Back to back weekends of theater! However, this weekend I combined musical theater, a history lesson, and architecture into one trip!

My destination on this Road Less Traveled was not far in Palos Verdes Estate to the “Neighborhood Church” which was showing the Los Angeles Premier of “Parade”. Sound confusing? Sounds unbelievable? Let me explain….

One of the more spectacular buildings in Palos Verdes was the mansion constructed in 1928 for J.J. Haggarty of Haggarty's Department Stores.

J.J. Haggarty had his Italian architect design it in the fashion of the villas along the Mediterranean. The building had 32 rooms. Wage for the construction crew was $5.50 a day; however an Italian artisan and two assistans were imported to decorate at $100.00 a day. Their artistry is responsible for the murals, ceiling decoratyion, fireplaces, decorated beams and pillars of the mansion. The cost to build was $750,000 a staggering sum when measured in pre-depression dollars.

The mansion fell through several owners and the villa became something of a white elephant on the real estate market in 1949. The asking price then was $250,000 and was reduced even more. Executors of the estate accepted the bid from the congregation of the “neighborhood church”, for $60,000 and the church finally had a permanent home! Most of the homes in this area now go for several million dollars! It now houses the United Church of Christ congregation.

So….how does this fit into “Broadway”? The mansion/church houses the Neighborhood Playhouse which was founded by late television producer, Bob Wright (The Carol Burnett Show). All productions are rehearsed and performed at the landmark Neighborhood Church

The Neighborhood Playhouse’s unique collaborative aim is to provide innovative, quality theatrical productions as a means of community outreach.

The profits from certain performances of each production are donated to specially selected charitable organizations in the Los Angeles area.

Playing now was the Los Angeles Premier of “Parade”. There are two remarkable things about the Neighborhood Playhouse's production of the 1998 musical "Parade" by playwright Alfred Uhry and composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown.

One: that a small fledgling company would take on the Los Angeles-area premiere of this complex and controversial musical about anti-Semitism in America in the early years of the 20th century - and succeed so brilliantly.

Two: that this all but unknown organization, led by director Brady Schwind and music director David Sateren, is willing to go where major presenters such as the Center Theatre Group, Pasadena Playhouse and South Coast Repertory have feared to tread.

The musical won Tony Awards for best book and best score (out of nine nominations) and six Drama Desk Awards. The show has enjoyed a U.S. national tour and numerous professional and amateur productions both in the U.S. and abroad.

The musical concerns the real-life 1913 trial of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank, who was accused of raping and murdering a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan. The trial, sensationalized by the media, aroused anti-Semitic tensions in Atlanta and the U.S. state of Georgia. When Frank's sentence was commuted due to possible problems with the trial, he was transferred to a prison in Milledgeville, Georgia, where a lynching party kidnapped him from the prison. Frank was taken to Phagan's hometown of Marietta, Georgia, and he was hanged. The Anti-Defamation League was formed partly in response to the Leo Frank's trial and lynching.

As much as I love history, I had not known about this infamous trial nor this musical. Again, I found a jewel in my own backyard, off the beaten path. So often we think we have to travel far or visit “world renown” destinations to learn and explore and often it’s right in our own neighborhood.