Scottsdale cantor to star in local production of ‘Parade’

SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER

On June 24, Congregation Beth Israel (CBI) Cantor Seth Ettinger will be playing the lead role in the Arizona Musical Theatre Orchestra’s (AZMTO) showcase of “Parade,” a musical about one of America’s most infamous antisemitic incidents.

Ettinger is set to play Leo Frank, the Jewish manager of an Atlanta pencil factory accused of murdering a girl whose body was discovered there in 1913. Despite little evidence, Frank was found guilty of killing Mary Phagan, who had worked at the factory, and was sentenced to death. In 1915, when Frank’s sentence was commuted to life in prison, he was kidnapped by an armed mob and lynched. The case spurred both the creation of the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish civil rights group whose activities include monitoring neo-Nazi movements, and the revival of the Ku Klux Klan.

The musical’s Broadway revival earlier this year caused protests by the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group, who rejected the consensus that Frank was innocent of the crime (he was posthumously pardoned in 1986). Protesters carried signs calling Frank a pedophile, a charge neo-Nazis have made many times before.

Stephen Schermitzler, AZMTO’s founder and director, doesn’t believe that his relatively new and underground orchestra would elicit a protest. However, he recognizes that antisemitism is ever present and this story “is a touchy subject in America right now,” he said. “Some people don’t like seeing things like this brought to light but it’s necessary and those protests are a sign that this is the time to tell the story.”

When Ettinger learned that Schermitzler chose “Parade” to showcase, he decided to audition. “I felt it would be my honor to play this role both as a Jewish person and a Jewish clergy member,” Ettinger said.

Ettinger has never seen a live production but is familiar with the music. His wife Sarah, however, loves the show and pushed him to audition.

“For people who haven’t seen it, “Parade” is a very powerful and provocative piece about how antisemitism has been part of American history since Jews first arrived in the country. I’m doing a lot of research on Leo Frank and exploring what it must have been like for him to be such an outsider, and having experienced antisemitism as a kid; I’m also drawing on those memories,” Ettinger said.

AZMTO’s showcase of “Parade” will not be like a typical musical. Like all of AZMTO’s public productions, it was cast only three weeks before the performance and the players will not come together to rehearse until June 24 — the same day the show goes up.

That schedule works especially well for a busy cantor like Ettinger. “Doing it in one day with little commitment is perfect,” he said. He has been learning his part alone but even though some of the cast members have never sung together or even interacted in person, “there’s just magic that happens,” he said.

The performers are responsible for their own costumes and some will not be off book (fully memorized). Held at Phoenix’s Central United Methodist Church without sets and only minimal choreography, performances are semi-staged and fully narrated concerts. The performers go through the full score and libretto without any adaptations.

“Parade,” written by Jason Robert Brown and Albert Uhry, first played on Broadway in 1998 and won Tony awards for best book and best score. It’s not a show that has been performed much in Greater Phoenix due to the large orchestra and cast requirements, which is one reason it works so well for AZMTO, a company that can provide musicians and singers for every written role and present the music as it was composed, Schermitzler said.

Schermitzler started AZMTO in 2022 as a Facebook group for local actors and musicians. Many theater companies tout the fact they use local talent but actually depend mostly on out-of-town actors and musicians. “I wanted to showcase the talent in this state and around the Southwest region,” Schermitzler said. Within six months, the FB group had grown to 1,000 members — many of them Jewish — and began showcasing known musicals once a month. The first show sold 400 tickets.

Since 2016, Schermitzler, who is not Jewish, has been part of CBI’s High Holiday choir, which is where Ettinger met him and discovered their mutual love of musical theater. Some AZMTO members have been on Broadway while others have sung in the world’s opera houses. Ettinger knew early on he wanted to be a cantor so musical theater has always been more of a hobby. This company, and this show in particular, have been a creative gift, he said. JN

Arizona Musical Theatre Orchestra will showcase “Parade” on June 24, at 7 p.m. For tickets, visit azmto.org.

This article incorporated reporting from Jewish Telegraphic Agency.