Parade

Parade will run February 23 through March 16, 2008 at the History Theatre venue, 30 E Tenth St., St. Paul, MN 55101. Preview is Thursday, February 21st at 7 p.m., ticket cost $19; opening night is Saturday, February 23 at 8 p.m. Parade will run on Wednesday 3/5 at 7:30 p.m. ticket cost $25; Thursday 3/28 at 9:30 a.m. (school matinee) and 3/13 at 7:30 p.m. ticket cost $27; Fridays 2/29, 3/7, and 3/14 at 8 p.m. ticket cost $35; Saturdays 2/23, 3/1, 3/8 and 3/15 at 8 p.m. ticket cost $35; Sundays 2/24, 3/2, 3/9, and 3/16 at 2 p.m. ticket cost $29. Individual tickets may be purchased through the History Theatre Box Office at 651-292-4323 or on online at www.historytheatre.com. For groups (10 or more) or school groups call the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company at 651-647-4315.

Parade, music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, book by Alfred Uhry, will be presented as a collaborative production of the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company (MJTC) and Theater Latté Da (TLD). Parade is the true story of Leo Frank, a Brooklyn-born Jew who is accused of murdering 13-year old Mary Phagan, a factory worker under his employ in 1913 Atlanta. Racism, press sensationalism, and politics are at play with a beautiful love story, all of which drive events that affect justice and the legal system during what was called the “trial of the century.” The Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights/human relations agency that fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, was founded in response to this trial. This innovative, daring Tony Award-winning musical is being produced by two small powerhouse Twin Cities theaters.

Parade will be directed by Peter Rothstein, TLD’s Ivey Award-winning artistic director. Rothstein has directed numerous area and world premieres, including La Bohéme, Gypsy, Sunday in the Park with George, and KNOCK! (TLD); Woman Before a Glass and Family Secrets (MJTC); Private Lives (Guthrie Theater); and Disney’s High School Musical and A Year with Frog and Toad (The Children’s Theatre Company). Rothstein was recently awarded a spot in the prestigious NEA/TCG career development directing program. Denise Prosek is the production’s music director. She is the co-founder of TLD. She has worked extensively as a music director and pianist at Twin Cities theaters, including Guthrie Theater, the Ordway Center, Chanhassen Dinner Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre and Park Square Theatre. She will be performing with Theater Mu for The Walleye Kid this January. Barbara Brooks, MJTC’s founder and producing artistic director, is producer of the production. She will also appear onstage in the role of Sally Slayton.

Parade will feature Dieter Bierbrauer as Leo Frank and Ann Michels as Lucille Frank. Dieter Bierbrauer has been a singer/actor in the Twin Cities since 2000. He grew up in southwestern Wisconsin, and attended Luther College in Decorah, IA. This show marks Bierbrauer’s debut with MJTC. He has appeared in Theater Latté Da’s productions of A Christmas Carole Petersen, A Man of No Importance, and Floyd Collins. Other local theater credits include Guthrie Theater, the Ordway Center, The Children’s Theatre Company, Chanhassen Dinner Theater, The Pantages, Illusion, Nautilus Musical Theater, Jon Hassler Theater, and Theatre de la Jeune Lune, with whom he has toured to American Repertory in Cambridge, MA and this summer to Berkeley Repertory in Berkeley, CA. Bierbrauer has also been a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, Vocal Essence, and the Minnesota Boyschoir.

Ann Michels has appeared with TLD in A Man of No Importance, Wings, and Sunday in the Park with George. Michels recently created the role of Hannah Brown in Irving Berlins’ Easter Parade at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater, after appearing in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Anything Goes, Beauty and the Beast, Midlife the Crisis Musical, and Grease. Other credits include Guthrie Theater, Nautilus Musical Theater, History Theatre, Illusion Theater, Outward Spiral, Jon Hassler, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Buffalo Gal Productions, and Skylark Opera.