Mini-Review: “Parade” at the Boston Center for the Arts – Only Through June 16.

Loyal readers of The White Rhino Report, I offer my apologies for the absence from posting for a few weeks. My start-up business, White Rhino Partners, has taken off and I am scrambling to keep up with the expanding volume of work. Mind you, I am not complaining, but I feel bad about lagging behind with posts I would like to share with you.

Here is a quick heads-up to anyone living in the Boston area or anyone who will be traveling to Boston this week. Last week I saw an extraordinary musical play produced by the SpeakEasy Stage Company at Boston’s Center for the Arts. The show, “Parade,” will be ending its run this Saturday evening, and I want to alert you that it is worth going out of your way to see.

I went to see the show only because I know one of the cast members, and I want to support local arts. I had few expectations of the show, since I was not familiar with it. I was blown away by the power of this production – the book, the staging, the music, the acting of a very strong and well-balanced ensemble cast. This is what regional professional theater should be all about.

In a nutshell, the story is that of Leo Frank, a Jewish man from New York who had decamped to Atlanta and had become a community leader there as a businessman. He was convicted and jailed for the murder of a young girl who had worked in his pencil factory. He was eventually lynched by a mob that was tired of waiting for “justice” to be served. The play brilliantly illuminates disturbing issues of racism, anti-Semitism, mob justice and political opportunism.

This production comes with my very strong endorsement and recommendation. Visit the

SpeakEasy Stage Company website link below for ticket information:

http://www.speakeasystage.com/

Enjoy!

Al