Original Broadway Cast, 1999 (RCA) (4 / 5) Composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown earned a Tony Award for his work on Parade, his first Broadway score. Although this dark musical about the blatantly anti-Semitic murder trial, conviction, and eventual lynching of Leo Frank in Atlanta, GA during the early years of the 20th century had only a limited run at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, it yielded a fine cast recording. Alfred Uhry’s book for the musical is distancing, and so was Harold Prince’s direction of the show, but Brown’s score is excellent. Note the evocative Southern flavor that’s so vital to the story’s Georgia setting in the beautiful opening anthem, “The Old Red Hills of Home,” and the heavy blues strains in the chain-gang song “Feel the Rain Fall.” Also exciting: the eight-song trial sequence, which runs the gamut from sentimental to comic to soulful, and the show’s dynamic second-act duets, “This Is Not Over Yet” and “All the Wasted Time.” These are put across with gusto by Brent Carver and Carolee Carmello, who each have strong solo moments as well (his “How Can I Call This Home?” and her “Do It Alone”) but who truly soar when singing together. The rest of the cast is equally top-notch: Rufus Bonds, Jr., Don Chastain, John Hickok, Herndon Lackey, Jessica Molaskey, Evan Pappas, Christy Carlson Romano, John Leslie Wolfe, and the ensemble all come across beautifully. If not every song on the album is a gleaming gem, it’s an impressive score overall. — Matthew Murray

London Cast, 2007 (Warner Music Group) (3 / 5) The black-and-white cover suggests everything you need to know about this recording of Parade: It’s raw, intense, and quietly powerful. Jason Robert Brown’s glorious and moving score is presented compellingly with harsh but beautiful orchestrations, and most of the cast does an admirable job, even if their performances are not as extraordinary as their counterparts in the two Broadway recordings. The main attraction of this album is its completeness; entire scenes are preserved with dialogue included, making the listening experience especially intense. The recording’s primary detriment is the performance of Bertie Carvel as Leo Frank. Carvel is not Jewish, and the accent he uses for the role borders on offensive — not to mention that his Leo is so grotesque and unlikable that the focus of the show is thrown off center, and the relationship of the central couple is almost wholly unbelievable. As a result, the haunting “Sh’ma” that comes near the end of the show does not pack quite the punch that it should. On the other hand, Lara Pulver gives a lovely performance as Lucille Frank, her initial quietness building up to a powerful explosion in the show’s second act. Several of the supporting roles are doubled on this recording, and the concept is generally successful; Shaun Escoffery, as Jim Conley and Newt Lee, brings these two characters to such vivid and terrifying life that the listener is glad he was handed both roles. The ensemble cast is excellent: Malinda Paris brings a surprising but effective glee to “A-Rumblin’ and A-Rollin’,” and the sequence involving “The Factory Girls” is gripping. Overall, this recording succeeds in conveying the power of Parade, but with two  other brilliant cast albums available, it’s likely that only completists will consider it a necessary possession. — Charles Kirsch

Broadway Cast, 2023 (Immersive Music/Interscope Records) (5 / 5) From the moment when Charlie Webb, as an anonymous Confederate soldier, begins to sing with incredible clarity and power of “The Old Red Hills of Home,” it’s clear that this is an excellent cast recording of a superb production of Parade. Indeed, it doesn’t miss a beat, with its pitch-perfect cast and stirring orchestrations by Don Sebesky and the show’s composer, Jason Robert Brown (slightly altered from the originals). Ben Platt is the ultimate Leo Frank: quiet, humorous, and with enough charisma that listeners may have to wipe quite a few tears from their eyes as the tragedy of his story unfolds. Micaela Diamond is a new Broadway phenomenon at the ripe age of 23, exhibiting a maturity befitting the character, along with a hauntingly lovely voice that makes songs such as “You Don’t Know This Man” ring out with pathos. In the midst of the debate about “authentic” casting, this production makes a strong case for it; the history of anti-Semitism speaks through Platt and Diamond in a way that it could not through some of their predecessors in these roles. On top of that, their voices blend with unbelievable beauty in “This Is Not Over Yet.” All of the other cast members perfectly embody their characters: Kelli Barrett’s “My Child Will Forgive Me,” which takes a journey from self-flagellation to a final moment of anti-Semitism, is a master class in musical theater acting; Alex Joseph Grayson’s “Blues: Feel the Rain Fall” is nothing short of terrifying; and Douglas Lyons and Courtnee Carter’s duet “A Rumblin’ and A Rollin’” provides powerful context for the story, along with beautiful vocals. This story is, in fact, so tragically real that the album can be hard to get through, but if you attend it all the way through to Platt’s heartbreaking “Sh’ma” and the finale, you may find the catharsis that only a truly great show can bring. — C.K.