Parade Character Breakdown
NOTES ON CASTING:
- This show explores antisemitism, prejudice and the social tensions of the American South in the early twentieth century. Because several characters are based on real historical individuals, and casting should honor that history.
- All performers must be 18+ to be cast in PARADE. No children will be cast in this production.
- Some roles may be doubled
LEO FRANK – Superintendent of the National Pencil Factory and the story’s tragic protagonist. A Northern Jewish man living in Atlanta, Leo is intelligent, anxious, tightly wound, and often pessimistic. He feels physically and emotionally out of place in the South and, at times, within his own marriage to Lucille. He is falsely accused of the rape and murder of Mary Phagan.
Gender: male presenting Voice type: Baritone Age: 25-35
LUCILLE FRANK – Leo’s wife. A Jewish woman born and raised in Georgia, Lucille is gentle and reserved but possesses a deep well of strength, resourcefulness, and resilience. As Leo’s case unfolds, she finds the courage to become one of his fiercest advocates.
Gender: female presenting Voice type: Mezzo-Soprano Age: 25-30
FRANKIE EPPS – Mary Phagan’s friend and young love interest. Charming, playful, flirtatious, and earnest, Frankie is deeply affected by Mary’s death.
Gender: male presenting Voice type: Tenor Age: 18-20
YOUNG CONFEDERATE SOLDIER – A young Confederate soldier who appears in the opening moments of the story, embodying an idealized memory of the Old South. Later appears as the Old Confederate Soldier.
Gender: male presenting Voice type: Tenor Age: 18-20
MARY PHAGAN – A young factory worker at the National Pencil Factory whose murder sets the events of the story in motion. Youthful, spirited, playful, and capable of a bit of sass, Mary represents both a real girl whose life is tragically cut short and the idealized image around which Atlanta rallies.
Gender: female presenting Voice type: Mezzo-Soprano Age: 18-20
HUGH DORSEY – Atlanta’s ambitious District Attorney and the prosecutor in Leo Frank’s case. A devout Christian with significant political aspirations, Dorsey is determined to secure a conviction and is willing to use the public mood surrounding the case to his advantage.
Gender: male presenting Voice type: Baritone Age: 35-55
GOVERNOR JOHN SLATON – Governor of Georgia. Charming, confident, and politically savvy. Slaton is highly aware of public opinion but ultimately struggles to reconcile political expediency with his own sense of justice and responsibility.
Gender: male presenting Voice type: Baritone Age: 35 to 45
BRITT CRAIG – A hard-drinking, down-on-his-luck Atlanta newspaperman whose career is revived by the Leo Frank case. Cynical, opportunistic, and hungry for a story, Craig eagerly feeds—and feeds upon—the public frenzy surrounding the trial.
Gender: male presenting Voice type: Tenor Age: 35 to 45
MR. PEAVY – A local Atlanta figure caught up in the investigation surrounding Mary Phagan’s murder.
Gender: male presenting Age: 50+
LUTHER ROSSER – Leo Frank’s defense attorney. A colorful and sometimes bumbling presence in the courtroom, Rosser is charged with defending Leo against an increasingly hostile prosecution and public.
Gender: male presenting Age: 35-55
OFFICER IVEY – An Atlanta police officer involved in the investigation of Mary Phagan’s murder.
Gender: male presenting Age: 35-55
JIM CONLEY – An African American janitor at the National Pencil Factory who becomes the prosecution’s key witness against Leo Frank. Charismatic, shrewd, and an instinctive showman, Conley knows how to command a room and manipulate an audience. He has a criminal history and plays a pivotal role in shaping the case against Leo. Gender: male presenting Voice type: Tenor Age: 20-30
NEWT LEE – The African American night watchman at the National Pencil Factory who discovers Mary Phagan’s body. Physically imposing but gentle in nature, Lee quickly finds himself drawn into the investigation.
Gender: male presenting Voice type: Bass Age: 50+
RILEY – An African American servant.
Gender: male presenting Voice type: Tenor Age: 20’s
TOM WATSON – A powerful conservative politician and publisher who uses his platform to inflame public sentiment against Leo Frank and becomes a driving force behind the growing mob mentality surrounding the case.
Gender: male presenting Voice type: Tenor Age: 40-60
DETECTIVE STARNES – An Atlanta police detective assigned to investigate Mary Phagan’s murder.
Gender: male presenting Age: 40-60
IOLA STOVER, ESSIE, & MONTEEN – friends and contemporaries of Mary Phagan who testify against Leo Frank during the trial.
Gender: female presenting Voice type: Mezzo/Soprano Age: 18-20
ANGELA – An African American servant.
Gender: female presenting Voice type: Mezzo-Soprano Age: 18+
MINNIE McKNIGHT – The Franks’ African American housemaid. Initially devoted to the family, Minnie becomes caught up in the investigation and is pressured into giving damaging testimony.
Gender: female presenting Voice type: Mezzo/Contralto Age: 20+
JUDGE ROAN – The judge presiding over Leo Frank’s trial. Deeply influenced by the prejudices and Confederate loyalties of his time and place, Roan oversees a courtroom increasingly affected by the intense public pressure surrounding the case.
Gender: male presenting Voice type: Baritone/Bass Age: 50+
OLD CONFEDERATE SOLDIER – The older incarnation of the Young Confederate Soldier seen at the beginning of the story. His presence connects the romanticized memory of the Confederacy with the Atlanta of 1913.
Gender: male presenting Voice type: Bass Age: 50+
MRS. PHAGAN – Mary Phagan’s devoted, grieving mother who struggles as a widow to make ends meet.
Gender: female presenting Voice type: Mezzo Age: 25-30
SALLY SLATON – Wife of Governor John Slaton.
Gender: female presenting Age: 25-30