PARADISE SQUARE Chicago Pre-Broadway Tryout - Previews & Reviews — Page 3

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I am still confused with the logistics of the dance contest at the top of Act 2. Nelly is about to award the prize money to Owen, yet Washington asks for an opportunity to compete.

Nelly then flips a coin (added at the Saturday, Nov 6 matinee) to determine who will dance first - Owen or Washington. But wasn’t it implied that Owen had already danced since he was about to be awarded the prize money?

Meanwhile, Owen is no longer briefly shirtless in one scene - that change happened Friday.

In one other book scene today, one of the performers went up on their lines. I’m certain the majority of the house had no idea. Bravo to the cast for a quick and graceful recovery.

And once again, early arrivals with stratospheric balcony seats were invited to move to orchestra.

Appreciation City.

Won a lottery ticket for Saturday night.

Was a night sky of stars (a projection) added to Saturday evening’s BREATHE EASY tease in Act 1 - or have I always missed it?

As an earlier poster mentioned (with their group of 35), you sometimes see distracting backstage activity, stage left, depending on your seats in the house. I had seat N9 tonight. The off-stage activity was mostly noticeable during WELCOME HOME.

Owen called “heads” during the coin toss.

The tempo of LET IT BURN had a majestic hesitation tonight before the final build.

unclevictor said: "Hey musical theatre lovers! Go see Paradise Square in Chicago! I don’t think it’s going to extend and who knows if it will actually make it to Broadway!"

Well...a Broadway theatre has been announced, Broadway tickets are on sale, and all the money has been raised. All signs point to the Broadway engagement happening as scheduled. Whether it will run long on Broadway is a different story, and an answer we won't know until Q2 of 2022.

Updated On: 11/8/21 at 10:43 AM

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "unclevictor said: "Hey musical theatre lovers! Go see Paradise Square in Chicago! I don’t think it’s going to extend and who knows if it will actually make it to Broadway!"

Well...a Broadway theatre has been announced, Broadway tickets are on sale, and all the money has been raised. All signs point to the Broadway engagement happening as scheduled.Whether it will runlongon Broadway is a different story, and an answer we won't know until Q2 of 2022."

Lol! I think we both know that even though they have booked the Barrymore…nothing is guaranteed. Remember who’s producing this show? GARTH DRABINSKY.

After a week of shows, Act One has tightened from 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 18 minutes. Act 2 remains at an hour. The lottery gods were generous Sunday night with a center, second row, B114 seat.

When the lobby opened at 6:30, around 100 balcony guests were invited to move to the main floor before the 7:30 curtain. I have no idea how long this first-week perk will last these next weeks. The production may be better able to sense audience reaction when the main floor has a bigger crowd.

The audience applauded certain scenes that previously had not been acknowledged. The engaged audience was the best of the week.

The sound board has a lot of performer mics to track. Two cues were missed Sunday night: One ensemble. And Nelly during a duet. I don’t like pointing this out. Over 99 percent of the sound cues hit their target. It’s a responsibility I could not handle. Ninety-nine percent is still graded as an A.

It took me about three performances to realize that the Lucky Mike Quinlan character was introduced in the opening saloon scene. The character looks VERY different in his second appearance with added sideburns. Could a helpful “costume continuity piece” be introduced? His first appearance is in the crowded saloon with maybe 30 characters. My eyes are zigzagging to and fro, up and down, to take in the look of so many performers. I wasn’t paying close enough attention to his look in the first scene.

Let’s end on a good note: the songs are stellar. I want to hum them all on the way out of the theatre.

Updated On: 11/9/21 at 12:59 PM

Bettyboy72 said: "Not that anyone cares, but I think Paradise Square is a lousy title. I think that will add to it not selling tickets."

I dunno –– one could argue any title's greatness or lousiness is entirely subjective depending on if it's a hit or flop, with rare exceptions. If Dear Evan Hansen and Company and Oklahoma! and Hamilton had flopped, people would have blamed the title for being part of the problem. The titles Porgy and Bess and Dear World and Pippin don't tell us much either (aside from any connections to source material).

The pantheon of musical theatre has maybe a few GREAT, punchy titles per decade at most: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Once Upon A Mattress, Guys & Dolls, Funny Girl, Fiddler on the Roof, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The King and I, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hadestown, and of course... Urinetown.

Or as Rick Elice said with The Cher Show, "everyone's just going to call it The Cher Show, so why don't we make that the title!"

Updated On: 11/8/21 at 02:29 PM

I'm late to post (don't lurk around here often these days), but I saw the first preview. Overall, I would agree that it's "a mess," but hopefully not unsalvageable. Some of the songs have potential, including "Let it Burn" and, surprisingly to me, the duet between Nelly and Annie in Act 2. Maybe it was called "Someone to Love?" It was sweet and simple, but really effective. This might have been because it was one of the few numbers that actually allowed these women to relate to each other on a genuine level.

My biggest issue is that this show doesn't really have a plot. If the writers can work on the basic questions (who is the protagonist, what do they want, obstacles, tactics, etc), then there's hope. But, as of the first preview, this is one of those "things happen, then other things happen, then I guess it's over" shows.

The ovation ofter "Let It Burn" was thrilling. It's really a great song. I wish something specific motivated it, though. For example, if Annie didn't want to leave the saloon during the riots, then Nelly could sing "Let It Burn" to convince her that they are more than just the business they built.

Another problem that could become a solution: the marketing blurb and the show don't match up. I love the show the marketing blurb promises - Irish and Black communities coming together, the birth of tap dancing, "what it means to be an American while living through one of the most tumultuous eras in our country’s history," and "when hope and possibility shone bright."

But we start the story when hope and possibility are already kind of over. I would have like to watch these characters build this world a bit (even if it were in a flashback). I would like to know more about their stories prior to where the play begins (how did our two couple meet, what were the obstacles of them getting together). I'd have liked to watch some of the process where the Black and Irish dance styles influence each other. The choreography plays with this a bit, it seemed like a missed opportunity not to show Washington and Owen actively working on new steps together.

And then there are the basic storytelling and plot hole issues, as mentioned by other posters:

Yes, the dance contest is in Act Two. But they already sang/danced the same exact 2 songs in Act 1! I honestly wondered if the team was like "let's put these songs in both acts to see where we like them more." I did not need to hear them this many times. And answering one full song with a second full song was clunky - both times. Besides, it's a DANCE contest, right? So why do they each sing an entire song first? And why does Owen dance again? It would make more sense if they'd both danced and this was a Final Two dance-off.

I also had no clue what Washington's story really was when he had run away. He sang something completely undecipherable and then the other characters approved, so... I mean, I think killing someone who has kidnapped/enslaved you is justified regardless, but I was confused about the plot. Also, Sam finds out that Washington is "wanted" in one scene, then he's around him for a whole other scene without mentioning it. Then, after that, he acts as though he's just heard and is here to kick him out. Just a simple storytelling problem.

I get that the music of Stephen Foster inspired the show, but I was pretty bored by most of it. The original songs had way more potential. I was also confused about the Stephen Foster story in the show, since (much like most of the other stories) there was little payoff. I'm in favor of centering Black characters instead of the white ripoff artist, but it's probably time to kill some of those old darlings and maybe just cut him loose.

I have more opinions, but... I should stop. Despite my criticisms, I do hope it can pull itself together. I'd like to go again later on if I can snag another comp. I'm fascinated by the whole thing.

Saw this Saturday Afternoon. It was my first time to see a live performance since my November 2019 NY theater trip before the Pandemic hit, so I was thrilled, and it was wonderful to be back in a theater audience again. Had no incidents with masks of the people around me, and everyone was quite courteous, so a good experience back. As for the show...

"Average" would be the best word I could use. Some good songs, and the cast is trying their heart out, but absolutely nothing about this stood out to me. It's not bad in any particular way, but there's also nothing here that stood out as a particular strength to me. It's telling an emotional story, but I was never swept away by it. In some ways, the show seems to be overly fast in its pacing, especially with how it tells its story. I never felt like I was spending enough time with these characters to truly get behind them. And the conclusion is especially rushed. After the big "11:00 Number" (aka, "Let it Burn" ), the show kind of races through what happened next in what feels like 2 minutes, then the cast gathers for the big finale.

This is a show that I didn't mind, but was also never truly engaged with. I hope that makes sense, because it's really hard to describe. I'm not indifferent to the material, but I also never found myself grabbed by it. I think this is going to be a really tough sell when it comes to Broadway. Then again, I absolutely loved Tootsie when that show played its Pre-Broadway run in Chicago a few years ago, and that bombed, so maybe this will be a smash.

I wish the best for this show, and the cast and crew. I just never quite took to it.

Updated On: 11/8/21 at 04:50 PM

What’s the merch situation like? Anything?

Dossett is featured in three songs in his role as Frederic Tiggens. He may be a villain, a member of the political machine, or a dance hall gambler.

TRUE TO A COUNTRY with Quinlan

ONE MATCH AND ONE MAN with Quinlan

HARD TIMES with Milton Moore

In his business suit and black top hat, Tiggens can command the stage in his scenes, yet he can also quietly observe the dance contest from his perch upstairs along the saloon railing.

In the opening scene of Act 2, it is Tiggens who realizes that saloon owner Nelly O'Brien is harboring a runaway slave.

I'm sort of sad/frustrated that they just seem to be "tweaking" things. I think there's a lot of great things here but it needs a few major adjustments to land as well as it could. I hope there's more work going on behind the scenes that will end up on stage eventually. Losing a little bit of hope they will ever earn its big moments.

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