YMTC presents PARADE February 25, 2011

Weekends February 25 to March 6, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 2 pm

Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Book by Alfred Uhry
Directed by Jennifer Boesing
Music direction by Dave Moschler

Winner of 2 Tony awards and 6 Drama Desk awards, PARADE dramatizes the 1913 trial of Jewish factory manager, Leo Frank, who was falsely convicted of murdering a thirteen-year-old employee, Mary Phagan. The trial, fueled by political ambition and sensationalized by the media, aroused anti-Semitic tensions in Atlanta, Georgia. Filled with beautiful and evocative music, PARADE is at once a riveting murder mystery, a gripping courtroom drama, a moving love story, a profile in courage and a searing social commentary. The Leo Frank trial and subsequent lynching gave rise to both the Ku Klux Klan (known at the time as the Knights of Mary Phagan), as well as the Anti-Defamation League. Book by acclaimed playwright Alfred Uhry ("Driving Miss Daisy"), and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, one of Broadway's most exciting composers ("Songs For A New World", "The Last Five Years"), PARADE brings this defining event in American history to life, and YMTC is thrilled to bring it to Berkeley.

YMTC shows attract a broad audience to their professional quality productions; the group is a magnet for exceptional young performers from all over the Bay Area. This production of PARADE brings together a stellar cast of young talent from Berkeley, Oakland, Albany, El Cerrito, San Francisco, and Orinda. Known for the skill of its actors/singers, its beautifully designed sets, costumes, and props, YMTC showcases talented teens, many of who go on to some of the best college theater programs in the country. The young performers for this production will be backed by a 21-piece orchestra, playing the original Broadway orchestration.

Official Website: http://www.ymtcberkeley.org