PARADISE SQUARE reviews — Page 3

I am so continuously impressed by Helen Shaw's writing.

Helen Shaw does the laser-sharp analytical work here:

"Nelly has been placed in the play’s protagonist position, but the writers can’t think of a single interesting choice to give her. People keep saying various decisions are up to her, but she has very little agency in the plot itself. Even her reactions to crises are strangely delayed and muted. Her bar is threatened by evil party boss Frederic Tiggens (John Dossett), so she decides to run a dance competition to raise funds … in a month. When her beloved husband gets chewed up by the war, she (several scenes later) sings about … wanting to hang onto the tavern. “Why must it hurt to hold space for a dream?” she wonders, in cloying lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare. Her big moment comes when Washington Henry shows up late to the dance competition, and she reluctantly lets him perform. That’s it! Now, Kalukango herself is amazing. She has a voice that blasts through the room like a train going through a junction, and Nelly’s 11 o’clock number “Let It Burn” ends on a note that pulls the theater to its feet, stamping and cheering. The plot, though, wouldn’t miss her. Cut the part, and the story wouldn’t change."

jkcohen626 said: "To date, Sharon D. Clarke is the only performer to receive raves in a show that received raves without any significant detractions. I have loved all of the performances discussed for lead actress that I've seen, but at least three are vocally miscast, a few have been widely agreed upon to be better than their shows, and a couple didn't even get such good reviews. Clarke is the only one who doesn't fit any of those categories and I just don't buy that her show closing in January is going to ruin it for her."

True, but is Kalukango's reception in the role (from both audience and critics), and this particular show (given its reported flaws), a testament to her talent, and masterful skills as an actress?

I think both have an equal chance at deservedly winning the Tony.

But many Tony voters see all the shows near the end, and once the noms have been released. If they are seen Lenk NOW (instead of pre-pandemic) I think that could change momentum. That being said, I've heard Clarke's performance to be amazing - but have no first hand knowledge. For some reason, that show has never clicked for me. (I know, I know!)

There is a reason so many shows try to open as close to the Tony deadline as possible. It's often tough for a performer whose production closed early in the season to be remembered. Sharon Clarke also missed a fair amount of performances later in her run (when most Tony voters would have been seeing her show). I would not say she is a slam dunk to win in her category.

There is, I think, something positive to take away from this show for just about everyone, and I think the reviews reflect that. It seems pretty inconceivable that we've read anything here that is a formula for success. And the cherished WOM that is Garth's peculiar strategy is not going to change that. This is not Wicked. In the final analysis, I think many of us see the unrealized path to a very good show here, and I would lay the shortcomings at Garth's toes. This is a failure of producing, from finances to nurturing the creative talents that knew how to make this so much better than Garth was willing to allow. I don't think this enterprise says all that much about the musical form; I think it says a lot about incompetence at the highest levels. And ego, of course.

QueenAlice said: "I am so continuously impressed by Helen Shaw's writing."

Dance and history and race and loss tempered with hope — what a subject for a musical this would be, if only Paradise Square had managed to theatricalize it. There’s room for it in its two hours and 45 minutes, but the gluey (and clearly glued-together) book by Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas, and Larry Kirwan uses the real setting and events without, somehow, actually telling their story. Production queasiness is part of the problem, as is the script’s upside-down logic. Corruption-by-a-thousand-fixes accounts for the rest."

"Nelly has been placed in the play’s protagonist position, but the writers can’t think of a single interesting choice to give her. People keep saying various decisions are up to her, but she has very little agency in the plot itself. Even her reactions to crises are strangely delayed and muted. Her bar is threatened by evil party boss Frederic Tiggens (John Dossett), so she decides to run a dance competition to raise funds … in a month. When her beloved husband gets chewed up by the war, she (several scenes later) sings about … wanting to hang onto the tavern. “Why must it hurt to hold space for a dream?” she wonders, in cloying lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare. Her big moment comes when Washington Henry shows up late to the dance competition, and she reluctantly lets him perform. That’s it!

Now, Kalukango herself is amazing. She has a voice that blasts through the room like a train going through a junction, and Nelly’s 11 o’clock number “Let It Burn” ends on a note that pulls the theater to its feet, stamping and cheering. The plot, though, wouldn’t miss her. Cut the part, and the story wouldn’t change."

"There’s some finger-wagging about appropriation, but we never actually hear that Foster made his fortune writing minstrel songs, nor that the Five Points scene was full of minstrel performers, both Black and white. For a musical about facing history, it’s very shy.

There are more playwrights even than the ones credited in the program — in Chicago, Marcus Gardley was on the team too — and composition by committee is not a great way to write. The decisions about what merits a scene seem baffling, and there are story fragments littered in odd places, usually to keep any accusations of political insufficiency at bay. Do we need to know that Washington Henry’s lover Angelina was rescued by a woman who wears trousers? No, but there’s a lugubrious flashback, so we know the creative team hasn’t erased the queer community. All this sweaty maneuvering to “fix” the original allows important things, deeper things, to slip. For instance, whenever Owen or the other two Irish dancers (Colin Barkell and Garrett Coleman) launch into their foot-flashing, high-springing dances, Howland’s music starts to reel, twanging with Irish bouzouki and tin flute. But when Washington Henry and the other Black dancers go into their choreography (by superstar Bill T. Jones), the instrumentation and rhythms refuse to follow them. Howland’s standard-issue musical theater works against their movements, so they stamp out beats that don’t exist. It makes the virtuosic Black dancers seem unmusical — but really it’s the musical itself failing to listen."

"There is one good thing about the way Paradise Square has been developed into the ground: The ensemble members have had plenty of time to figure out their parts. Allen Moyer’s tall, skeletal tenement set gives the two-dozen-strong cast plenty of places to stand, so director Moisés Kaufman often puts them on various levels, staring down at the floor of the bar. If the repetitive elements pall — you will start out amazed by the dancers, then those returns will diminish — you could always cast your eyes up, into the shadows. I had several favorites among the supernumeraries, including a guy who brought his baby to watch the competition and a mandolin player who fell asleep. Appropriately for a show about a neighborhood, the chorus gives us a sense of lives and passions moving just out of the field of focus. Everything down in the spotlight had been goosed into underthought melodrama, but at the edges of the space, there were hints of the dark and funny and real. Those were the places the show — and history — kept choosing to forget. So, feeling a little desperate, that’s where I looked."

VintageSnarker said: "There’s some finger-wagging about appropriation, but we never actually hear that Foster made his fortune writing minstrel songs, nor that the Five Points scene was full of minstrel performers, both Black and white. For a musical about facing history, it’s very shy."

I wonder if the controversies surrounding The Scottosboro Boys have made producers wary about tackling the role of minstrelsy in American Entertainment between the 1850s and 1930s. The popularity of Foster's songs (which continue to endure even today) is one of the most notable examples of this, and the original concept (an entire jukebox musical about them) would have really dug deep into this...

Ah ok. I didn’t remember any “day of” announcements. But even 8 missed shows, 6 of which were known in advance won’t impact her Tony chances, in any way.

John Adams said: "I think both have an equal chance at deservedly winning the Tony."

It will depending how long PS can run. If they close within 2-3 weeks, there's no way JK is winning because a sizable enough number of voters won't have seen the show. Voters see it after opening; nominators see it on press nights. And any producer would be idiotic to hedge their bets on an Acting or Choreo win, because those categories do not mean anything for box office (just for ego).

And don't talk to me about voters being "required" to see everything. It's very loose, because someone can just say they were comped in or went as someone else's +1. Especially tough with out of town voters.

Per Broadway Briefing: Eric Adams, Tish James, Hakeem Jeffries, and Bill DeBlasio were all at the opening last night, and Eric Adams made a speech onstage before the show. Nice to see New York's pols attending shows (same with Hochul and of course Schumer at a variety of shows this year), but I hope this one didn't scare them away from attending better shows in the future

I am happy to see Mayor Adams attending some theatre, after giving the DeBlasio-like energy of being a philistine, and I hope he doesn't limit himself to Broadway. It's very important for the Mayor of this city to be tapped into the cultural community at large, even if he isn't a "theatre buff."

Updated On: 4/4/22 at 11:45 AM

Sutton Ross said: "Our newest Mayor is NOT great but I'm glad he was there supporting."



The lead investor and former Senator asked to him to attend. You know the old saying; It's an honour and obligation.

QueenAlice said: "There is a reason so many shows try to open as close to the Tony deadline as possible. It's often tough for a performer whose production closed early in the season to be remembered. Sharon Clarke also missed a fair amount of performances later in her run (when most Tony voters would have been seeing her show). I would not say she is a slam dunk to win in her category."

I agree. After all, Caroline or Change was originally scheduled for spring 2020.

Sometimes I wish the Tonys had 2 seasons within a year (one in the summer/fall and another in winter/spring).