By: Charity Meier | Farmington Press | Published November 12, 2025
FARMINGTON HILLS — Over the next two weeks, “Parade” will be marching across the Smith Theatre stage at Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills with a poignant reminder that history often repeats itself and that people should look past their differences.
Set in Marietta, Georgia, the play tells the story of the life and trial of Leo Frank, an affluent, Jewish man from New York, who was accused of killing a 13-year-old girl who worked at his pencil factory in 1913.
“It’s a story of injustice and a man being wrongfully convicted, tried, convicted, tried, and eventually lynched over labels, like being Jewish, being a Northerner, being an outsider. Essentially, in terms of the South, sort of an immigrant, right? But you know that’s the way they saw him, being from the South, and we’re in the Jim Crow law era, right after the (American) Civil War. A Northern Jew was the last thing anyone in Marietta, Georgia, wanted to see. Especially when they’re sending their kids to work and this story comes out,” said Cooper Miller, who portrays Frank in the OCC presentation. “So, it’s an important story with what’s going on in today’s political climate about how we treat people who are different from us and how our prejudices, our biases, can get the better of us when a tragedy occurs and people are looking for someone to blame.”
Frank was one of three suspects in the killing of Mary Phagan. The other two suspects, Jim Conley and Newt Lee, were African Americans from the South, and therefore looked upon more favorably than someone from the North.
Conley, an escaped convict, was encouraged to put the blame on Frank in exchange for his freedom. His words were valued more despite his criminal past because he was from the South.
“What drew me to do this show is there’s a lot of bad things happening in the world, politically or not, even just politically, but there’s human rights that are being taken away, and I think this is a good piece to portray right now,” said Antonio Hood, who portrays Conley in the production.
Miller said that Frank was not liked in the South simply because he practiced Judaism, was wealthy, and originated from the Northern part of the country. He said the story provides an interesting perspective on our country’s division following the Civil War.
“Conley was a Black janitor who had been in and out of the jail system, and Leo was an educated white man coming from a nice family and upbringing, and yet even in the Jim Crow era of the South, they trusted him over Leo,” Miller said. “It is an interesting look at the tensions of the Civil War and the North vs. South and how even though Jim Conley was Black, he was seen as one of them (a Southerner), rather than Leo. So racism and prejudice can blossom in so many ways; it goes beyond the color of your skin, and that kind of gets explored in the show.”
According to Hood, the man who prosecuted the case was antisemitic. Hood said the prosecutor wanted Frank dead, simply because of his religious stance.
“This is a true story that examines history, bias and how we, as a society, cope with the divisions among us,” said Jennifer Little, OCC theater director and Broadway actress. “The musical gives our student actors a chance to empathize with people they may not fully understand but can ultimately see are simply human, just like them.”
For the romantics out there, the storyline also includes the romance between Leo and Lucille Frank. The couple’s love story blossoms as Lucille works to support her husband and prove his innocence.
Miller said he is a huge fan of the work of composer Jason Robert Brown, calling him “possibly the greatest composer of our generation” and a “genius.” According to Miller, the score for “Parade,” which was Brown’s first Broadway play, is “filled with so much love.”
Hood said that performing the role of Conley is a dream come true, because the song “That’s What He Said” is one of his favorite songs in all of musical theater. However, Hood said it was also very challenging to learn to perform the vocally demanding song.
He said his other challenge with performing as Conley is just knowing that Conley might very well have been the murderer.
“It’s a struggle to know how to portray that, because if Jim Conley actually did it, of course he would know he done it, but he has to also hide that from the world, while this possibly innocent man is getting blamed for it to possibly be hung, so that is definitely challenging mentally,” Hood said.
“It‘s such a beautiful story, and a real one, and along with one of the better scores that’s been written over the last 30 years,” said Miller.
Miller said he believes that Little has the concept that “art imitates life” in mind when she makes her play selections for the college.
“She finds it important to speak out against what’s going on in the world through theater,” he said. “It’s pretty cool and it’s amazing for just kids like us who are just looking to do a play. Not only do we learn how to be actors, but we learn how to tell a story as important as this one, which is not an opportunity you see at very many colleges in general, let alone at community colleges.”
“I really hope people will walk away with more knowledge on history, because to this day, it is unknown who killed Mary Phagan. A lot of people still believe it was Leo Frank. Some people think it was actually Jim Conley,” Hood said. “So, I want people to walk away with their own questions. Walk away, getting their information from the right resources and studying this case. And I want people to realize that things like this are still happening in the world. People are still getting wrongly convicted or mistreated because of who they are.”
“Parade” opens on Nov. 13. Performances will be held on Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m. through Nov. 21 at the Smith Theatre, located on the Orchard Ridge OCC campus in Farmington Hills.
As with all of Little’s OCC productions, American Sign Language interpreters will be shadow acting throughout each performance, for the benefit of the deaf and hard of hearing.
General admission costs $12.51, and senior citizens pay $7.18. There is no cost for OCC students, employees, alumni and retirees.