As a self-described “musical theater nerd” growing up in Ohio, Max Chernin regularly browsed the CDs of soundtracks at his local Barnes & Noble. That’s where he first discovered “Parade,” the Broadway musical currently on a national revival tour and coming to Sacramento and San Francisco in May.
Chernin, 35, stars in the leading role of Leo Frank.
“It’s a dream to play a real-life person, and a dream to honor him with the show,” Chernin said. “For me, it’s a really wonderful way to honor my family. Because when I think about storytellers, I think about my Jewish family.”
“Parade” first captivated audiences in 1998 when it debuted at Manhattan’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. It’s based on the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish pencil factory manager in Atlanta who was convicted in 1913 of murdering a 13-year-old girl who worked with him. Historians now widely believe that Frank was innocent. And when “Parade” played in Atlanta this spring, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office announced that Frank’s case is under review.
The musical’s themes of racism and antisemitism are portrayed through the drama of the three-week jury trial that also involved a rape accusation, the frenzy of national media attention and the tragic ending for Frank, who was lynched by a mob in 1915 after his death sentence was commuted to life in prison.
In 2023, the show won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
Alfred Uhry wrote the script for “Parade,” and Jason Robert Brown wrote the music and lyrics. They “intended it to be a piece of history,” Chernin said. Instead, the story feels more resonant now than ever before, he said, noting how director Michael Arden took a fresh approach.
“We’re depicting it in this true-crime documentary style. We have a lot of real photos that are projected in the back,” Chernin said.
“Parade” is also a Jewish love story, centered on newlyweds Leo and Lucille Frank, who is played by Talia Suskauer, 28.
For Chernin, there is an authenticity for him and Suskauer, both Jewish, embodying Jewish roles.
“We know about the culture. We know about the identity. So when I say something to her, like, ‘Don’t be such a meshuggeneh,’ it’s colored with our history and our past,” Chernin said.
In early April when Chernin and the cast brought the touring show to Atlanta, they visited the Breman Museum and Cultural Center, which houses a large archive of primary sources from Leo Frank’s life.
“I got to see some of the letters that he wrote to Lucille. We got to see real photo albums,” Chernin said. “It was a really, really special experience.” The cast also visited the site of Frank’s lynching.
Chernin said he sees how the antisemitism portrayed in “Parade” strikes a chord with today’s audiences
“Leo’s fighting the whole show to say, ‘I’m just like all of you,’ and all of this othering is being thrown back at him,” Chernin said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m yelling into a vacuum advocating for myself or my Jewish friends on behalf of our community because it’s like, no matter how loud we yell it, we’re still faced with some of the same prejudices as we were over 100 years ago.”
Despite the tragic ending to Frank’s story, Chernin said, “Parade” is ultimately a story that has the power to change minds.
“I hope that this is the kind of art that can galvanize,” Chernin said. “If there are folks that are coming to see our show that feel a certain way about the Jewish communities that they might be around, I hope this changes their perspective.”
The Frank trial is also a theme of one of two novels selected for the S.F.’s Jewish Community Library’s One Bay, One Book project, which focuses this year on Jewish stories from the American South. One of the novels, “Ain’t No Grave” by Mary Glickman, centers on the friendship of a Jewish boy and a Black girl in Georgia, where they become entangled in the Frank murder trial.
Howard Freedman, director of JCL, said that knowing “Parade” was coming to San Francisco was a factor in selecting “Ain’t No Grave.”
“We’re seeing the increased normalization of antisemitism and racism in our country right now, and it’s important to look back at history and see where this hatred can lead,” Freedman said. “In the case of Leo Frank, it leads to brutal and unlawful acts. I think it’s of particular relevance in this moment right now.”
May 6-11, Safe Credit Union Performing Arts Center, 1301 L St., Sacramento. $35 and up. Also, May 20-June 8, Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., S.F. $60 and up. May 20 is Jewish Community Night with $49 tickets using code PARADE49. paradebroadway.com/tour/