can't help but be like, well, that is both like the stupidest and most hilarious thing I've seen because there's no way.
• 11:57
  There's just no way.
• 12:00
  What songs maybe besides that one, which that one to me was kind of a standout, but there was a lot of songs, but is there anything that really stood out to you from either act one
• 12:09
  or act two that just really felt like grabbed your attention or were super powerful or just that earworm, you know, like any aspect of the show, what music really stood out to
• 12:20
  you?
• 12:22
  Yeah.
• 12:25
  You don't know this man.
• 12:29
  Lucille is kind of one of her first kind of power ballads.
• 12:38
  really is the first time that we see her, I think, challenge anyone for Leo, which as we talked about in part one, is a shift from maybe the character that we thought we knew
• 12:55
  towards the beginning of the show.
• 12:58
  And then I think the infamous, at least for me, TikTok just continuously wants me to hear
• 13:08
  this is not over yet, which is towards the end of the show.
• 13:16
  kind of that, you know, a moment where it almost feels lighter than a lot of the songs that we had heard.
• 13:29
  It's...
• 13:34
  Story-wise, for sure lighter and more I think positive but Just these the swelling musical lines the dynamics were particularly powerful I It felt like they were super intentional
• 13:56
  because at one point I remember thinking Wow, The the vocal control is there
• 14:05
  they were maybe singing at like a medium, medium volume and volume.
• 14:10
  I was kind of waiting for him to go full.
• 14:13
  And then he actually dropped down to be even softer so that his crescendo could be even greater.
• 14:22
  So there was just, yeah, there was so much intentionality behind every single, every single measure of so many of these songs.
• 14:31
  I agree that this is not over it yet was one of those moments where I did just get I teared up I if I at least teared up a little bit if not like Probably was crying pretty
• 14:43
  heavily because it is such a powerful song between the two of them and they like that is the song about like having resilience and hope in The fact that he had already convicted.
• 14:52
  He's already standing He's already facing Death like at that point he that's like that's his one
• 15:00
  moment that's his one glimmering hope of maybe I won't die in all of this.
• 15:06
  And so that is that is so beautiful and that is so
• 15:11
  Again, knowing how it ended and having done my research and stuff like that, it was like I was crying because I knew that it wasn't real, but I knew in that moment they felt it.
• 15:21
  And that you wanted them so bad to have that happy ending.
• 15:26
  And you knew what was coming.
• 15:28
  I feel like this is what most people feel like when they watch Les Mis and I don't have that emotional reaction to it.
• 15:33
  But like that's, I feel like how most people feel.
• 15:36
  and what's funny I was just thinking about you know having not known the story I think by like intermission I kind of put two and two together on how it was gonna end and it just
• 15:48
  it gave me Hadestown because I was like is this is this a tragedy which we know that it that it is but in that moment I was like but there's enough hope that you're like
• 16:04
  but it can't end this way, right?
• 16:06
  Like we're the whole, we're working this whole time for the hope and it feels like that's where the momentum is going and yet in the last few moments, that is not what we get.
• 16:26
  Absolutely.
• 16:27
  And there's actually one more song that really, I just want to bring it up because it stuck out to me but for a completely different way.
• 16:34
  Um, where will you stand when the flood comes gave me chills that were, they were chills in the fact that like, felt so haunted and afraid in that moment because you're seeing,
• 16:44
  again, all of these people who have very strong convictions and are determined to see this man die and determined to see him kind of
• 16:52
  like, you know, the governor has decided that we're going to pardon him, you know, and he's going to be okay.
• 16:56
  And like, you know, he's just going to live the rest of his life in jail, which is totally unfair that he's like, we're not that he wasn't pardoned, but they're like, you know,
• 17:03
  we're going to let him just live his life out in jail and fine.
• 17:05
  And then you have the people behind him just being like the where are you going to be when it all happens?
• 17:09
  Like, and so it felt almost like.
• 17:15
  I don't know, like that looming terrible presence.
• 17:18
  I was almost afraid for this man that I knew what was going to happen to him again.
• 17:22
  But that song really stuck out to me for the opposite of the hope, the resilience, because it was just as beautiful.
• 17:30
  These people were giving these beautiful performances.
• 17:31
  But it was such a terrifying visage of what's kind of happening and the foreshadowing of what's going to happen to Leo.
• 17:42
  Yeah, and I think, again, it speaks to people and their convictions and the danger of that mob mentality, right?
• 17:50
  Like once you get enough folks with the same mindset to believe something, there is, it takes, you know, moving hell on earth to dissuade them.
• 18:10
  from that even when the truth might be clear as day.
• 18:14
  It doesn't matter.
• 18:16
  And so, yeah, but those performances were just, they were so intense and they were so well done that you truly, I found myself being like despising them, right?
• 18:32
  Which is, know, like being like, how could you possibly?
• 18:38
  be thinking this way about another human being.
• 18:41
  how could you...
• 18:44
  Speaking from my own experience, like, I don't think I've ever hated someone enough to want them to die.
• 18:50
  And so it's particularly in such a brutal way, I'm just like, for that to be a truth, and obviously, once again, it's a dramatization, but also...
• 19:07
  very real because hate exists.
• 19:13
  I, yeah, it was an extremely powerful performance on all sides.
• 19:23
  Speaking of performance, let's talk about this performing stage.
• 19:27
  We love a segue.
• 19:29
  But I have to say, when we came in here to the show, there's no curtains closed.
• 19:35
  The show is very much presented to you.
• 19:38
  They do some really cool things with projections.
• 19:43
  But I'll be honest, when I saw that stage, it's probably what is tall.
• 19:47
  Some of those people, it was almost as tall as some of those people, at least what, four feet, five feet tall?
• 19:53
  I did not know how the show was going to be, like, how were you going to act on the stage?
• 19:56
  It did not, like, my brain could not compute, but I think it was one of the most beautiful stages and the way that it was staged was absolutely beautiful that it almost was
• 20:08
  breathtaking in my opinion.
• 20:11
  What did you think of the stage and the staging of Parade?
• 20:18
  Yeah, mean, wow.
• 20:23
  There's just something so powerful about not needing a million bells and whistles, right?
• 20:30
  Like, you have such a powerful story and you want to shine such a light on that, that you're showcasing the people and their voices and what they're saying versus...
• 20:46
  you know, spectacular exotic lights and massive props.
• 20:55
  you know, the lighting was beautiful in its own way, in its intentionality.
• 21:04
  And this stage itself, the utilization of even passing of time, of course, the projections with
• 21:15
  both on the front of, you know, the set on the set and on the back wall.
• 21:24
  And I also thought it was so interesting, the exposed wings, which from what I do know of the set on Broadway, was obviously it was just, you know, a platform stage.
• 21:42
  And I think it was done in the round.
• 21:44
  I could be wrong on that.
• 21:45
  okay.
• 21:48
  but just a stage.
• 21:57
  I was curious how they were going to go about this.
• 22:03
  And I, once again, would be curious to look into kind of the symbolism behind that because it's a literal platform.
• 22:11
  And so it's only for play on words like we are putting these people on a pedestal, we're putting them on a platform and we're analyzing them under essentially a microscope and
• 22:24
  saying,
• 22:26
  look at this small town, look at these people, look at the story, look at this man from all lenses.
• 22:36
  And then the pews, think they were some were pews maybe and some chairs.
• 22:45
  Having folks watch and sit while other things were happening on the platform.
• 22:53
  Also very interesting.
• 22:56
  Yes.
• 23:00
  I felt like they were always being watched.
• 23:02
  yeah, yeah, like we're like, almost like we were collectively seeing it happen and not doing anything to change what was happening.
• 23:17
  I feel like I don't remember if this is from a TV show, if this is a real saying, but the South never forgets or something like that.
• 23:25
  that's what it reminded me of.
• 23:27
  They're always watching.
• 23:29
  There's always a history.
• 23:31
  History's always being observed.
• 23:34
  And that's why you can never get away with anything down there.
• 23:37
  It almost felt like a little bit of a big brothery kind of feel of everybody is a live witness to what is happening.
• 23:47
  And so there was like, it was very haunting.
• 23:49
  Like from the moment they all came out and they sat down, I was, I felt like this is a haunting show.
• 23:53
  This is there's beauty.
• 23:54
  It's haunting.
• 23:55
  Like what, what's going on?
• 23:58
  and I think if we're talking about staging too, I do want to address real quick the intermission.
• 24:02
  Cause I think that was one of the coolest bits of art that I've ever seen from a stage show.
• 24:08
  and for those who haven't seen it yet, during the act and ones with Leo Frank being convicted of murder.
• 24:14
  And he slides out of his clothes and he goes into like prison garb and ends with him sitting at a table on top of the block that's on top of the stage.
• 24:22
  So, you know, you're quite high up and everybody leaves the stage, but Leo Frank.
• 24:28
  And he sits there for the entire intermission doing different things and walking around his cell.
• 24:33
  And I was reading on how like this was like to showcase the passage of what really happened for him, the real time in prison.
• 24:40
  But like talk about a visual that was just.
• 24:45
  Like it felt epic and it felt like I felt myself wanting to like almost cry the entire time.
• 24:51
  And the longer it went on, I was feeling more like more uncomfortable and more wanting to cry because you're just watching this man, this man who was once a esteemed part of the
• 25:01
  community be degraded to being an inmate who was waiting for death.
• 25:07
  What did you think of the intermission?
• 25:10
  Yeah.
• 25:10
  So I was curious again, once it translated to a national tour, if it was something that they were going to do.
• 25:18
  Cause I knew that once again, PR and what people share on social media, like this is one of those things, right?
• 25:25
  Cause people can have their phones at intermission.
• 25:28
  so I knew that it was a thing.
• 25:32
  I artistically, I think it's so brilliant and so moving.
• 25:40
  And I kind of wish that more moments like it happened, because it keeps us in this space.
• 25:47
  Like, I think one of the detriments, and of course, like we all need an intermission, right?
• 25:52
  But some of the detriments of having an intermission is that we lose where we are and we jump back into reality.
• 26:02
  And so this show demands that from again, the moment the act two starts,
• 26:09
  You are right back into the heavy hitting of what the show is.
• 26:13
  And so having him be on stage and I think even at one or two points, like a guard walked on stage to give him water or food or just check on him.
• 26:28
  It felt like we were still very much in it.
• 26:33
  We were still very much a part of it.
• 26:35
  We didn't leave and
• 26:38
  I think it kept people in rhythm with how exactly the show was going to continue.
• 26:46
  think it also speaks to the pacing of the show too, because the show moves so quickly.
• 26:51
  And that is the moment to breathe.
• 26:53
  That 20 minutes, because it was actually a 20 minute intermission and not a 15.
• 26:58
  And there's actually this moment of, oh, we can all breathe.
• 27:01
  But we're not actually breathing.
• 27:02
  You're not actually out of it.
• 27:03
  You're still in it.
• 27:05
  And then you're right back into the show that has a breakneck speed.
• 27:09
  You're covering so much ground, so much story, that when it came to the show,
• 27:14
  I honestly didn't think we were moving through it nearly as fast as we were.
• 27:19
  I was like, oh, that was 15 minutes.
• 27:20
  And looked at my watch, and it was like 45.
• 27:22
  And I was like, how did we get here?
• 27:25
  And so to have that moment to kind of stop and actually reflect and have that constant reflection up there kind of staring at you was just a cool aspect that you said to kind of
• 27:34
  remind people of you're not leaving the stories.
• 27:38
  Someone's life is still going on.
• 27:39
  This person is still working.
• 27:41
  like moving towards death.
• 27:43
  Like you don't get out of that.
• 27:44
  Like nobody gets out of that.
• 27:47
  Yeah, and the passage of time is also just such a hard thing to portray.
• 27:54
  And I'm curious behind, you know, most shows that we see have a 15 minute intermission.
• 28:02
  I'm curious, I feel like this was intentional.
• 28:05
  I feel like 20 minutes there was a purpose.
• 28:08
  I'd be curious to know exactly why that is.
• 28:12
  If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to comment on any of our
• 28:17
  socials and let me know, I, you know, everything with how meticulously planned every part of this show is, I would imagine that there, there is a rhyme and a reason.
• 28:32
  Absolutely, if it reminded me in the way of like come from away where like everything was thought out to such an important degree and everything was reflective of Leo Frank's story
• 28:41
  and what happened in Georgia Like that's what that felt like when it was 20 minutes.
• 28:45
  I was like that is reflective of something I just don't know what that piece is yet
• 28:51
  Yeah, 100%.
• 28:53
  So who is this show for?
• 28:55
  I was thinking about this as I was leaving, as I was coming into the show with Marti, as I was leaving the show with Marti, and I was thinking, was like, the interesting part of
• 29:05
  Parade is I think this is a show that everybody should see, but I think it's one that a lot of people are probably missing out on because they're not going to see it.
• 29:14
  What do you think this is for?
• 29:17
  Yeah, I mean, I agree.
• 29:23
  Because it's a heavy show, think for sure every adult should see this show.
• 29:31
  When it comes to kids, I think probably teenagers and older.
• 29:39
  Because again, it's history, it's historical, these are true events as tragic and as unfortunate and brutal as some of it is.
• 29:52
  We can't fix.
• 29:56
  things like anti-Semitism, things like hate, without looking ourselves in the mirror and saying this is a problem that we have.
• 30:06
  And so I think from a message standpoint, this show is for everyone right now.
• 30:15
  sure.
• 30:16
  This is probably one of my highlights from Broadway in Detroit's 2024-2025 season.
• 30:23
  And for one important thing of that, it is so impactful.
• 30:29
  It is so, again, Come From Away was a top show and I did not think anything was going to top it.
• 30:34
  And this came pretty close, if not close, to exceeding that because it is just such a beautiful show that I think everybody can find something to relate in.
• 30:44
  be it the themes of resilience, of love, of having a conviction, something, whatever it is.
• 30:50
  So this show really is for everybody.
• 30:52
  And I highly encourage everybody to go see this.
• 30:55
  This for me was an A.
• 30:56
  I do not, I almost wrote in the post on our story last night, 10 out of 10 no notes.
• 31:04
  And then I thought that was a little too millennial.
• 31:07
  literally there was nothing about the show that I would change.
• 31:10
  There's nothing about this show that I'd like to see different.
• 31:13
  absolutely a work of art for me.
• 31:15
  But what would you rate it?
• 31:16
  Would you see it again?
• 31:19
  Give us the down low.
• 31:22
  Yeah, I having not seen it before, I feel like I need to see it a few more times to really appreciate, again, to appreciate really all of it because as we know, every time you see a
• 31:40
  show, you, you see something else, you hear something else.
• 31:46
  and so now that I'm a bit more familiar with the story, I don't have to worry so much about catching
• 31:52
  that aspect of it, but I can look at, you know, the people sitting on stage.
• 31:56
  I can look at specific lighting or listen for specific songs.
• 32:01
  So, yeah, I would give this show an A, and I would definitely recommend folks to go see it.
• 32:10
  I would go see it again.
• 32:12
  And with that, we have reached the end of our part two discussion of Parade.
• 32:17
  So thank you again for joining us here in our box seats.
• 32:19
  Until next curtain call.