Every night, Micaela Diamond harnesses her own Jewish identity to tell the pertinent story of Parade at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. As the first Jew to play the lead role of Lucille, Diamond uses her passion and remarkable talent to underscore how the thread of generationally inherited antisemitism in America remains unbroken.

Parade tells the true story of Marietta, Georgia, resident Leo Frank—played by Ben Platt—who was lynched after being tried for the murder of factory worker Mary Phagan in 1913. Diamond plays Leo’s wife, Lucille, a Jewish southern belle whose Georgian upbringing is a foil for her Brooklynite husband’s reticence. Although the story is about Leo, Lucille takes center stage in the revival. In her fiery performance of “You Don’t Know This Man,” Diamond inhabits Lucille’s relentless advocacy as she attacks the media’s distorted depictions of him.

Diamond’s own passion for the story told in Parade is evident in her performance. “So much of my identity lives in this show,” she told the New York Times. In fact, she first discovered her love for singing in her New Jersey synagogue before debuting on Broadway in 2018 in The Cher Show. “Being able to tell this story to other Jews, to non-Jews, to start nuanced discussions…about what it means to be a Jew and how hatred is inherited is what I want my life’s work to be, ” she says.

While sharing a story that takes an emotional toll, Diamond finds comfort in her Judaism. She shared that she and other Jewish cast members, including Ben Platt, gather backstage to pray before each performance. She says, “It just feels like honoring Leo and Lucille and remembering how lucky we are to be Jews telling this story.”

The timeliness of Parade was reinforced on opening night when a group of Neo-Nazis spread antisemitic rhetoric outside the theater. “During bows every night, the Star of David hanging on my chest wacks [sic] me in the face when I fold in half and it feels like a nice metaphor,” wrote Diamond in an April 2023 Instagram post. The story told by Diamond and her fellow cast members is a poignant reminder that America’s haunting history of antisemitism is an unresolved chapter.

Sources

Coleman, Nancy. “Micaela Diamond, From Broadway’s ‘Parade,’ Sings her Favorite Joni Mitchell Song.” The New York Times, March 15, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/15/t-magazine/micaela-diamond-parade.ht…

Diamond, Micaela (@micaela_diamond). “It’s our 70th show.” Instagram, April 26, 2023. https://www.instagram.com/p/CrhLoRGuyqD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&ig…

Green, Jesse. “Review: A Pageant of Love and Antisemitism, in ‘Parade.” The New York Times, March 16, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/16/theater/parade-review-leo-frank.html