Point Park University announced Wednesday that the the student production of “Parade” that was planned for April has been “postponed indefinitely.”
The award-winning musical is about the trials and lynching of a wrongly accused Jewish man, Leo Frank, in Georgia in 1918. It was to be directed by Tony- and Emmy-winning director-choreographer Rob Ashford, a Point Park alumnus (Class of ’83) who was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters in 2010.
Mr. Ashford has been involved in discussions regarding the show throughout the process of making this decision, said Chris Ann Hayes, a Point Park spokeswoman, who added that Ashford is traveling in Asia and unavailable for comment.
“Point Park looks forward to welcoming Rob to campus to engage with the students sometime in the spring,” she said.
Conservatory Theatre students, who previously forced the cancellation of the provocative musical “Adding Machine,” took issue with “Parade” because it concludes that the guilty party in the rape and murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan was James Conley, a black janitor and Frank’s main accuser. That conclusion is based on historical research but has never been proven.
There are few minority roles in the musical, which is another point made by the students.The Tony award-winning book for “Parade” was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Alfred Uhry (“Driving Miss Daisy”), whose great uncle owned the factory where Frank and Phagan worked.
The Point Park students will instead present “Pippin,” which was a 1973 best musical nominee and the 2013 Tony winner as best musical revival.
Paul Hennigan, president of Point Park, said in a statement: “Over the past three weeks, leaders of the Pittsburgh Playhouse at Point Park University and the Conservatory of Performing Arts have held wide-ranging, honest discussions with students, faculty and staff regarding issues of diversity, inclusion and equity.
“As we continue our dialogue and work together to enhance the culture at Point Park in a way that will lead to a more inclusive community, we have made the decision to postpone indefinitely our production of the show ‘Parade,’ which was scheduled for April.”
Mr. Hennigan began meeting with students after they made a list of demands following a troubled audition and rehearsal process for “Adding Machine.”
“It is clear to me that our priority as a university must be our students, and we cannot allow a production to move forward that could overshadow our educational and developmental mission,” the statement said. “We also would not be serving the best interests of our loyal patrons or the show ‘Parade,’ a widely acclaimed and important musical that generates robust conversation about social awareness and societal change.”
After “Adding Machine” was canceled, Conservatory students instead performed a “Reclaiming” cabaret. That show concluded Saturday at the Pittsburgh Playhouse’s Highmark Theatre.
The program was a single page listed the actors’ names with the statement: “We present to you the cast of ‘Adding Machine, the Musical,’ the recently cancelled Point Park production. The intention of this cabaret is for the students and all those affected to reclaim the process, narrative and space. Each student has chosen a piece that uniquely fits their meaning of reclaim.”
The final number was from “Pippin,” assuring that there was still “magic to do.”
Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. Twitter: @SEberson_pg. Sign up for the PG performing arts newsletter Behind the Curtain at Newsletter Preferences.
First Published: December 18, 2019, 11:08 p.m.
