Theatergoers attending the first preview of “Parade” on Broadway were met with a disturbing sight Tuesday night when a small group of neo-Nazis picketed the show.
The protesters held anti-Semitic placards calling the musical’s subject, Leo Frank, a “pedophile” and yelled at ticketholders as they walked into the theater.
Frank was a Jewish factory superintendent who was convicted in 1913 of the murder of a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in Atlanta. Two years after his sentencing, the 31-year-old was lynched. Researchers later concluded that Frank had been wrongly convicted and another man was likely the murderer.
A source tells Page Six that director Michael Arden addressed the packed crowd, which included Mark Ronson and “West Side Story” star Rachel Zegler, to talk about the “power of theater being on display that night.”
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Ben Platt, who portrays Frank in the Broadway revival, did not find out about the protests until after the show.
He took to Instagram after curtain call, explaining, “I don’t usually address social media in this manner because I’m afraid of it, but I felt compelled to this evening.”
Platt called the protests “very ugly and scary, but a wonderful reminder of why we’re telling this particular story and how special and powerful … theater can be.”
The Tony-winning “Dear Evan Hansen” star, 29, shared that playing Frank has “just made me extra grateful to be the one who gets to tell this particular story and carry on this legacy of Leo.”
He also went on to stress the “gorgeous” work done by the cast in an attempt to shift the focus away from “the really ugly actions of a few who are spreading evil.”