#paradise square

[broadwayreprise]

Joaquina Kalukango performing with Paradise Square at the 75th Annual Tony Awards

#Joaquina Kalukango #paradise square #tony awards #tonys #broadway

[theonlyadawong]

here's my list of tony performances that should be seen and studied by everyone

"I Hope I Get It" from A Chorus Line (1976)

"It's All Over" and "And I Am Telling You" from Dreamgirls (1982)

"I'm A Brass Band" from Sweet Charity (1986)

"Taxi" from Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk (1996)

"Lot's Wife" from Caroline, or Change (2004)

"Anything Goes" from Anything Goes (2012)

Tony Awards Opening Number (2013)

"Ring of Keys" from Fun Home (2014)

"Broadway Blues" from Shuffle Along or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed (2016)

"Let It Burn" from Paradise Square (2022)

#speakerphone! #a chorus line #dreamgirls #sweet charity #bring in da noise bring in da funk #caroline or change #anywthing goes #shuffle along #fun home #paradise square #anyways yah most of you came for resi posting... u get this instead ❤️ #like this is stuff that should be on every mt students syllabus

[theres-no-deal]

I know virtually nothing of Paradise Square. But that performance made me want to find out more. And that is exactly what a Tony Awards performance should do!

Tremendous performance from Joaquina Kalukango

#tony awards #paradise square #that tear was everything

[blackinperiodfilms]

Congratulations to Joaquina Kalukango for her Tony Awards Win for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for her work as Nelly O’Brien in Paradise Square! ✨

#Joaquina Kalukango #Paradise Square #Tony Awards #Tony Awards 2022 #Nelly O’Brien

[youremyonlyhope]

Cynthia and Danielle crying with Joaquina is such a beautiful moment. 

#joaquina kalukango #tony awards #paradise square

[myheartissetinmotion]

STRANGE LOOP!! SIX!! JOAQUINA OH MY GOD JOAQUINA!! THE SONDHEIM TRIBUTE!! ANDREW GARFIELD!! SPRING AWAKENING!!

#a NIGHT indeed #tv tag #musicals tag #tony awards #tonys 2022 #a strange loop #six #six the musical #paradise square #my faves #stephen sondheim #bernadette peters #joaquina kalukango #andrew garfield #spring awakening

[mygreatadventurehasbegun]

My favorite performance of the night.

Joaquina Kalukango is unbelievable and I’m so happy she won tonight.

I mean, the breath support alone...she held that last note for TWENTY SECONDS.  At the end of a very demanding and emotional song.

Brava.

#Joaquina Kalukango #tony awards #paradise square #Broadway

[hyperfixation-stations]

It’s that time of the year folks where I give my ramblings and general thoughts, feelings and ramblings on the Tony Awards. For those of you who are new to this account or follow me for other reasons, this used to be a musical fan page and even though I’ve evolved and post other things we always return to our roots during Tony Season.

Thoughts:

I love Ariana Debose as the host. I thought she was a natural and did the best work I’ve seen since the 2013 Tony’s where Neil Patric Harris hosted. I think that they should continue to have “Broadway people” host because there is such more love and enthusiasm for hosts that have really strong ties to the business. Hell you could run Ariana Debose back for the next five years and I’d probably be thrilled.

I’m always sad that they moved all of the technical awards to the broadcast prior to the awards actually starting. I was a theater tech throughout high school and it holds a special place in my heart and I miss seeing at least some of the categories live. As for the actual winners, I generally agreed with all of them. I really enjoy Six so I was happy to see them get recognized for score and costumes.

The music man performance was lackluster and I’m glad that it didn’t win any awards. It just felt so odd because it’s a huge ensemble show with historically great dancing but it just felt kinda boring and way longer then it was. Now I do love to see a good tap number, especially on the Tonys, but I felt like they could’ve done more, especially as the opening performance.

Now I haven’t seen any of the nominated shows (other then a six bootleg), so some of my thoughts on things like the acting categories are just going to be based off things I’ve read/heard. For the best supporting actor and actress in a play I don’t have super strong feelings. I wish L Morgan Lee had won for her role in A Strange Loop, but also Patti Lupone in company has received rave reviews the entire run of the show so I’m not entirely upset with the outcome. As for featured actor I was really pulling for either of the guys from Paradise Square, but like with Patti Lupone Matt Doyle has received rave reviews for his performance and I haven’t seen the show so I can’t say it was “undeserved”

MJs performance was a little weird for me at first because I had literally no idea what the show was about, but I ended up really enjoying it. Myles Frost as Michael Jackson was electric and his dancing was next level. I also thought the ensemble was really strong and it was a really good performance.

I was a little surprised that Company won Best Direction if a musical, I really thought it would go to one of the original new musicals (specifically A Strange Loop). But I do enjoy seeing women directors win and get recognized for their work.

I think Mr. Saturday Night was the next performance and I was a fun little performance. It highlighted the best of the show with having Shoshana Bean sing and Billy Crystal do stand up. Idk if I’d personally ever seen the show, but I wouldn’t be shocked if ticket sales were boosted during that segment.

I know I mentioned this before, but I’m going to talk about it again, Ariana Debose really was a great host. And I think that the is was really shown in the in between when she had her little bits, skits and monologues to kill time. It’s so easy for those moments to become filler or seem so fake, but she kept it really and entertaining and I really just love her.

A Girl From North Country performed. I thought it was good, I like Bob Dylan’s music but I don’t shit about the show. It felt like it needed a fiddle or something (though maybe that’s the Irish in me coming out). It was definitely the weakest performance of the night for me, and it wasn’t even bad just kind of boring

Sondheim’s tribute was really well done. It was nice to Bernadette Peters perform, especially given how many of his shows he was in (which is why I’m sure she was asked to perform in the first place). I know some people wished they had done a different song rather then Children Will Listen, I’m not shocked that’s what they went with and I thought it was fitting (especially given the context of the song within Into the Woods ).

It was at this point in the night that I started to get a little nervous for A Strange Loop because they hadn’t really won anything yet and I was worried that they weren’t going to get recognized (though what would’ve won over them, idk). But then they won Best Book and all is well in the world. I was so happy that they won and it.

Then a Strange Loop performed and I just about died. Now I’ll admit I was not as familiar with this show (or really any of the shows) coming into this season, so I was seeing a lot of things for the very first time. And I had heard such great things about the show and their performance was probably the one I was most excited for. And they did not disappoint! I really love that they got to perform Intermission/Today and got to call themselves a big black queer ass show (or something along those lines, someone please correct me if I’m wrong I’m doing this entire thing from memory while commuting). This is a show that I was worried wouldn’t get love because the Tonys are glorified marketing ploy and I thought they’d go the safe route with one of the more “broad appealing shows) and I’m so glad they didn’t. It’s so important to have this kind of representation because it will continue to inspire new generations to become performers or write shows and I know that some kid out in the middle of no-where saw that performance and feel in love with musical theater.

Now that my gushing about a Strange Loop is over (for a bit) we’ll talk about one of the weirder parts of the night and that was the Spring Awakening performance. It was good, but the entire time I wanted to know why they were performing, it just felt like time that could’ve been dedicated to an additional category or allowed for winners to speak longer. Idk I could’ve lived without it.

Then Company won best revival and that was pretty much expected. I was really just glad to see that Music Man didn’t win (god I hate that show). Though I do wish Caroline or Change had been recognized a little bit more. I thought it was a great show from what I’d see/heard and I wish it had been celebrated a bit more.

Paradise Square performed and I just about lost my shit. That was probably my most anticipated musical coming into the season and the highest on my list of shows that want to see and that performance really solidified. I loved the bit of Paradjse Square they did to highlight the ensemble and joaquina kalukango started let it burn and I just about starter convulsing on my floor. I would pay obscene amounts of money to see that show

Best Actor and Actress in a musical felt like the only other categories with high stakes other then best musical. And it was with good merit both of those categories were stacked with talented performers. Best Actor in a musical I was surprised went Myles Frost, simply because I thought it’d go to Jacquel Spivey for A Strange Loop. But after seeing his performance I’m not shocked and I thought it was a well deserved, also I can’t believe his only 22! As for best actress if the award didn’t go to joaquina kalukango, I would’ve burned something down. She should’ve won the award based on the Tony performance alone. I was also really glad to see two POC performers sweep the best acting category, even though the show and awards could’ve been more diverse this is an important step into getting more representation (at least I hope)

Finally we got to the final performance of the night from Six the musical. I always feel a little bit bad for whoever gets stuck in this time slot because everyone just wants to finish the ceremony at that point I imagine and a part of me wondered if they were there in an attempt to hype the crowd back up and infuse some energy back into the show. But Six is a show I really enjoy and i will be rewatching their performance for days to come. This cast has been through so much shit since they beginning of their run in Chicago from injuries to Covid happening on their opening night, so I was glad to see them finally make it and get recognized. I also loved the shout out of Mallory Maedek and how she was the dance captain and got inserted into the number like that morning.

Then finally it was time for the big award of the night best musical. I was a little nervous for this category I’m not going to lie. I though A Strange Loop was the front runner but given the night at that point it was hard to tell. The only other shows that I thought had the potential in terms of quality and marketing I’d seen were Six and Paradise Square which are also diverse creative teams and storylines but A Strange Loop really deserved it and luckily they won! This was such a deserved win for that cast and creative teams. It has one of the best concepts I’ve seen in years and they story they are telling is vitally important.

Overall I thought it was a solid night and they honored the best of the season (which is something I can’t always say coming out of the awards). I like that the awards were spread around to a collection of different shows and the awards they were winning made sense, at least to me. This season really made me excited about the future of musical theater in a way I hadn’t been in a few years. We had a lot of original material from diverse creative teams and the best shows were being honored and not the ones they thought would see the most tickets.

If you’ve made it this far through my ramblings, then congratulations you are just as much a nerd as I am and thank you for making your way and attempting to decipher my loosely connected thoughts. If you disagree with any of my takes or what to discuss other things feel free to message me or comment. I love talking about theater so I could really go at this for hours.

#the tony awards #six the musical #six broadway #MJ #A Strange Loop #paradise square #the music man #company #caroline or change #girl from the north country

[aftertheskyy]

Paradise square you’re doing amazing and I love you

#tonys 2022 #tony awards #paradise square

[jgroffdaily]

Additional photos of Jonathan meeting the cast and crew of ‘Paradise Square’ on Wednesday 13 July. Instagram stories from @eilisquinn4 (Eilis Quinn) and @ christopherkee  (Christopher Anaya-Gorman), and posts from @kburth (Karen Burthwright) and @gottabekdee (Kevin Dennis).

kburth 

Let’s give ‘em something to talk about @grofffsauce !!! Thank for coming through to see us in da points last night kind soul! Your support means the world to us. 

#aboutlastnight #selfieinthealley #postshowpose #allsmiles #yay #broadway #broadwaymoments #broadwaypeeps #paradisesquare #paradisesquaremusical #paradisesquarebroadway #wecuteorwhateva #cansomeonepleasebookusforatoothpastead #melchiorandmara

gottabekdee

Apparently #JonathanGroff and I were very nervous meeting each other last night after he saw @paradisesquarebway 😅😅😅

gottabekdee@liannacohen ohhhhhhh!! Thanks! He was THE COOLEST

#jonathan groff #paradise square

[captainshazamerica]

Also beetlejuice, newsies, and Anastasia, but those are fairly popular and would win lol

#broadway #polls #musical theater #musical theatre #theatre kid #bad cinderella #paradise square #charlie and the chocolate factory #catcf #ghost #cmiyc #catch me if you can #cats #company #unpopular opinion #my post

[dwsavideos]

About to be a long post, but it’s important so bear with me:

RIP to this cast. Only one out of the seven of them in this picture (the principal cast) are in the current production of Sing Street. After spending so much time this past year watching videos and getting to know this original cast in the small amount of time I’ve known about this musical, the recent casting news broke my heart but I’m gonna try to stay optimistic about the current production. And no hate to the new cast, it’s definitely not their fault.

Something just feels so messy about the whole casting situation. Like, there’s something that the public doesn’t fully know. I’ve seen lots of comments from family members and friends of certain cast members that the casting and producing team put some of these kids through a lot emotionally, but it’s all very nonspecific. I’ve seen other comments that some producers gave the entire cast false hope during the Broadway shutdown, and then just fired most of them abruptly without explanation. One person in the industry but not in the show itself said that a handful of cast members were told that they wouldn’t be returning to the show only within these past two months. Not to mention rumors that certain cast members weren’t compensated after being held onto by the show only to be dropped at the last second (but then again, that’s just a rumor). Lots of the cast have moved on and some are even going to Broadway in different shows soon, but there’s a few that aren’t taking it too well and it breaks my heart. I kinda wanna find out more about the controversy, because some people are even going as far as boycotting the show. I love Sing Street so much, so it’s hard for me to see those kind of comments, but hopefully more info comes out soon. After the Paradise Square incident and the Funny Girl casting controversy, the last thing we need is more producers being unprofessional and financially or emotionally abusive towards casts, especially casts that are mostly teenagers.

If any of you have read this whole thing, thank you. Just needed to let out this rant, because this situation is kinda concerning, but I definitely don’t wanna jump to any conclusions without any proof. I’m just so tired of the members of Broadway hierarchy being unethical. Producers have such an important job but lately many of them have been lacking. Everyone is happy Scott Rudin was finally put on the “Do Not Work” List, but what is the industry gonna do about the 20+ other Scott Rudins in casting and production teams???

#i wanna find out more about this #but i don’t know how #broadway #broadway theatre #broadway musicals #theatre #musical theatre #sing street #sing street cast #sing street broadway cast #sing street off broadway #producers #paradise square #funny girl #beanie feldstein #lea michele

[blackinperiodfilms]

Paradise Square has announced that it will play its last performance this month. Possible national tour and international productions are being planned.

Mod Note: I had heard there were low ticket sales (so low the cast wasn’t being paid what they had been promised) but I was never really sure how true that was. I hope the cast and crew get paid what they are due. I also wonder if we will still get the original cast album. 

#Paradise Square #Broadway #Broadway News #Joaquina Kalukango

[sixcostumerefs]

What’s a show that DID come to Broadway but deserved a longer run?

Paradise Square. It was definitely the musical I was most excited about this Bway season (other than Six of course). Cast + concept seemed great and the mismanagement and abuse was infuriating. I would have loved to see how it did with a proper run without the baggage.

This season’s Company revival as well. I always wanted it to go the direction of the current Into The Woods revival: bring in a revolving cast of Broadway greats that has a cast change every few months. It’s a great vehicle for that structure and would have been really nice to see.

#elisabeth has opinions #not six #paradise square #company #theatre

[youremyonlyhope]

Just wanna say that the clip of Danielle and Cynthia physically supporting Joaquina when she’s crying too hard to walk off stage was the actual live footage of my mom dragging me out of Color Purple’s theater since I had been crying so hard that I couldn’t walk either.

#paradise square #The Color Purple #joaquina kalukango #danielle brooks #cynthia erivo #literally i was watching the tonys with my dad and when that happened i said 'THAT WAS ME! THAT'S LITERALLY ME!' #i just showed it to my mom and she died #she literally had to take my hand and pull me up the aisle #i was too busy sobbing 'I AM. SO HAPPY. SHE DESERVES THIS. SHE DESERVES THIS HAPPINESS. AHHHDHHDHFDSHF'

[mygreatadventurehasbegun]

OK, I need to see Paradise Square...HOLY SHIT.

#tony awards #and HOLY BREATH SUPPORT #paradise square