Micaela Diamond Takes PEOPLE Inside Broadway's Parade Opening — See Her 'Romantic' Red Carpet Look

Rebecca J. Michelson

Micaela Diamond is marching back onto Broadway in style.

The actress stars in the Main Stem revival of Parade, which opened Thursday night at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Her performance as Lucille Frank — wife to Ben Platt's Leo Frank, a real-life Jewish man who was lynched in 1915 — was lauded by critics when she and Platt first appeared in a concert staging of the musical last year.

Now, the former Cher Show star tells PEOPLE, the strong response to Parade's return is "still kind of blowing my mind," adding that her second Broadway opening night is much different than her first.

RELATED: The True Story Behind the Broadway Musical Parade, Starring Ben Platt

Rebecca J. Michelson

"My dress feels like a perfect blend of Lucille and me. It's feminine and soft, but strong and structured at the same time — and kind of romantic in a beautiful way," she says. "I'm just a complete departure from who I was during Cher, which was all sequins and glitter and my body, and this just feels like my heart instead."

For opening night, Diamond dazzled in an Aje-designed dress, accessorizing with Ettika earrings, Dolce Vita shoes and a vintage ring, a look she initially "pinned on Pinterest as inspiration" before she was "able to get that actual dress."

Rebecca J. Michelson

There's something about Lucille that just "feels so feminine and soft, and Lucille feels very stuck in between two worlds: one being Leo's world and one being the South," she says. "And this dress, all at once, feels very Southern and Jewish to me."

Unlike Parade, The Cher Show (Diamond's first Broadway endeavor at age 19), "felt very sexy, and [Cher] has been this symbol for like body-ody-ody," Diamond explains, adding that she donned a Bob Mackie vintage dress when she opened Cher.

"That is no longer really a priority in my life, which feels like such a relief in a lot of ways and is not a priority for this story in any way."

Her Lucille Frank is a complete departure from young Cher. In Parade, Diamond plays a Southern wife living in Atlanta when her husband, Leo, has been accused of raping and murdering his 13-year-old employee Mary Phagan.

Rebecca J. Michelson

While Leo continuously maintains his innocence, despite being convicted in 1913, Lucille fights tirelessly for his case to be reopened. (Leo's death sentence was commuted to life in prison two years after his conviction, and he received a posthumous pardon decades after his death.)

Diamond says the musical ends in a "hopeful place" and that the story is "unfortunately so timely" following antisemitic protests outside the theater on its first Broadway preview performance.

RELATED: Ben Platt Speaks Out After First Broadway Performance of Parade Was Met with Antisemitic Protesters

Her mother Karen, who was in attendance at the show's Thursday night opening, was particularly moved by both Parade's story and her daughter's performance. (She's already seen Diamond as Lucille Frank multiple times.)

"What I think was special for me was that she said, 'I couldn't breathe the whole time. I kept having to remind myself to breathe.' And I think she meant that for many reasons," Diamond explains. "I think that the story really affected her. Something that's so cool about the show is you know exactly what's gonna happen, and yet you still find yourself holding your breath."

Courtesy Micaela Diamond

She adds, "[My mother] felt that so intensely, especially the first few times she saw it. And I think she was also just holding her breath because we are linked in inextricably unexplainable ways, and she can feel my nervousness and me when I hold my breath."

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Rebecca J. Michelson

"The audience is holding our story so tenderly," she continues. "It makes it so much easier to do it again tomorrow because I am just filled up by another audience who receives it so beautifully."

Of her first performance back on Broadway following The Cher Show, she says, "There was nothing like that night, and I'm sure the opening [of Parade] is gonna feel crazy, too!"