Paradise Blue

This dramatic drama by Dominique Morisseau unravels a story about a Detroit neighborhood called Black Bottom, at the heart of a club district called Paradise Valley, where a trumpeter called Blue runs a joint they called Paradise, where he fronts a quartet whose sidemen include a drummer called P-Sam and a pianist called Corn.

The bassist has quit, perhaps because his name was just Joe. With a cleverly designed set, a steamy plot, and characters that are hard to forget, the film-noir-influenced “Paradise Blue” is a riveting and moving play centering on Detroit’s Club Paradise, a combination jazz club and boarding house that has a lot of conflict.

There is conflict between band members, conflict between Blue, the owner, and a woman he loves, and a woman he despises. These hostilities are accompanied by the inner conflicts of each character, which intensify as the plot unfolds.