Theater News

Signature Theatre's Paradise Blue Announces Its Second Extension

Dominique Morisseau’s play ”Paradise Blue” will now run through June 17.

Kristolyn Lloyd and J. Alphonse Nicholson star in Paradise Blue.
Kristolyn Lloyd and J. Alphonse Nicholson star in Paradise Blue.
(© Joan Marcus)

The Signature Theatre production of Paradise Blue by Obie Award-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau and directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson has been extended by a week for a second time. The production, which opened on May 14, will now run through June 17.

Paradise Blue is the first play of Morisseau's Signature Residency 5, which will include three productions over the course of five years. Performances began on April 24 in the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center.

This production of Paradise Blue features Obie Award winner Francois Battiste (Head of Passes), Kristolyn Lloyd (Dear Evan Hansen), Simone Missick (Luke Cage), J. Alphonse Nicholson (Tales), and Keith Randolph Smith (Malcolm X).

In 1949, Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood is gentrifying. Blue, a troubled trumpeter and the owner of Paradise Club, is torn between remaining in Black Bottom with his loyal lover Pumpkin and leaving behind a traumatic past. But when the arrival of a mysterious woman stirs up tensions, the fate of Paradise Club hangs in the balance. Paradise Blue is a timely look at the changes a community endures to find its resilience.

The creative team includes Neil Patel (scenic design), Clint Ramos (costume design), Rui Rita (lighting design), Darron L. West (sound design), Kenny Rampton (original music), Bill Sims Jr. (music director), Charles G. LaPointe (hair & wig design), Thomas Schall (fight director), Laura Wilson (production stage manager), and casting by Caparelliotis Casting.

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Paradise Blue

Closed: June 17, 2018