ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar
BULL: a love story by Nancy García Loza
closes Paramount’s BOLD Series with a tale about a contemporary Latino family
Oct. 5-Nov. 20
Paramount’s BULL marks the first suburban production in Destinos Festival history
BULL: a love story, Nancy García Loza’s (left) world premiere play, directed by Laura Alcalá Baker, wraps up Paramount’s first BOLD Series, October 5-November 20, 2022 in downtown Aurora’s new Copley Theatre.
BULL: a love story has been developed for the past two years through Paramount Theatre’s Inception Project. Now this riveting, contemporary family drama will be brought to the stage as a full production as the finale of Paramount’s first-ever BOLD Series, now bringing a new brand of fearless, thought-provoking and unexpected forms of live theater to downtown Aurora.
Paramount’s new Copley Theatre is a sleek, state-of-the-art, 165-seat theater with a modern new lobby bar and lounge, reopened this past March as downtown Aurora’s newest live theater space following a two-year, $2 million, top-to-bottom renovation. The Copley is located at 8 E. Galena Blvd., in the North Island Center, right across the street from Paramount Theatre, in downtown Aurora.
BULL: a love story, directed by Laura Alcalá Baker, starts previews October 5, including two Pay What You Can Previews: Thursday, October 6, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, October 8, at 2 p.m. Press openings are Wednesday and Thursday, October 12 and 13 at 7 p.m. Performances continue through November 20: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Thursdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $67 to $74.
For tickets and information to BULL: a love story at the Copley Theatre, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Note: BULL: a love story is suggested for ages 13 and up for adult language.
BULL: a love story is part of the 5th Destinos, Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, an annual, city-wide event produced by the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) showcasing top Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America, September 14-October 16, 2022. Paramount Theatre is proud to be the first suburban theater to be included in Destinos.
Use promo code DESTINOS online, via phone or in person at the Paramount box office to access $35 tickets to BULL: a love story for performances during festival dates, October 5-16. This discount may not be combined with any other offer, and excludes opening nights, October 12 and 13. Learn more about the 2022 Destinos Festival at destinosfest.org.
Behind-the scenes of Paramount’s BOLD Series production
BULL: a love story was originally presented in January, 2021 as a virtual staged reading as part of Paramount’s new play development program, The Inception Project. “Nancy García Loza has written such a beautiful love story and we are so honored to be a part of the journey of this piece from inception to full production,” said Amber Mak, Paramount’s artistic producer and new works development director.
BULL: a love story features (from left) Eddie Martinez as Bull, Alexandra Casillas as Sadie, Kelsey Elyse Rodriguez as Sol, Jocelyn Zamudio as Emme, Sammy A. Publes as Tio, and Andrew Perez as Otherman, Lawman and G.
For its world premiere staging, Paramount’s cast features Eddie Martinez as Bull, Alexandra Casillas as Sadie, Kelsey Elyse Rodriguez as Sol, Jocelyn Zamudio as Emme, Sammy A. Publes as Tio, and Andrew Perez as Otherman, Lawman and G.
The production team includes Yeaji Kim, scenic designer; Izumi Inaba, costume designer; Cat Wilson, lighting designer; Jeffrey Levin, sound designer; Aimee Plant, properties designer; Liviu Pasare, projection designer; Ismael Lara, Jr., dramaturg and associate director; Maegan Burnell, stage manager; and Lanita VanderSchaaf, assistant stage manager.
Nancy García Loza is an award-winning self-taught, pocha playwright rooted in Chicago, Illinois and Jalisco, México. She is a two-time alumni of the national Fornés Playwriting Workshop. She has enjoyed residencies with Goodman Playwrights Unit and Future Labs, Steppenwolf Theatre and The New Harmony Project, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Black Swan Lab, SPACE on Ryder Farm Institutional Residency, and more. Her audio drama, Brava, is available on all podcast platforms (Make-Believe Association, 2019). She is currently under commission/development with Steppenwolf Theatre (Ascent), Goodman Theatre (Rust), the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) (Pénjamo: a Pocha Road Trip story; Macha), and more. This year, she received The Joyce Award, as well as the APAP ArtsForward Award, both in collaboration with the National Museum of Mexican Art. She was most recently recognized by the Dramatists' Guild Council (NYC) as the 2022 Lanford Wilson Award recipient. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and the eldest daughter of seven children. She lives in Chicagolandia and writes in her kitchen. She is Mexican American, no hyphen.
Laura Alcalá Baker (director, she/her/hers) is a Chicago-based director and new play developer. She served as the Casting Director/Artistic Programs Manager at Victory Gardens Theater from 2016-2019 leading programs such as The Access Project and Directors’ Inclusion Initiative. Baker has developed and directed multiple new works including Isaac Gómez’s The Leopard Play, or sad songs for lost boys (Steep Theatre), The Way She Spoke (DCASE, Greenhouse Theater Center) and Omer Abbas Salem’s The Secretaries (First Floor Theater). She also directed the audio drama Brava by Nancy García Loza (Make Believe Association) which is available on all podcast platforms. Other select works include The Pillowman (The Gift Theatre), There is No Message in the Message, Shamed (The Gift Theatre’s TEN), Project Potential (Broken Nose Theatre’s Bechdel Fest), and Jets, Sharks, and Beckys (Collaboraction's PEACEBOOK Festival). Baker is a Steep Theatre Ensemble Member, a 2021 3Arts Make a Wave Recipient, and a proud member of the Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists. For more visit, labdirecting.com.
"Nancy is creating a canon of Chicago narratives,” said Baker. “She paints vividly, urgently to capture these stories while they are still living memory. BULL: a love story is just the first of many to make it to the stage. It is a heartfelt love letter to Chicago’s Lakeview and the people who built a life there. I believe it to be a new American classic."
Special Events
Paramount will offer two Pay What You Can Performances on Thursday, October 6, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, October 8, at 2 p.m.
College Night is Friday, October 21, at 8 p.m.
Church Night is Sunday, October 23, at 5:30 p.m.
Access Services
Paramount will offer an American Sign Language interpreted performance on Friday, November 9, at 8 p.m.
If you require wheelchair or special seating or other assistance, please contact the box office at (630) 896-6666 or boxoffice@paramountarts.com in advance.
Paramount offers assistive listening devices free of charge at all performances. Check in at the coat room before the show to borrow a listening device.
Paramount Theatre’s Covid-19 commitment to and safety and protocol
Paramount Theatre has followed, and will continue to follow, the requirements of the State of Illinois and the Kane County Health Department. Therefore, Paramount is following the guidance of the State of Illinois and recommends, but no longer requires, masks, proof of vaccination or negative COVID test for patrons. Mask wearing is strongly encouraged, but will be optional.
Across the street, Dreamgirls kicks off Paramount’s 11th Broadway Series, August 31- October 16
Right across the street from the Copley, Paramount Theatre is kicking off its 11th Broadway series with Dreamgirls, the Tony-winning musical inspired by The Supremes that spawned an Oscar-winning movie. Performances are August 31-October 16, 2022.
Also playing the big stage during the final weeks of BULL: a love story is Paramount’s second 2022-23 Broadway production, The Sound of Music, November 9, 2022-January 8, 2023.
Paramount still offers the same “Buy Two Shows, Get Two Shows Free” subscription offer, just as it has since it launched its first Broadway Series in 2011. Four-show Broadway Series packages including Dreamgirls, The Sound of Music, plus Into the Woods and School of Rock in 2023 start as low as $56 (fees not included). To subscribe, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora.
Photos of new Copley Theatre and lobby bar by Thomas J. King
About Paramount Theatre
Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., is the center for performing arts in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. The beautiful, 1,843-seat theater, graced with a strong 1930s Art Deco influence and original Venetian décor, nationally known for its high-quality productions, superb acoustics and historic grandeur, has been downtown Aurora’s anchor attraction since 1931.
After launching its own Broadway Series in 2011, Paramount Theatre grew to be the second largest subscription house in the U.S. Before Covid, more than 41,000 subscribers from all over Chicagoland and the Midwest were enjoying Paramount’s critically acclaimed, 2019-20 Broadway-caliber productions. In addition, Paramount also presents an array of internationally known comedians, musicians, dance troupes and family shows annually.
Paramount Theatre is one of four live performance venues programmed and managed by the Aurora Civic Center Authority. ACCA also oversees downtown Aurora’s newly renovated 165-seat Copley Theatre, home to Paramount’s new BOLD Series, along with the Paramount School of the Arts, RiverEdge Park, the city’s 6,000-seat outdoor summer concert venue, and Stolp Island Theatre, an immersive space opening in summer 2023.
Paramount Theatre continues to expand its artistic and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Tim Rater, President and CEO, Aurora Civic Center Authority; Jim Corti, Artistic Director, Paramount Theatre; a dedicated Board of Trustees and a devoted staff of live theater and music professionals.
For the latest updates, visit ParamountAurora.com or follow @ParamountAurora on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, and @paramountarts on Tik Tok.
