Paradise Square at James M. Nederlander Theatre
Dates: (11/2/2021 - 12/5/2021 )
James M. Nederlander Theatre |
24 W. Randolph St.
Chicago, 60603
Phone: 8007752000
Tickets: $31.50 - $107.50
SUBMIT UPDATES
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 Americas 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 Lincolns 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 countrys history.
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News About Paradise Square at James M. Nederlander Theatre
VIDEO: First Look at the Pre-Broadway Run of PARADISE SQUARE in Chicago
December 02, 2021Paradise Square began its pre-Broadway engagement on November 2, at Chicago's James M. Nederlander Theatre (24 West Randolph Street). The production will conclude it's run later this week on December 5th. Check out all new video of in action!
Review Roundup: Pre-Broadway Run of PARADISE SQUARE Opens in Chicago
November 18, 2021Paradise Square began its pre-Broadway engagement on November 2, at Chicago's James M. Nederlander Theatre (24 West Randolph Street). The production plays five weeks only through December 5, 2021.
Photos: First Look at the Pre-Broadway Run of PARADISE SQUARE in Chicago
November 09, 2021Paradise Square began its pre-Broadway engagement on November 2, at Chicago's James M. Nederlander Theatre. Get a first look at the cast in action in these all new production photos!
VIDEO: Chilina Kennedy and Joaquina Kalukango Sing 'Someone to Love' From PARADISE SQUARE
November 03, 2021Paradise Square began its pre-Broadway engagement yesterday, November 2, at Chicago's James M. Nederlander Theatre (24 West Randolph Street). The production plays five weeks only through December 5, 2021. Check out the cast performing 'Someone to Love'.
PARADISE SQUARE, Produced by Garth H. Drabinsky, Will Have Pre-Broadway Engagement in Chicago This November
May 18, 2021Broadway In Chicago will host the Pre-Broadway Premiere of Paradise Square. This new musical, which examines a remarkable yet virtually unknown moment in American history, will play a strictly limited engagement from November 2 - December 5, 2021, at Broadway In Chicago's James M. Nederlander Theatre.
James M. Nederlander Theatre Frequently Asked Questions FAQ
James M. Nederlander Theatre is at 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago.
The CIBC Theatre opened as the Majestic Theatre in 1906 and was Chicago’s first million-dollar-plus venue and the city’s tallest building at the time. A hot spot on the vaudeville circuit and later host to such luminaries as Harry Houdini and Lily Langtry, the Majestic closed during the Great Depression and was shuttered for 15 years. Much of the original design was retained when the theatre was remodeled and reopened in 1945, in time for the heyday of favorites like CAROUSEL, SOUTH PACIFIC, and GUYS AND DOLLS. The CIBC Theatre has hosted the pre-Broadway world premieres of Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp’s MOVIN’ OUT and Monty Python’s SPAMALOT, and KINKY BOOTS. Recent shows include the Chicago favorites, JERSEY BOYS, THE BOOK OF MORMON and HAMILTON.
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