This stirring, Tony Award-winning musical explores the endurance of love and hope against seemingly insurmountable odds, telling the true story of Leo Frank, a Brooklyn-born Jewish man falsely accused of murder in 1913 Atlanta. Innovative, daring, and filled with soaring music, Parade is a moving love story, a riveting murder mystery, a gripping courtroom drama and a powerful exploration of innocence and naïveté coming face-to-face with ignorance and prejudice.
Book by Alfred Uhry
Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Co-conceived by Harold Prince
Music Direction by Michael Mahler
Choreographed by Ericka Mac
Directed by Gary Griffin
Acclaimed director Gary Griffin, who directed the original Broadway production of composer Jason Robert Brown’s Honeymoon in Vegas and the world premiere of his The Trumpet of the Swan at the Kennedy Center, stages an intimate revival of this celebrated musical. With a book by playwright Alfred Uhry (Driving Miss Daisy) and a score by Brown (The Last Five Years,The Bridges of Madison County) that combines folk, rock, R&B and gospel, Parade ends WT’s 25th Anniversary Season with spectacular impact.
Sunday Spotlight (Post-Performance Discussion)
We will be participating in the Sunday Spotlight which offers access to the finest speakers, academicians and cultural leaders. This one-hour event takes place following select Sunday matinees and extends the conversation on our stages by featuring an expert in an area connected to the Parade.
Opens May 24 and runs through July 2
More information will be forthcoming.
Monitor the Parade webpage for the latest news.
About Writers Theatre
For 25 years, Writers Theatre has captivated Chicagoland audiences with inventive interpretations of classic work, a bold approach to contemporary theatre and a dedication to creating the most intimate theatrical experience possible.
Under the artistic leadership of Michael Halberstam and the executive leadership of Kathryn M. Lipuma, Writers Theatre has grown to become a major Chicagoland cultural destination with a national reputation for excellence, being called the top regional theatre in the nation by The Wall Street Journal.
The company, which plays to a sold-out and discerning audience of more than 60,000 patrons each season, has garnered critical praise for the consistent high quality and intimacy of its artistry—providing the finest interpretations of both classic and contemporary theatre in its two intensely intimate venues.
In February 2016, Writers Theatre opened a new, state-of-the-art facility. This established the company's first permanent home—a new theatre center in downtown Glencoe, designed by the award-winning, internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects, led by Founder and Design Principal Jeanne Gang, FAIA, in collaboration with Theatre Consultant Auerbach Pollock Friedlander.
The new facility has allowed the Theatre to continue to grow to accommodate its audience, while maintaining its trademark intimacy. The new facility resonates with and complements the Theatre’s neighboring Glencoe community, adding tremendous value to Chicagoland and helping to establish the North Shore as a premier cultural destination.
You can find Writers Theatre on Facebook
Writers Theatre New Home: Virtual Tour (4.29)
Review of Writers Theatre
Mike Fischer, Theater Critic for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes:
This is the third production I’ve seen in the new Writers Theatre space that opened this year. But it’s the first of those three that I’ve reviewed, giving me the chance to publicly join the chorus of hosannas greeting this magnificent, two-theater complex, built at a cost of nearly $30 million.
Deliberately invoking nearby designs by Frank Lloyd Wright, its public spaces are bathed in natural light and filled with comfortable seating areas as well as a terrace on which one can enjoy a drink. The playing spaces capture the intimate feel of the previous two Writers theaters (the book store that housed one of them in an annex has, alas, now closed).
The new Writers space is among the most beautiful theater complexes I’ve seen. It’s also a reminder that even in a period when the arts are chronically underfunded (Wisconsin ranks near the bottom in per capita arts funding), there are still places where governmental and private visionaries understand that the arts are not only essential to our well being, but also a smart commercial play.
Glencoe will benefit enormously because it houses this new theater. So will you if you come visit. Glencoe is north of Chicago; the easy, 72-mile drive there from downtown Milwaukee is shorter than the drive from Milwaukee to Madison.
Itinerary
Bear in mind that our boarding bus route is like Madison Metro or any other municipal bus service. Please arrive early at your boarding stop so you don’t miss the bus. When everyone is aboard and seated, we leave.
– Don’t be late. We can wait just 5 minutes at any one location.
– Pack water bottles and snacks for sustenance on the journey.
Leave Madison
10:00 AM Begin boarding Oakwood
10:15 AM Depart for Capitol Lakes
10:25 AM Arrival at Capitol Lakes for boarding.
10:40 AM Arrival at East Towne Sears for boarding.
10:45 AM Depart for Glencoe
Arrive in Glencoe
1:00 PM Arrive at Writers Theatre (Estimated)
1:20 PM Arrive at Chicago Botanic Garden
5:30 PM Depart Chicago Botanic Garden
5:45 PM Arrive at Writers Theatre
Return to Madison (Estimate)
6:15 PM Arrive Lake Forest Oasis (30 Minute Dinner Break)
8:35 PM Arrive at East Towne Sears
8:50 PM Arrive at Capitol Lakes
9:05 PM Arrive at Oakwood Village West
Accessibility Policy: On the Van Galder Bus, you must be able to climb steps to board and exit the bus.
Non-Member Policy: Members must register their guests. Each PLATO member is entitled to bring one non-member guest per bus trip. (Members may bring more than one guest near the registration Deadline Date if seats are available. Check with trip organizer.) Non-member guests pay an additional $15.00 registration fee. PLATO Membership is $60.00/year.
Mail-In Registration Form (includes instructions):
PLATO Members Form
For further information, Parade Theater Trip Organizer: Bob Blitzke, bblitzke@gmail.com and 608-271-7741
