The Slow Burn production of “Parade" is the feel-bad musical of the season.

That’s not to say it’s a bad show. It is a terrific production of a very dark story by Alfred Uhry, who seems to have a fixation on Southern Jews. Unlike the more commercial “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Parade” goes farther back in time to the early part of the 20th century to explore when antisemitism and racism were more blatant. The powerful musical revival, first produced on Broadway in 1998 and revived in 2023, is based on the true story of Leo Frank's trial and lynching.

The production is strong, from the excellent staging and choreography by Patrick Fitzwater, to Nikolas Serrano’s moody scenic design, to the outstanding performance by the entire cast. My only complaint is about the lighting design by Eric Norbury. I assume he was going for the same moody look as Serrano, but what we got is deep shadows across the faces of the actors making it hard to see them emoting. You won’t go home humming any of the tunes by Jason Robert Brown, but they serve the story admirably.

Justin Albinder and Mikayla Cohen were outstanding as the Franks, both showing great growth in the characters and strong voices more than capable of carrying the roles. Michael Materdomini and Allyson Rosenblum as Governor Staton and his wife, Sally, were also quite believable and showed some real growth. Michael Hunsaker was a delight as the venal reporter, but his accent sometimes got in the way of understanding his lyrics.

Will you go home uplifted and humming a tune after “Parade”? No. Should you see it because it is great theater? Most definitely!