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New York City. 1863. The Civil War raged on. An extraordinary thing occurred amid the dangerous streets and crumbling tenement houses of the Five Points, the notorious 19th-century Lower Manhattan slum. Irish immigrants escaping the devastation of the Great Famine settled alongside free-born Black Americans and those who escaped slavery, arriving by means of the Underground Railroad. The Irish, relegated at that time to the lowest rung of America’s social status, received a sympathetic welcome from their Black neighbors (who enjoyed only slightly better treatment in the burgeoning industrial-era city). The two communities co-existed, intermarried, raised families, and shared their cultures in this unlikeliest of neighborhoods.
The amalgamation between the communities took its most exuberant form with raucous dance contests on the floors of the neighborhood bars and dance halls. It is here in the Five Points where tap dancing was born, as Irish step dancing joyously competed with Black American Juba.
But this racial equilibrium would come to a sharp and brutal end when President Lincoln’s need to institute the first Federal Draft to support the Union Army would incite the deadly NY Draft Riots of July 1863.
Within this galvanizing story of racial harmony undone by a country at war with itself, we meet the denizens of a local saloon called Paradise Square: the indomitable Black woman who owns it; her Irish-Catholic sister-in-law and her Black minister husband; a conflicted newly arrived Irish immigrant; a fearless freedom seeker; an anti-abolitionist political boss, and a penniless songwriter trying to capture it all. They have conflicting notions of what it means to be an American while living through one of the most tumultuous eras in our country’s history.
Getting into theater was easy. The line for the women's bathroom was super long but usher inside really moved line along. Ushers in theatre very helpful and made sure everyone was masked. Was a wonderful experience.
The acting, the singing and the dancing were all superb, but somehow both my wife and I left with a feeling of not being able to connect to the performance as a whole. I don't want to seem disingenuous, but something was off. Also, a note for the City of Chicago, there were NO taxis available anywhere after the performance. We walked back to State St as Randolph was a parking lot (4:45 PM) and none to be seen. So, we walked back to Ogilvie. Hard for my wife as she has a bad back and walks with a cane. I counted the taxis on the walk back and there were a total of 3! I know the city doesn't operate all the taxis, but this needs to get fixed or our times of coming downtown for theater and shopping are done. That along with the security/crime issues downtown are turning Chicago into another Detroit. Come on Lightfoot, get this fixed!
WONDERFUL SHOW , SUPER DANCING AND THE SINGERS WERE FANTASTIC.
I loved it, the dancing and singing were exceptional!!! So glad I went to see it.
Outstanding book, lyrics, and musical score. The cast sang and danced their hearts out. There is such a meaningful, positive message of hope in thIs work. We loved how it brought American history to life. Passionate and powerful. I highly recommend Paradise Square to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Well done!
The singers and the singing was some of the finest I’ve heard in a long time at a Broadway musical. The highlight of the production was the incredible choreography by Bill T Jones. I was confused by the ending.When it was clear that the bar had burned down, I thought they were all standing in the bar. But… The real disappointment was in the staging. Moises Kauffman??? He is a terrific Director, but this falls way short. There were so many people on stage I couldn’t tell where to focus my attention at times. It appeared that when anyone sang a solo song they were directed to come downstage center and face the audience directly with no semblance of realism. They just walked out of the action of the story and sang us a tune. It reminded me of a choir concert featuring a soloist. Even a high school teacher/director knows that this is the work of an amateur. This is an interesting story that needs to be told, but there are too many people and too many songs to tell the story clearly.
The singing, the dancing, and the story was AMAZING!! I would highly recommend!
“Technical problem” at intermission delayed the second act (over 1/2 hr) until I realized I would miss the last bus home if I waited and stayed for second act. No consideration from customer service except to offer admission to another performance which didn’t mesh with my schedule. I am now on some nebulous “list” to maybe get a ticket to another play. Paradise Square has alright music and fabulous dancing but I didn’t like all the different stories that were being presented.
Excellent performance! Truly exceptional dancing and singing. Unique and motivating American story brought to life with great heart and performance.
Maybe it was being away from theatre for almost two years that made me appreciate this more but I absolutely loved the show. It was a very lively show that had substance to it. The cast is superb and extremely talented. The music was very enjoyable as well as the dancing. I do agree with others that say that there were too many storylines but I didn’t mind. The show went by very fast.
I wish I could've liked this production. But I don't know where to begin: staging mistakes galore (sets not properly aligned in a timely fashion, the screen getting caught on the stage; both requiring stage hands to be on the stage fixing the problems), cast member with a cellphone on stage that fell out of his pocket while dancing, microphones not working during speaking & singing parts. The production was too long because it seemed to not know which racial issue to follow (since there were at least 5 distinct stories building on the racial tension). This was really the most disappointing Broadway production I have ever seen. There were some good songs, but they were not show-stoppers because the actors were incapable of enunciating while attempting to sing with Irish accents - I know they are Irish from their speaking voices & character development; it distracted from the songs (by the way, Irish singers don't sing with accents unless singing Gaelic). The dancing was amazing, but it was not enough to make this show memorable. Two weeks in to a pre-Broadway production and none of these stage/production/singing issues should still be happening.
My husband and I invited our best friends to attend Paradise Square on Sunday, Nov. 28. We read all we could about it beforehand. Our local paper, The Northwest Herald, featured a rave review just a few days before. The musical did not disappoint! We we enthralled and enchanted by the cast...their outstanding talent in voice and dance, including their incredible energy. It was a magical, yet meaningful, experience, and we thank everyone, including all of the helpful theatre staff, for making it such a beautiful memory for us.
We felt totally safe in the theatre because of all of the precautions the theatre took due to the current Covid situation. Staff was very friendly and helpful. We were offered better seats than we had purchased.. and were seated much closer to the stage. The performance was incredible!
This musical is a wonderful blend of history and music along with the message that cultural and ethnic diversity has always been possible if we embrace it.
An incredible production with a star-studded cast. Try to see it before it leaves Chicago.
While I appreciate and respect the hard work done by actors to sing, dance and the musicians who played in the orchestra, for me, everything fell flat. I could not establish enough emotional connection to care about the story, songs or dance. While the historical component is great, PS needs to focus on fine-tuning the emotional aspect. Gentle Annie and Let it Burn are welcomed highlights
This musical is more than ready for Broadway. The dancing is unbelievable. The singing is great. The story is moving. The next to the last song, Let It Burn, gets a standing ovation at every performance and rightly so.
We saw Paradise Square at the Nederlander Chicago theater and found the performance to be good. The performers put on an energetic show highlighting the various music/dances of the Black American slaves/former slaves and the White immigrant Irish. The singers are strong, although the amplification was overly loud and I left with ringing ears with seats in row 6 center. The story itself is a fascinating piece of history largely unknown by audiences today. However, despite cold temperatures outside, the theater was very warm and there was no air circulation, which should be mandatory given the pandemic. This made the already long production feel even longer. It will need a good edit to tighten and shorten (it came in at just under 3 hours) before it opens on Broadway or it will surely fail.
Was more then I figured. The music, dancing, scenery, and professionalism of the actors was Broadway in Chicago! Everyone should try to see this show while in town. A+
Overall I really enjoyed the show. The first half was a tad on the slow side, but everything picked up after intermission. The woman who played the lead was absolutely amazing.
