Gloucester Stage Company To Present PARADISE BLUE

Gloucester Stage Company has announced the regional premiere of the critically acclaimed PARADISE BLUE by Tony Award nominee Dominique Morisseau, with direction by the creative team of Elise Joyner and Logan Pitts. The powerful noir-inspired drama laced with jazz and intrigue will run from August 26 to September 18.

Blue, a gifted trumpeter, contemplates selling his once-vibrant jazz club in Detroit's Blackbottom neighborhood - it's 1949, and gentrification is banging on the door. The house band is desperate to stay, Blue's demons tempt him to leave, and the arrival of a seductive stranger turns everything upside down. Blue must choose between escaping his demons and the human cost of leaving the only home he's ever known. This dynamic and musically-infused drama shines a light on the challenges of building a better future on the foundation of what our predecessors have left us.

"It is significant as a theatre company that we are producing a play that narrates the struggles of a Black community in Detroit circa 1950, forced to surrender sacred space, home space, in the wave of gentrification that sill crushes Black communities today," said, Paula Plum, Interim Artistic Director of Gloucester Stage. "It is part of our mission to elevate Black voices, and Dominique Morisseau is one of those voices. Through her, we begin to understand the trauma, heartbreak, and destruction that is the cost of gentrification and attempted eradication of Black culture. It is a gripping and shocking drama - the story of one Jazz man, Blue, torn between familial loyalty and personal dreams of greatness-- that will touch the hearts of our audience, even as the story awakens a sense of outrage and awareness of racial injustice."

Bringing the rich and multi-layered story of PARADISE BLUE to Gloucester Stage will be led by the directorial team, Elise Joyner and Logan Pitts. The cast stars Darian Michael Gary (P-Sam), Alexandria Danielle King (Silver), Durrell Lyons (Blue), Dereks Thomas (Corn), and Destiny Washington (Pumpkin). The production is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.

"There is a remarkable dichotomy that Morisseau reveals by means of this historically thriving jazz club, Paradise, sitting on the precipice of destruction. It illuminates a definitive correlation between the members of this sacred community, their relationship within it, and the troubles that haunt their very dreams- their very existence," shared the production's Co-Directors, Elise Joyner and Logan Pitts. "Like the club, we see the soul of these characters on the precipice of change. As musicians, lovers, and people, we witness a metamorphosis of their individuality, thus asking what must be dismantled for the sake of progress and how they respond, so tangibly in a real way, resonates deeply with us today."

PARADISE BLUE will run from August 26 through September 18. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 pm at Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA. Tickets are now on sale and available at GloucesterStage.com.

The production is made possible with support from The Beauport Hospitality Group. The 2022 Season at Gloucester Stage has been made possible by the Shubert Foundation and the Applied Materials Foundation.

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