Parade: Piano/Vocal Selections

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Musical
Review: Parade is one of the most auspicious debuts by a theatre composer in recent memory. Jason Robert Brown, then in his mid-20s, joined legendary 20-time Tony-winning producer-director Harold Prince and Tony-, Pulitzer- and Oscar-winning playwright Alfred Uhry for a musical about a Jewish man living in Atlanta in 1915 who was wrongly convicted of the murder of a young girl. The result was a critical success and one of the finest theatre scores I've ever heard. I anxiously awaited the release of this score so that I could play the songs and sing the moving melodies at home. The only problem is that Brown is such a talented "rock pianist" (think Jerry Lee Lewis meets Sondheim) that his piano parts are almost unplayable by amateurs such as myself. My advice: buy this book, and get someone very talented to play it for you.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing score, difficult vocal score
Review: Parade is one of the most auspicious debuts by a theatre composer in recent memory. Jason Robert Brown, then in his mid-20s, joined legendary 20-time Tony-winning producer-director Harold Prince and Tony-, Pulitzer- and Oscar-winning playwright Alfred Uhry for a musical about a Jewish man living in Atlanta in 1915 who was wrongly convicted of the murder of a young girl. The result was a critical success and one of the finest theatre scores I've ever heard. I anxiously awaited the release of this score so that I could play the songs and sing the moving melodies at home. The only problem is that Brown is such a talented "rock pianist" (think Jerry Lee Lewis meets Sondheim) that his piano parts are almost unplayable by amateurs such as myself. My advice: buy this book, and get someone very talented to play it for you.

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Musical
Review: This musical is nearly flawless. I have analyzed this show to great detail and I find it near-perfect. I love Jason Robert Brown (lyrics and music) - he's incredibly talented. As for Harold Prince, the director, he is a the winner of several Tony's, and Alfred Uhrly is just amazing as always, winning awards in several media categories. I recommend this musical to anyone who wants to be challenged musically and moved emotionally. This musical pushes the theatre up to new levels of excellence, which should be every composer's/director's goal.