A former lawmaker is raising the curtain on a new role: Broadway producer.
Former Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) is celebrating the first Broadway performance of “Paradise Square,” which premiered over the weekend with a debut attended by New York Mayor Eric Adams (D).
It was after his stunning Democratic primary loss to then-political newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018 that Crowley said an old friend called him up and got him interested in the musical.
“I just fell in love with the material,” Crowley said.
The show follows the lives of Black Americans and Irish immigrants in New York’s notorious Five Points slum during the Civil War.
“It’s based on historical events. It’s great dance, and just terrific music and acting. It’s just off the charts,” Crowley told ITK the morning after the show kicked off at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
Asked what’s tougher, cutting it on Capitol Hill or in the cutthroat world of Broadway, Crowley replied with a laugh, “They all come with their challenges, there’s no question about that. But if there was any concern about life after Congress, this has been exhilarating, and great fun, and great joy.”
Calling his involvement with the production something he “wasn’t expecting,” Crowley, 60, said, “You never know what’s going to happen, and I never would’ve been able to work on this while I was in Congress.”
But the political show might not be completely over for Crowley.
“Life takes twists and turns, and I don’t know where that will end with me,” he said, when ITK questioned whether he might make a return to Capitol Hill.
“I’m not antithetical to it,” he said, while adding that life after Congress has enabled him to work in the private sector — he’s a senior policy adviser at the law firm Squire Patton Boggs — and spend more time with family.
Crowley expects to welcome some of his former colleagues to come see the show, saying plenty of lawmakers are theatre fans.
“Congress and politics is somewhat performative as well, so I think there’s an appreciation for acting, and what these actors do on a regular basis — it’s pretty remarkable.”