Paradise Square: A New Musical

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Paradise Square is an incredible musical based on extraordinary real-life stories. It’s 1863 at Five Points, NY, where Black and Irish Americans live in racial harmony until the intensifying Civil War results in the first-ever Federal draft, leading to riots as whites are called to enlist while blacks are barred from serving. Calling upon a variety of musical and dance traditions including Irish step-dancing and African traditional forms, Paradise Square subverts and reframes some of the most popular music of the 19th century while honoring and celebrating this unique neighborhood’s diverse inhabitants, whose passionate, moving, and heartbreaking experiences burn in our imaginations. Conception and musical composition by Larry Kirwan, of Black 47 fame. Berkeley Rep. more