PARADISE SQUARE legal drama explained | why it closed early on Broadway
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- Опубліковано 18 лип 2022
- OHMYGOD HEY!
Last weekend PARADISE SQUARE closed abruptly on Broadway only 3 months after it had opened.
In today's new video I'm explaining some of the context behind this shocking announcement as well as the legal drama the show is now embroiled in and the history of its controversial producer...
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The show is a masterpiece. If you saw it, you would be hurt that the artists who created and contributed to its fruition would suffer such a fate. Being an ardent theater goer for nearly 3 decades, I must tell you that the last performance was the most electric, most powerful, deeply moving and memorable show that I have ever witnessed. There was not a dry eye in the house. The standing ovations were spontaneous and thunderous. The actors gave everything they’ve got. There is an audio recording of Joaquina’s Let it Burn on that final performance posted on UA-cam. You should listen to it. She was on fire and the applause was very long and deafening. She and the entire cast stood proudly and cried.
Never underestimate the number of chances that rich white men will be given to ‘show they’ve changed’ or ‘make amends’ and at no point have they shown any desire to change or make amends.
I LOVED Paradise Square, saw it six times. I HATE how all of these kind, talented, and passionate people have been snubbed in so many ways. At least at closing I was able to make some of the cast smile with my F*** GARTH sign I made at the stage door
My wife and I saw the show at the end of April, and it's quite a special masterpiece. I also acknowledge some bias because I am one of the high school instructors Joaquina spoke of in her Tony acceptance speech. Her success and recognition for her work in this show was personal for so many people in the Atlanta and Georgia artistic community!! It really hurts my heart and angers me to know that all of that incredibly talented cast had to deal with so much garbage from an outright crook! 😠
THANK YOU!!! I feel like this story is going under the radar with the Funny Girl drama, and this is the real drama. The actors and crew really deserve justice. From everything I’ve heard, there’s a good musical in there that deserves a platform, but the drama around it is taking its limelight.
it's amazing how Garth Dabrinsky wasn't put on the No Work List way back in the late 90s / early 2000s for you know, the Ragtime fiasco
Mickey Jo.... That cast recording will never see the light of day. It was supposed to be released in May and wasn't because no one involved was paid including the studio. They don't have the money to pay to get it.
I had the chance to see Paradise Square a few weeks ago and thought it was a beautiful story about solidarity and community. It's a bummer that all it'll be remembered for is legal issues and an evil producer.
It's weird that they were liken it to Hamilton because it did not feel that way when I saw it in Chicago. While I loved it, the staging and songs felt way more traditional than Hamilton. They even included traditional songs from that time period. And I really liked how it treated the struggles that Irish immigrants and black Americans faced with equal amounts of respect.
I’m a Canadian artist, and the Canadian actors equity has also added him to our do not work list
Thank you for this explanation. I have been researching this musical since it’s electrifying performance at the Tonys. I’m finally understanding why there hasn’t been the full throated love for this musical that that performance would indicate. This is not just a pity, it is horrendous that the talented performers and crew have had to endure this kind of behavior.
Thanks for the Canadian shout-out, even though under dubious circumstances. It was really fun to go to Toronto in the 90s and see all of those huge musicals. Beautiful theatres were built and renovated. Drabinski did a lot of this, but so did Mirvish productions, who are still there doing great work. I did wonder why Colm and Rebecca weren't there when we flew up to see Phantom. Turns out it was a week after the incident. I did see Garth at the Pantages that night.
I agree this show was a masterpiece. The most gorgeous music, the most inspired choreography, wonderful staging and the most talented people you'll ever see on a Broadway stage, every single one of them. I saw it four times, and it broke my heart when it closed. The audience always went nuts when it was over, standing, yelling, clapping. I could never understand why everybody in New York was not talking about this show. Seeing it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
So glad a cast recording is coming out, I'd love to hear this show!
I was very surprised by the mostly negative reviews. I really enjoyed the show and thought the cast was wonderful. The financial mismanagement of the show is unconscionable.
It's also worth mentioning that a lot of the shows Drabinsky produced on Broadway, wound up finding new life when they released the rights for regional productions (regional houses, schools, community theatre, etc.)
I saw Paradise Square the Saturday before it closed (matinee) and I loved it!! I thought that it told a story that was lost in the history books. The cast was phenomenal!! Their singing, dancing, and acting was top notch. I hope that there is a national tour because I would love to be able to see this show again. I hope that it will happen and that the cast album sees the light of day! Also I got my playbill signed by Joaquina and she is honestly so nice!!
Allow me to express some naivete. I am on the younger side of the theatre community and arguably the demographic that hamilton was for - and as I have been through the highs and lows of the love for hamilton , I have to say that paradise square is what I wish hamilton was. My dream is to be a drummer who plays in pits one day but I also have an IMMENSE love for dance - any decent drummer should know the history of how drumming came to be. Through the slave trade, to be exact. It was the expression of dance that created drumming. And obviously the talents of tap and hamboning grew and now it is a strong part of rhythm and beating that happens in hip hop dances , and paradise square so eloquently recognized this. It was a love letter to african dance and how it developed. But more importantly, it was black actors on a stage being able to tell REAL BLACK STORIES. Yes, we love hamilton, but for the masses to have such a way of not being able to separate the fact that black people have a history in America that should be told and can only compare it to POC having to portray a white mans story is such an understatment. And to be honest, I live in Chi town and saw it in previews and was able to see it in New York, and I never felt that it was even advertised as “the next hamilton”, I always felt it was “this is the next best classic.” Paradise Square just finally did everything right for once in theatre. Maybe not with an evil producer, but the cast was phenomenal and THE PIT WAS THE MOST DIVERSE I HAVE EVER SEEN IT, for both race and gender, it truly let me know that I have a place im the industry, and to just see a show that struck with me so well and explained all of the things that I actually like about America and our perserverance, to just close because they werent getting paid is beyond upsetting.
Saw that show in nyc and it was great. So sad to hear it close and how the cast and creatives were treated unfairly. I am hoping they still release the cast recording.
The americans are not laughing at that temperature, we're very confused because we don't know how to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit in our heads and 38 degrees sounds cold. :P