Paradise Square on Broadway: Show Is Now Closed

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ORCH $129
MEZZ $79
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$89

Paradise Square Summary

  • Show Status: Closed
  • Genre: Musical
  • Paradise Square is 130 minutes long, including an intermission of 15 minutes
  • 8 Shows per week
  • Previews Began: March 15, 2022
  • Show Opened : April 3, 2022
  • Show Closed: July 17, 2022

During the American Civil War, four people from diverse backgrounds have conflicting ideas about what it is to be American. Their disparate opinions collide in NYC's Paradise Square.

Paradise Square on Broadway Background

Show Has Been in Development For Over a Decade

Paradise Square has been in development for a decade and it finally made it on to the great white way in 2022 after a number of rewrites and reworks.

The show features Five Points, which was a slum area in the Lower Manhattan area, which was also heavily featured in the 2002 movie Gangs of New York. That movie saw box office and critical success and was directed by Martin Scorsese. The movie starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cameron Diaz.

The Broadway show features songs by Stephen Foster, who was a prominent 19th-century American songwriter who specialized in music for tap dance, which has some origins in Five Points.

Return To Broadway for Garth Drabinsky - Producer Convicted of Fraud in 2009

This show is produced by the Canadian Impresario, Garth Drabinsky. It is his first return to Broadway since a 2009 conviction of charges of fraud and forgery against him. Drabinsky was sentenced to seven years in prison for his actions at Livent, which was a publicly traded theatre production company, also known as "Live Entertainment Corporation of Canada, Inc".

Accounting Fraud

Drabinsky was found guilty of fraud and forgery in Ontario Superior Court, Canada for misstating his company's financial statements between 1993 and 1998. It is unclear if Drabinsky will operating the books at Paradise Square. Drabinsky's involvement with the show is seen as a major distraction and is often the biggest elephant in the room during press interviews.

What’s Paradise Square Like?

Paradise Square is a new musical set in 1863 that explores what it means to be American in 19th-century New York City.

American Civil War Comes to NYC

The American Civil War ran from Apr 12, 1861 – Apr 9, 1865, but the residents of New York City had little interest in the war. They instead were focusing on their own survival and existence from day to day. The show is set during the deadly NY Draft Riots of July 1863, where President Lincoln instituted the first Federal Draft to support the Union Army where they tried to conscript in the poorest neighborhood in NYC and things did not go well.

Set in the Five Points Slum, NYC

This was the dangerous NYC slum neighborhood of Five Points, where Irish immigrants live alongside free-born Black Americans. These two bottom-rung communities co-existed and shared their culture of drinking, violence, womanizing and dancing in the worst of neighborhoods, but their best of times.

The American Civil War rears its ugly head and forced conscription drives this community in a new direction. That new direction is revolt!

Is Paradise Square Good for Kids?

Despite its adult themed content this show may be appropriate for children over 16

Theatre Information

Ethel Barrymore Theatre

243 West 47th Street
New York, NY 10019
Seats: 1,096
Entrance: 47th Street, between 8th and Broadway
Theatre Information

Ethel Barrymore Theatre Seating Chart

Paradise Square Marquee

Paradise Square Marquee

Cast Members

Nelly Freeman
Joaquina Kalukango
Annie O'Brien
Chilina Kennedy
Frederic Tiggens
John Dossett
Washington Henry
Sidney DuPont
Owen Duignan)
A.J. Shively
Rev. Samuel Jacob Lewis
Nathaniel Stampley
Angelina Baker
Gabrielle McClinton
Milton Moore
Jacob Fishel
Monty Bore
Matt Bogart
'Lucky' Mike Quinlan
Kevin Dennis

Producers

Garth Drabinsky

Production Credits

Director
Moises Kaufman
Choreographer
Bill T Jones
Musical Staging
Graciela Daniele
Music Supervisor, Orchestrator, Arranger
Jason Howland
Lyrics
Nathan Tysen
Lyrics
Masi Asare
Scenic Design
Allen Moyer
Costume Design
Toni-Leslie James
Lighting Design
Donald Holder
Sound Design
Jon Weston
Projection Designer
Wendall K. Harrington
Special Effects
Gregory Meeh

Creative Team

Book Writer
Christina Anderson
Book Writer
Marcus Gardley
Book Writer
Craig Lucas
Book, Music, Conceiver, Arranger
Larry Kirwan