Queer Voices
Queer Voices
July 16th 2025 QUEER VOICES Ramone Nelson of PARADE
Tonight's show on KPFT will be a repeat, but here is an exclusive for QUEER VOICES podcast listeners!
Ramone Nelson is in the touring production of PARADE, which hit the Hobby Center last night, and will be here through July 20th. The show is an uncompromising look at the mistrial of a Jewish man in Atlanta in 1913. Ramone talks about his time in MJ THE MUSICAL and how he got into performing. He also talks about what PARADE has to say to the LGBTQIA+ community.
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in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. Ramon nelson is coming to houston with the touring production of parade, starting at the hobby center on july 15th. Parade is a deep kind of dark musical based on real historical events and it follows the story of leo frank, a jewish factory superintendent in atlanta who is wrongly accused and convicted of murdering a young girl, and it takes place in 1913. It mines themes of prejudice and justice and the power of love and emotion and devotion amidst adversity. It debuted on broadway back in and it got some Tony Awards that year but it had regrettably kind of a short run. But now the show is basically a sensation after a Tony Award-winning revival and probably because it speaks to our times. I really think Parade was probably ahead of our time. So, ramon, I am so glad to have you and Parade here in town with me, hi, welcome.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us. We're very excited to get there and be in Houston.
Speaker 1:Yes, now tell me about Parade. I mean, it's not a show that a lot of people know about? What is it about from your perspective?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I always say that Parade is like like for me I was a true, tried and true theater theater kid, so Parade is somewhat of a niche musical. It's not your griefs, it's not your carousel, it's like you really have to know a musical to know Parade. And, like you said, parade is, it's a true story. It's a dramatization about a man who moves to Marietta, georgia, and is falsely convicted and it's his journey of trying to prove his innocence, while simultaneously we see and follow this love story between him and his wife, lucille, and through that we see that love is the guiding factor of both trying to find his innocence and falling deeper in love with who he is, who his wife is and their connection together.
Speaker 1:Now, who do you play in this?
Speaker 2:So I play Jim Conley who is a janitor at the pencil factory, or as he likes to call it, the cleaning supervisor correction at the pencil factory and he is a key witness in the trial at the pencil factory. And he is a key witness in the trial and jim has had a somewhat of a troubled past and the prosecuting team knows that and they unfortunately use that against him and that is later on used to help fabricate a story against leo Frank to find him guilty.
Speaker 1:What do you love most about doing this show?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I was really looking for a piece that I like theater that kind of makes you a little uncomfortable. I like theater that is making you think beyond what you saw on the stage and beyond a car ride home. I want to do the show that is making people have conversations days, weeks, months after they see it, and parade is that. Parade is a show that is making people have, of course, the conversations of like oh my gosh, that song was so good and oh my gosh, this performers and the performers were amazing and the orchestra was so big and beautiful. Those are the stories and the theater pieces that I strive to do and that really can make a difference in today's world. So, knowing that every time I put on that costume I'm like let's get out there and let's do it. It's a good time.
Speaker 1:One of the things I'm always fascinated by when you're part of a touring company is do you find that the audiences kind of differ their reactions as you travel around the country?
Speaker 2:absolutely, absolutely, and especially with this show. There can be audiences that are like really leaned in with us but quiet, don't say a word. And then there's audiences who laugh at every single joke, maybe laugh like times 10, just so they can get out that emotion before it's the real thing start to hit. So, yeah, I think, I think people at the stage door have different reactions. Some people are most people are flustered at the stage door but they are very thankful and appreciative of what they saw and that transfers. That applies to all of the cities that we've gone to thus far. The people at the stage door have been so kind and so gracious and it's a beautiful connection that we make at that stage door.
Speaker 1:Now, famously, hal Prince developed this show and he originally approached Stephen Sondheim, who actually passed on Parade, and then you got Jason Robert Brown who wrote the score. It is famously complex. So what is it like to perform his music night after night?
Speaker 2:First of all, it's it's the theater kid and me's biggest dream. So let me start there. Like week one of rehearsal, day one of rehearsals. He's standing right across from me, he's shaking my hand and I'm trying not to fangirl too much this is jason right this is jason, this is jason robert, like he's standing there right there.
Speaker 2:And then I think, maybe I think the week one or week two, they pulled me to a rehearsal and they were like hey, ramon, like I think Jason wants to just hear this. You know your songs. I was like my songs are his songs on me? Like what are you saying there? Like he wrote this song and so I'm fangirling half of the time. I also will say that he really put his foot in it and it's hard, like it's not easy, and he wrote a beautiful and complex score that is gives nods to old time musical theater. I think a lot of musical theater is, you know, on on a track and it's very modern and very poppy at times and this really goes back to those big sweeping orchestrations and big sweeping melodies. And it's been missed on my end. So it's been a pleasure to sing his score, to say the least.
Speaker 1:Do you feel like this production has changed you at all and how you approach things as an artist or as a person at all?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I think, first of all, playing a real person is an actor's dream. So going and trying to find how these people lived in Marietta, georgia I am from Georgia, so a lot of the things that they reference in the show, I've been there, I've been to Fulton County, I've been to Marietta, and so that was really like oh my gosh, and I think it added a lot of nuance to how I take on gym and also how I am gym in the space and in the show and then on top of it, like as an artist. I think with a show like this, you are naturally going to change, especially doing it every single day. This is month six, month seven, you know, and so one thing I can say for sure is that I've definitely changed from December 2024 to now. I'm very grateful for it and it's been a blessing that I wanted and am very grateful for.
Speaker 1:Well, you mentioned you grew up in Georgia. I mean, obviously, how did you get into show business? What was that like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I came from a huge sports family sports, sports, sports. So I have multiple siblings, I have five siblings. We all played sports. So it was sports, sports, sports. So I have multiple siblings, I have five siblings, we all played sports. So it was like sports, sports, sports, sports, sports up until maybe fifth grade.
Speaker 2:And like music class, you can like, you know you like play the tambourine or play whatever, and they in Georgia, you have to play the recorder and I really fell in love with it and I that transitioned me into playing the saxophone. So I played the saxophone and I would sing around the house and I would dance around the house. And then I found out that you could like sing, dance and act at the same time and I was like, oh, like, okay, like that's cool. So then I did both theater and band at the same time, but band was the thing.
Speaker 2:Until about junior year of high school I went to a performing arts high school in Conyers, georgia, the Heritage High School Academy for Performing and Visual Arts, and we did a production of Les Mis and I played Jean Valjean and there was, you know, I loved it, I loved musical theater. It was great and I really took that role seriously and I, after the show, I met a older gentleman who was really touched by the performance and wanted to pull me to the side and, like have a conversation with me. And he basically like looked me in the eye and was, like please don't ever stop doing this. And I was shocked that I could make someone feel that and have that reaction. And I've never met him, he's never met me, and it was a time where I had to like pick between band and theater and I swear that that was a sign from God, being like it's theater, like you have to do theater.
Speaker 1:And from then on I've just been cooking along, doing it, doing the thing when I read your bio I see a show that I'm seeing on a lot of people's bio, but I think you were in the original Broadway production of this. Is it MJ? The Michael Jackson musical?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 1:What the heck was that like? That has got to be amazing. Talk about some wild songs. Okay, you want to talk about a hard song?
Speaker 2:It was unreal. I was very, very blessed and grateful to be a part of that company. I just graduated from Florida State University and it was COVID. I didn't know what I was doing and I was lucky enough to find an agent and I was just happy to be auditioning and figuring it out. And then MJ came along and they were looking for future replacements and I was like, okay, great, future replacements, great, I'm just going to throw my, throw my name in the hat. And that wasn't true. They were looking for immediate replacements.
Speaker 2:Actually, come to find out and after a tape and a FaceTime call with Christopher Wilden, I got the offer that I'd be making my Broadway debut. And it was insane, truly insane. You know, I didn't think that was going to happen like that. You could not put that in my bingo card and it taught me so much Everything that I could have possibly dreamed in my bingo card and it taught me so much everything that I could have possibly dreamed in a Broadway debut that show gave me.
Speaker 2:It was thus far the hardest show that I've done. I was a swing in the original company and swinging itself is already hard, and then the roles are so nuanced and then you have to put on this afro and jumpsuit and play a Jackson 5 brother, and then you have to one day I'm playing a Jackson 5 brother and the next day I'm playing Barry Gordy, then the next day, you know I'm playing this person. So it was beautiful and yeah, you want to talk about a hard song. Those are, and we had to change the keys for some of them because I was like how is Michael Jackson saying that? Michael Jackson is an icon and his passing was just the other day and every time that comes around I'm always like blessed to be a part of his legacy and holds near and dear to my heart that company. Near and dear to my heart front of house, stage management crew, everyone. They love that group and very grateful for them it was an amazing experience, I'm sure.
Speaker 1:I mean I I love the idea of having him and his music on broadway. It's just so special and very cool and it's somebody I grew with, so I'm always kind of like fan over that.
Speaker 2:Of course, didn't we all grow up with that. We all grew up with this icon and for me, I loved. I really strive to do shows that are, you know, uplifting black and brown experiences and stories, and I also love inspiring younger generations and so seeing those little babies coming in like a smooth criminal suit just to come and see this musical was the highlight of my day. And yeah, you know, it's tech week, it's previews and we're tired and you know, barely sleeping and all the things trying to put in new pages and changes. Then that little person comes down the aisle and they're just jumping up and down ready to see Michael Jackson. It makes it all worth it.
Speaker 1:So has that been your favorite show so far, or is there any other one that kind of stands out?
Speaker 2:Oh man, I've been very lucky to do some really amazing shows. I think MJ will always have a special place in my heart because it was my Broadway debut and I you know. They were gracious enough to allow me to play Tito Quincy on the road for a minute. And but right now the one that jumps out to me is Jelly Slash Jam at New York City Center. I love New York.
Speaker 1:City Center.
Speaker 2:I love New York City Center. I love them, and that show was a blessing that I didn't know that I needed at the time. Once again, it was just a beautiful piece. It was Black. It was Black excellence at its tip top.
Speaker 2:I was working with people who I looked up to, like I'm in the room with Billy Porter and I was like whoa, I've watched your bootlegs of Kinky Boots every single day for years. And then, at the same time, I'm in the room with legends like Leslie Uggams. I'm like you are the Black Broadway royalty. And then meeting stars to this day, like Nicholas Christopher, who I look up to tenfold because he works so hard and he's also so nice. He's going to be in the chess revival that's coming up. I worked with some really cool people in that show. New York City Center is so fast, it's only two-week run, three-week runs. You put it up in ten days. And so everyone is just like, okay, we're going to do this for 10 days, we're going to learn it, tech it and put it up and it's going to be what it's going to be. And that one was just amazing and a blessing, a blessing, a blessing and yeah, that's a highlight for sure.
Speaker 1:Parade is coming to Houston right after Pride, so do you think that this show says anything specifically to the LGBTQIA plus audience out there?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I mean, I think the differences, but the unfortunate similarities of 1913 Georgia and today of America, and this idea of what will happen if one group of people believes they are better than another.
Speaker 2:And I think that transfers across all injustices Right now. In America, transphobia is really high right now, and specifically with Black and brown trans siblings it's very high. So that idea holds true, unfortunately, right now, and it makes audiences really. We hope that audiences leave leading their lives with more love and more light and more grace for people in the world, that our differences are not that vast, that we have more similarities in each other than we think, and so, yeah, I think it pushes me as a queer person, to live my life more authentically and fully, so that this is not a time to hide, hide, this is not a time to close ourselves off, but more to live fully, and I cannot believe that we're missing pride. I'm I'm so mad about it it's okay.
Speaker 2:It's okay, beyonce's here, so you're fine come on like I can't believe it and yeah, so, but yeah okay, but we're about to have you like, right after that it'll be all on our minds anyway.
Speaker 1:So definitely, but okay. So I totally like peeped your insta account and I have to ask you this how do you stay in such great shape while you'm on the road? Well, I'm my, I'm gonna find a gym.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's number one. I'm gonna find a gym, I think, with the show that like this and it's heavy and I have to have a outlet and the gym is my outlet and with, like the housing. We've been lucky enough to have some housing that, like this Sonder that we're in right now has a kitchen and like a little kitchenette so I can cook and stay, you know, in physical shape even though I'm a huge foodie, so it's so hard. I'm ready to get to Houston because I am going to eat down there.
Speaker 1:Don't do it. Don't do it.
Speaker 2:I know, I know I'm like I'm kicking my feet with the excitement of food to think but yeah, the gym is my go-to. For sure I am in the gym and I just try to be conscious and not eat too many, try too many things, too many new things, but not restrict myself too much. But thank you.
Speaker 1:I think the biggest thing here in Houston that I always tell people you know, definitely do the Tex-Mex. The barbecue is pretty good too. It's Texas barbecue, which is a little bit different. So I mean coming from Atlanta and Georgia, you'll. You'll kind of go oh, this is a little different. So those two things, it's. It's a lot of humidity and really great tacos and some good brisket.
Speaker 2:So there you are, I will be there. I have to try I won't do too much because, yes, we have to maintain the show. But yes. I will. I will be there.
Speaker 1:Well, ramon Nelson, we are so excited to have you and parade in town, starting at the hobby center July 15th. I've been looking forward to this one all year because, like you say, this is a very timely musical. It speaks to our era. It certainly has raised up in the consciousness in a way that I don't think it even did back in 1998 when it originally debuted. I think it's it's more popular now than ever and I'm so glad to see that for hal prince and for jason robert brown and all the people that believed in this show for so long. So, and how great for you to go from MJ to this.
Speaker 2:What a journey Very different, but beautiful in their own regard.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much. Break legs and we will see you in July.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much.
