Abstract
The musical "Parade," with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and book by Alfred Uhry, opened at Broadway's Vivian Beaumont Theatre on December 17, 1998. Although criticized for its heightened degree of intellectuality, Brown's score exhibits an artistic design that is remarkably appropriate for the musical theatre. The purpose of this thesis is to examine musical symbolism, signification, metaphor, and allegory in the music of "Parade" via a narratological reading, with Claudia Gorbman's principles of classical film music serving as the primary analytical framework. The result is not an exhaustive analysis covering the entire score, but rather analyses of musical events and excerpts to illustrate functions of narrative elements throughout the show's music.
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