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Paradise Square Tickets
Paradise Square: What to expect - 1
Paradise Square: What to expect - 2
Paradise Square: What to expect - 3
New York, NY

Paradise Square Tickets

Don't miss this unforgettable performance by Tony winner Joaquina Kalukango
Paradise Square: What to expect - 1
Paradise Square: What to expect - 2
Paradise Square: What to expect - 3
Paradise Square Tickets

About Paradise Square

New York, 1863. As the Civil War rages on, free Blacks and Irish immigrants live and love together in Lower Manhattan’s notorious Five Points slum. 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. 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.

With visceral and nuanced staging and choreography that captures the pulsating energy when Black and Irish cultures meet and set to a contemporary score that reimagines early American song, Paradise Square depicts an overlooked true-life moment when hope and possibility shone bright. Don't miss seeing Joaquina Kalukango, 2022 Tony Award winner for Best Actress in Leading Role in a Musical.

Run time

2h 35m

Start date

March 15th, 2022

End date

July 17th, 2022

Categories

Age

12+

Paradise Square: What to expect - 1
Paradise Square: What to expect - 2
Paradise Square: What to expect - 3

Reviews

Audiences Say
Great singing, Entertaining, Great staging, Ambitious, Absorbing
80
Great

580 reviews on Show-Score

Positive
Mixed
Negative
Patrick M 4
Entertaining, Ambitious, Great acting, Great writing, Great singing
90 / 100
DOUG Rob NYC
Great staging, Riveting, Masterful, Intelligent, Great singing
100 / 100
nancykasz
Resonant, Ambitious, Great choreography, Great singing, Thought-provoking
82 / 100
Adam G123
Uneven, Absorbing, Great singing
83 / 100
View all reviews

Paradise Square cast and creative team

By: Christina Anderson, Marcus Gardley, Craig Lucas and Larry Kirwan
Songs by: Jason Howland, Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare
Director: Moises Kaufman
Cast list: Joaquina Kalukango, Chilina Kennedy, John Dossett, Sidney DuPont, A.J. Shively, Nathaniel Stampley, Gabrielle McClinton, Jacob Fishel, Kevin Dennis, Karen Burthwright, Kennedy Caughell, Dwayne Clark, Garrett Coleman, Colin Cunliffe, Chloe Davis, Bernard Dotson, Jamal Christopher Douglas, Sam Edgerly, Shiloh Goodin, Jacobi Hall, Sean Jenness, Jay McKenzie, Ben Michael, Jason Oremus, Eilis Quinn, Sara Sheperd, Lael van Keuren, Sir Brock Warren and Hailee Kaleem Wright
Design: Allen Moyer
Lighting: Donald Holder
Costume: Toni-Leslie James
Choreography: Bill T. Jones
Sound: Jon Weston

Venue

Barrymore Theatre

243 West 47th Street, New York, NY, United States, 10036

Accessibility

4 wheelchair spaces

More information about Paradise Square

In the Lower Manhattan slums of 1863, as the nation is torn apart by war, one saloon became an unlikely hub of peace. Raucous dance contests at a local watering hole called Paradise Square brought free Blacks and Irish immigrants together in one spirited community — until the Draft Riots brought an abrupt end to the party. Paradise Square Broadway tickets will be available soon. Set an alert for Paradise Square tickets.

Paradise Square is a ten-time Tony®-Nominated musical that captures all of America’s best ideals and ugliest divisions, as well as the country’s cultural triumphs and forgotten heroes. The saloon’s dance contests between Black American juba dancing and Irish step dancing gave birth to what we now know as American tap dance. Choreography by Bill T. Jones brings the birth of tap dance to glorious life in his extravagant dances for Paradise Square.

Among the bar’s regulars, a story of the many faces of American identity is told: from freedom fighters, to anti-abolitionists, to the Black woman saloon owner, and many more. As America tears itself apart, these regulars co-exist as one. The New York Draft Riots of 1863 ultimately bring an end to their equilibrium, forcing friends and loved ones to choose sides.

Paradise Square's thrilling contemporary score by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen features both original numbers and reimagined 1800s tunes by Stephen Foster, known for such enduring classics as “Oh! Susanna” and “Camptown Races.” Masi Asare and Larry Kirwan provide additional musical material for Paradise Square on Broadway, which is directed by Tony Award-nominated director and Tectonic Theater Project founder Moisés Kaufman.

What to Watch For

  • The Paradise Square musical received its world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2018. The Broadway production plays a tryout run in Chicago in the winter of 2021 before arriving in New York in spring 2022.
  • An earlier version of the show, entitled Hard Times, was presented at the cell in New York in 2012 and became a New York Times Critics Pick.
  • Paradise Square was conceived by Larry Kirwan. Larry Kirwan is an Irish writer and the lead singer of American Celtic rock band Black 47. Paradise Square marks Kirwan’s Broadway writing debut.
  • For Broadway, the show’s book is co-written by playwright and educator Christina Anderson. Anderson joins Marcus Gardley, and Craig Lucas, who wrote the version performed at Berkeley Rep.
  • Paradise Square director Moisés Kaufman is a recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Jean Schiffman of the San Francisco Examiner described Paradise Square as “beautifully designed and directed” by Kaufman.
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