An independent show guide not a venue or show. All tickets 100% guaranteed, some are resale, prices may be above face value.We're an independent show guide not a venue or show. We sell primary, discount and resale tickets, all 100% guaranteed prices may be above face value.We are an independent show guide not a venue or show. We sell primary, discount and resale tickets, all 100% guaranteed and they may be priced above or below face value.
My husband, daughter, and I saw "Paradise Square" last night at Berkeley Rep.
Everything about it was terrific; the dancing, singing music, sets, and the intriguing
storyline, which brought history to life.
The Roda Theater at Berkeley Rep is small, and there isn't a bad seat in the house.
Our daughter is ten; this was a great way to learn about an event in American history
we knew nothing about. She enjoyed the performance as much as her Dad and I
did.
This play received the standing ovation it deserved;
Don't miss it!
Colleen Sullivan from Berkeley, Ca
AMAZING
This musical is inspiring, beautiful, thought provoking
and original!!!! My husband, ( who is not a fan of
musicals), and I left the theatre shocked by the talent
of the actors and actresses in the production. I loved
the historical facts given and the tie in to the
problems with race we are facing in our country
today. I will be seeing this again - and bringing
friends. Wow - thanks for a great night out and a new
aspect of history brought to life!!!! (“Nelly” had the
most unbelievable voice ........!!!)
Carol Fusco from San Francisco, California
ONE OF THE BEST PIECES OF THEATER I'VE EVER SEEN!
I said to my husband as we left the theater "Well, this is certainly headed to Broadway!" I loved everything about it. I'm a New Yorker and I never knew this vibrant part of my city's history. The actor's were wonderful, the singing beautiful. I loved the reworking of Foster's music. The dance is exceptional. I don't understand the criticism of the set - it served the narrative perfectly to my mind. I'm sooooo glad I didn't read the Chronicle review - totally, in my opinion, misses on almost all counts. I believe they also panned An Evening with Miao Miao, which was another Berkeley Rep production a few seasons ago that also as deeply moving as it was entertaining! Paradise Square is amazing. Go see it!
JLASF from San Francisco, California
NOT QUITE PARADISE
Like a previous review - " So close" - I wanted to love this show. There are fantastic performers and terrific dances by Bill T. Jones. But it's not quite right yet. It needs a red pencil; there is a great show in there somewhere. Like "Ragtime" and "Newsies","Paradise Square" is set in New York City, mixing real people and invented characters. Based on Stephen Foster songs - "My Old Kentucky Home", "Oh, Susanna!" - it weaves a complex history of the "Five Points" area in the 1860's. It was a racially-integrated neighborhood where African Americans and Irish Americans lived together. But this tapestry gets tangled and the show drags at times. In my view, this is balanced by the exhilarating dances by Bill T. Jones, which contrasts Irish step-dancing and African Juba dance. The dance-off sequences are worth the price of admission, as is the "11 o'clock" number by Christina Sajous. who blows the roof off. The over-long first act was Purgatory, but Paradise is close.
Linda Longstreet from Mill Valley, California
PARADISE SQUARE AT THE BERKLEY REP THEATER
Amazing talent, singing, dancing, energy and a story with which many of
us are unfamiliar. For us, the first half was way too long, 1hr 45 min,
sitting in cramped chairs. The stage setting was dark, as were the
costumes, and never changing, which got tiring after that length of time.
The talent was there, no doubt, but our attention was lost and we kept
longing for the intermission so we could get up and work out our
cramps. It is a piece that takes place in 1863, in a poverty community of
mixed races, which is a very timely story telling in this day and age. It
was thought provoking and we enjoyed it with the exception of the
length of the first half. We were not able to make the second half and
were disappointed in that.
I do not think that young children would understand this play, but
teenagers definitely would benefit. We love Berkley and there are
multiple choices of restaurants nearby the Theater. There is also a
wonderful Book Store on the corner of Addison/ Shattuck.
Ed Wolf from San Francisco, California
SO CLOSE, BUT STILL SO FAR AWAY . . .
Saw Paradise Square last night as it nears the end of its run at Berkeley Rep. I SO wanted to love this show and I could feel the performers, director, writer, choreographer wanting me to love it too. And there is SO much to appreciate: the performers are top notch, the production design/values as wonderful as anything on B-way. I kept thinking to myself: "What is it? Why isn't the audience going thru the roof at the end of every spectacular musical number?" What I came away with is that the story ultimately feels uninspired because the book is spread out over too many characters and plot lines; it's hard for any of the characters stories to really pop and come together. If there is a way to amend the show so that there are two (at the very most) story lines and have the others be lessened or eliminated, I would have been loving this experience the way I could tell everyone involved in the production wanted me to. Less is more, I kept saying to myself. And less is more is what I would tell the team.
Jack Gohff from San Francisco, California
EH
Eh. It was eh. The dancing and choreography was
quite good, but not enough to save it from its
mediocre writing. The idea was interesting, a tavern
that enables you to tell the story of both blacks and
Irish, but I feel it was not fully fleshed out in the
writing process and was lacking in any real content. I
found myself knowing the story before it was told.
There are alot of stand out hits about race, but this is
not one of them. I found it ultimately added nothing
new to the conversation and traveled safely on well
worn ground. However, as I've said, the music and
choreography are quite good. Does it make it worth
seeing? As a dance performance? Yes. As a play? No.
Broadway contender this is not
Please note: The term Berkeley Repertory Theatre and/or Paradise Square as well as all associated graphics, logos, and/or other trademarks, tradenames or copyrights are the property of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and/or Paradise Square and are used herein for factual descriptive purposes only.
We are in no way associated with or authorized by the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and/or Paradise Square and neither that entity nor any of its affiliates have licensed or endorsed us to sell tickets, goods and or services in conjunction with their events.
You know the drill, websites need cookies to make them work. Details of how we do it here.Hello! It's probably obvious, but we need to let you know that we use cookies to enable us to run this website and for it to actually work! You can find lots more detail in our Cookie Policy.