OPENING: Paramount and Destinos Festival Pair Up for BULL: a love story by Nancy García Loza Oct. 5-Nov. 20

 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 dealt drugs, got caught, and served his time. After a decade, he is released from prison and returns to an unrecognizable Lakeview. What will it take to really get home? Find out in BULL: a love story, a world premiere play by Chicago writer Nancy García Loza. 

 

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.

OPENING: Dreamgirls, A MUSICAL ROLLERCOASTER OF FAME, FORTUNE AND FRIENDSHIP, OPENS PARAMOUNT THEATRE’S 11TH BROADWAY SERIES, August 31-October 16, 2022

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Paramount Theatre is launching its 11th Broadway Series with 

Dreamgirls 

August 31-October 16, 2022  

Note: Dreamgirls is suggested for ages 10 and up due to adult language and relationship content.

Paramount Theatre wants all of Chicago to meet Effie, Lorrell and Deena, three talented young Black singers in the turbulent 1960s whose rise to the top will test their friendships to the very limit. 

Paramount Theatre’s Dreamgirls features (bottom, from left) Taylor Marie Daniel as Deena, Mariah Lyttle as Lorrell and Breyannah Tillman as Effie, with Lorenzo Rush Jr. as Curtis Taylor, Jr. and Ben Toomer as Jimmy “Thunder” Early. 

That’s right, we’re talking about Dreamgirls, the Tony-winning musical inspired by The Supremes that spawned an Oscar-winning movie. And where better to see a full-blown production of this seminal musical than at Aurora’s beautiful Paramount Theatre, launching its 11th Broadway Series with Dreamgirls, August 31-October 16, 2022. 

Travel back with Paramount to the 1960s. The Motown sound is on the rise, and the Dreamettes are three young women trying to break their way onto the music scene. When car salesman Curtis Taylor, Jr. signs the trio to a record label, he sets in motion a series of events that will forever change their lives, for better and for worse. Join the Dreamgirls as they navigate the highs and lows of life, love and fame. And remember, all you gotta do is dream.

Christopher D. Betts will direct, and Dreamgirls marks his hometown debut. A Chicago native, Betts is a New York-based director, writer, producer, and NYU professor, who recently completed his MFA in Directing at Yale School of Drama. 

Previews start August 31. Opening Night is Friday, September 9, at 8 p.m. Performances run through October 16, 2022: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. and

7 p.m.; Thursdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. (exception: No 1:30 p.m. matinee on Wednesday, August 31).

Four-play 2022-23 subscriptions including Dreamgirls and three more amazing musicals - The Sound of Music, Into the Woods and School of Rock - for new subscribers are on sale now, starting at just $56. Single tickets to Dreamgirls are $28 to $79 and go on sale Monday, July 25, at 10 a.m. 

Paramount Theatre is located at 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. For tickets and information, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Dreaming Big: Behind the scenes of Paramount’s 2022-23 opener

“I am thrilled to be returning to the Chicagoland area to direct Dreamgirls at Paramount. As a Chicago native, it is a dream come true to reintroduce myself to my community as a director — with my favorite musical — after matriculating from NYU Tisch and The Yale School of Drama,” said director Christopher D. Betts.

“The American Theatre is undergoing a crucial social justice reckoning, and our industry is beginning to bend toward the inclusion of people who belong to the communities represented onstage as leaders of the theatrical process. I am an example of this. Dreamgirls represents a similar moment in history when Black artists were beginning to have a fighting chance at impacting the music industry. I am committed to being reverent to this historic and iconic moment in Black History. I hope this production will not only affirm that our dreams are valid but inspire a new dream for the future.”

Paramount’s Dreamgirls are Taylor Marie Daniel as Deena, Mariah Lyttle as Lorrell and Breyannah Tillman as Effie, with Lorenzo Rush Jr. as Curtis Taylor, Jr. and Ben Toomer as Jimmy “Thunder” Early. Naima Alakham, Daryn Alexus, Averis I. Anderson, Christian Denzel Bufford, Shantel Cribbs, Raven Monique Dockery, Gilbert Domally, Joshua L. Green, Evan Tyrone Martin, Dwayne P. Mitchell, Austin Nelson Jr., Juwon Tyrel Perry, Wildlin Pierrevil, Maurice Rex Randle, Nissi Shalome, Aalon Smith, Shelbi Voss, Aeriel Williams and Eustace J. Williams are the Dreamgirls ensemble.

The production team is Christopher D. Betts, director; Amy Hall Garner, choreographer; Christie Chiles Twillie, music director and conductor; Jeffrey D. Kmiec, scenic designer; Samantha C. Jones, costume designer; José Santiago, lighting designer; Adam Rosenthal, sound designer; Mike Tutaj, projection designer; Reuben Echoles, wig, hair and makeup designer and associate casting director; Jesse Gaffney, properties designer; Quenna Lené Barrett, assistant director; Mya King, assistant choreographer; Kailey Rockwell, associate music director and associate conductor; Jessica Forella, stage manager; and Jaci Entwisle, assistant stage manager. 

The original Broadway production of Dreamgirls opened at New York’s Imperial Theatre on December 20, 1981. The musical played 10 previews and 1,521 performances before closing August 11,1985, earning 13 Tony nominations and winning six. Henry Krieger’s music and Tom Eyen’s book and lyrics and book are unstoppably excellent. The original Broadway production was directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett. Orchestrations are by Harold Wheeler.

The musical spawned the 2006 DreamWorks/Paramount Pictures film of the same name, written and directed by Bill Condon, featured stars like Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, and famously earned an Oscar for Chicago’s own Jennifer Hudson for her supporting role as Effie. 

Director biography

Christopher D. Betts, a native of Chicago, considers reintroducing himself to the Chicagoland area as the director of Dreamgirls at Paramount a dream come true. Upcoming: The Color Purple (North Carolina Theatre) and Trouble in Mind (Hartford Stage). Betts recently directed Choir Boy (Yale Rep), Legally Blonde (NYU Tisch), In the Southern Breeze (Off-Broadway) and Dutch Kings (Off-Off-Broadway). At Yale Cabaret, he directed Is God Is, We Are Proud to Present…, Fireflies, littleboy/littleman, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play; and How Black Girls Get Over Fuckbois, Vol. 1 and The Winter’s Tale at Yale School of Drama. Betts is also the creator, writer, director, and executive producer of MAJOR, a film executive produced by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Other collaborations include Spring Awakening (NYU Tisch); Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors (PopArt Johannesburg/Market Theatre Lab); The Cave: A Folk Opera (New York premiere); Carrie (2015 Broadway World Best Musical nomination); a series of new works with the OBIE Award-winning Fire This Time Festival; workshops of Goodnight Tyler (Kennedy Center/Alliance Theatre) and Refuge of the Damned (Long Wharf); and Barbecue (movement director, The Public Theater). Betts is a recipient of the Julie Taymor World Theater Fellowship, the Richie Jackson Artist Fellowship, and a two-time recipient of the SDCF Observership. He has been an artist in residence at Kampala International Theater Festival and PopArt Johannesburg and a teaching artist at The Market Theatre Lab. Betts is currently a professor in the Department of Undergraduate Drama at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New Studio on Broadway, and a support team member at artEquity, and The Joyce C. Willis Fellow at Hartford Stage. He received his B.F.A. with triple honors from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (Bachelor’s Representative) and M.F.A. in Directing from Yale School of Drama. christopherdbetts.com

Special Events

Pay What You Can Performances

Thursday, September 1, 7 p.m.

Saturday, September 3, 3 p.m.

Paramount is offering two Pay What You Can performances of Dreamgirls. Both days, starting at 10 a.m., visit the Paramount Theatre box office in-person to request tickets. Limit four per person. See paramountaurora.com/pay-what-you-can for details. 

Divine Nine Night at Dreamgirls Saturday September 10, 8 p.m.

Midwest chapters of the “Divine Nine” Black sororities and fraternities will join together for a special night at Paramount’s Dreamgirls, furthering the council’s mission to educate and uplift the Black community from racial inequities.

Civic Organization Night at Dreamgirls Saturday, September 17, 8 p.m.

Local civic organizations, community and political leaders and black owned businesses are invited to this special night at Paramount’s Dreamgirls to celebrate the community-building power of live theater.

Church Night at Dreamgirls Sunday, September 18, 5:30 p.m.

Chicago-area congregations are invited to praise the power of faith, perseverance, gospel music and the sounds of Motown at Church Night at Dreamgirls. 

To learn more, get involved or for information on how to get discounted group tickets to any Dreamgirls special event, contact Melissa Striedl, melissas@paramountarts.com or (630) 723-2461.

Access Services

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.

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 will offer an American Sign Language interpreted performance on Friday, October 14, at 8 p.m.

An open and closed captioned performance is TBA.

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. For complete details, please read Paramount’s full Covid Policy. 

What’s next in Paramount’s 11th Anniversary Broadway Series?

Set in Austria 1938 on the brink of World War II, The Sound of Music is the unforgettable Rodgers and Hammerstein classic musical about Maria, a young woman who takes a job as governess of the von Trapp Family while deciding whether to become a nun. After falling in love with the children, and eventually, Captain von Trapp, a clever ruse leads to the family’s daring escape from the Nazis through the Austrian Alps. Paramount’s Amber Mak directs. Performances are November 9, 2022-January 8, 2023. Opening Night is Friday, November 18, at 8 p.m.

Into the Woods, a seminal work by the late Stephen Sondheim, reimagines Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Cinderella and other Brothers Grimm characters in one of the most astounding and original fairytale retellings the stage has ever seen. Paramount Artistic Director Jim Corti and Associate Artistic Producer Trent Stork co-direct Paramount’s journey Into the Woods. Performances are February 1-March 19, 2023. Opening Night is Friday, February 10, at 8 p.m.

Now we’re rocking, because Paramount Theatre’s 11th season finale is School of Rock, the fun-loving musical based on the popular Jack Black movie, from the genius mind of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Trent Stork directs. Performances are April 12- May 28, 2023. Opening Night is Friday, April 21, at 8 p.m.

Just as it has since it launched its first Broadway Series in 2011, Paramount still offers the same “Buy Two Shows, Get Two Shows Free” subscription offer. Broadway Series packages start as low as $56. In fact, Paramount subscribers pay no more than $39.50 per show, and that’s the most expensive ticket. Fees not included.

Join the growing ranks of more than 33,000 Broadway Series subscribers at downtown Aurora’s Paramount Theatre. To subscribe, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora.

Also coming this fall as part of Paramount’s new BOLD Series:

BULL: a love story 

Nancy García Loza

Paramount closes its inaugural BOLD Series with the world premiere of BULL: a love story, written by Nancy García Loza, directed by Laura Alcalá Baker. 

Bull dealt drugs, got caught, and served his time. For a decade, he’s thought about one thing: coming home. On the day Bull is released from prison, he returns to his old Chicago neighborhood, Lakeview, now unrecognizable. Hopeful and eager, he is ready to resume life with his family, only to discover how much has moved on without him. His dream now within grasp, what will it take to get home? 

Previews start October 5, 2022. Performances run through November 20 at Paramount’s new Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. For tickets and information, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Suggested rating 13+.

BULL: a love story is presented as part of Destinos, 5th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, produced by the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA). Destinos is an annual, citywide event showcasing top Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America, September 15-October 16, 2022. Learn more at destinosfest.org.

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.

REVIEW: Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer-prize Winning Drama SWEAT On Stage at Paramount's Copley Theatre Through April 24, 2022

 ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

PARAMOUNT THEATRE LAUNCHES NEW BOLD SERIES WITH 

SWEAT

INAUGURATING THE NEWLY RENOVATED COPLEY THEATRE IN DOWNTOWN AURORA, MARCH 9-APRIL 24, 2022

REVIEW:

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

Imagine yourself in a dive bar in Philly, in a working class hood, at the end of the Clinton era. Generations of hard working Americans have made a decent living here, with seniority workers making up to $40 an hour. Yet that's all about to come crashing town, as factory after factory packs up and moves to Mexico and cheaper digs overseas, putting profits over people. Sweat spans the Bush era and the utter decimation of this factory town, and the poverty, desperation, violence, and addiction that follow in the wake of plant closings. 

It's a brilliant and crucial set up for understanding the Trump years and the ongoing rage of the working class who punch down and blame immigrants and other working poor instead of management, and wealthy factory owners. Sweat is a scathing look at racism, scapegoats, injuries, alcoholism driven by poverty and pain, and the difficulty of employment after incarceration. It's not all doom and gloom, though. Sweat also depicts lifelong friendships, bonding, birthdays, and the strength in a sense of community.

Photo credit for all production shots unless noted otherwise: Amy Nelson

If you're expecting Paramount's usual fare of crowd pleasing musicals with big song and dance numbers, this is not that production. Head across the street. If you're ready for an epic fight scene, an unflinching look at human nature under pressure, and complicated family dynamics, don't miss this! We love Lynn Nottage’s phenomenal writing, and her all too timely treatise on the dissolving of living wage, blue collar jobs, and the havoc it wreaks on individuals, families, and communities. Paramount's take on this vital, contemporary drama is outstanding.

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we're so excited for Paramount's new space and bold choices. The Copley Theatre renovation is a gorgeous mix of retro and modern with a nod toward a 1960's esthetic with a 2022 flair. 

Paramount's award winning main-stage shows have sparked an artistic renaissance in Aurora and now they're expanding to include a new space with an edgier lineup seldom seen in suburban theatre settings. What a wonderful resource for the region! We adored Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer-prize winning drama, Sweat, when we caught it in 2019 at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, and we're thrilled that Paramount's bringing it back with a phenomenal cast, in their intimate, new space. 

We truly felt like patrons in the on-stage bar, with the action taking place feet away. The set design is top shelf and the entire cast pours their hearts and souls into this production, expertly immersing the audience in their world. This production gave me chills and elicited a rousing, unanimous standing ovation from the opening night crowd. There were audible gasps in the audience during the vicious fight scene and more than a few patrons were moved to tears. This is the kind of theatre that leaves a mark, and sparks not only empathy, but vital post show discussions. Highly recommended. 

Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theater critic, photographer, videographer, actress, artist and Mama. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly). 

Sweat, Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer-prize winning drama, is the first of four Bold productions in 2022 in the newly modernized Copley Theatre, right across the street from Paramount Theatre

After two years of waiting, Paramount Theatre will launch its new Bold Series next month, bringing a new, four-show subscription series and a new type of live theater – fearless, unexpected and thought provoking – to the heart of Aurora’s downtown entertainment district.

The inaugural production is Sweat, Lynn Nottage’s acclaimed modern-day drama about life in an American Rust Belt town being battered by the constant threat of company shutdowns. Sweat, running March 9-April 24, 2022, opening to the press Wednesday, March 16 at 7 p.m., is the winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play and a landmark achievement of American theater.

Just as exciting, Paramount will lift the curtain on its new home for its Bold Series, the newly remodeled Copley Theatre, right across the street from Paramount at 8 E. Galena Blvd., in the North Island Center.

Photo Credit: Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

Following a two-year, $2 million, top-to-bottom renovation, the Copley is no longer an unknown, underutilized space, but an intimate, state-of-the-art theater with 165 comfortable new seats and a modern new lobby bar, ready to attract more audiences to downtown Aurora.

Behind-the-scenes of Paramount’s inaugural Bold production, Sweat

Sweat is set in a bar in an impoverished American town, where factory workers gather to laugh, talk, and drink their cares away, despite the constant threat of company shutdowns. When promotions and layoffs are rumored, tensions and jealousy begin to rip apart their community. Can friendships and family endure when all hopes of economic stability and mobility disappear? An intense examination of race, class and the human costs of capitalism, Sweat captures the ever-present battle between human needs and business in America’s Rust Belt.

Veteran Chicago director Andrea J Dymond is director. The cast features Jordan Anthony Arredondo (Oscar), Tiffany Bedwell (Jessie), Emmanuel K. Jackson (Chris), Linda Gillum (Tracey), Joshua L. Green (Brucie), Bryant Hayes (Evan), Shariba Rivers (Cynthia), Randy Steinmeyer (Stan) and Gage Wallace (Jason).

The production team includes Jeffrey D. Kmiec, scenic designer; Yvonne L. Miranda, costume designer; Jessica Neill, lighting designer; Jeffrey Levin, sound designer; Jesse Gaffney, properties designer; David Woolley, fight choreographer; Khalid Long, dramaturg; Jinni Pike, stage manager; and Lanita VanderSchaaf, assistant stage manager. 

The cast for Paramount’s Bold Series production of Sweat features Jordan Anthony Arredondo (Oscar), Tiffany Bedwell (Jessie), Linda Gillum (Tracey), Joshua L. Green (Brucie), Bryant Hayes (Evan),

 Emmanuel K. Jackson (Chris), Shariba Rivers (Cynthia), Randy Steinmeyer (Stan) and Gage Wallace (Jason).

Sweat performance schedule and ticket information

Previews start Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Press opening is Wednesday, March 16 at 7 p.m. Sweat runs through April 24. Show times are 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.

The Copley Theatre is located at 8 E. Galena Blvd., in the North Island Center, directly across the street from Paramount Theatre in downtown Aurora. For tickets and information, 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.

Access Services

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 is committed to the health and safety of all patrons, theater employees, production staff and artists, and adheres to federal, state and municipal COVID-19 protocols.

What’s next in Paramount’s new Bold Series

Following Sweat, Paramount’s new Bold Series continues with Hand to God by Robin Askins, a darkly humorous shocker told Sesame Street meets Exorcist style, puppets included, May 25-July 10. Next is the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home, book by Lisa Kron, music by Jeanine Tesori, based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, playing the Copley August 3-September 18. The 2022 Bold series culminates with BULL: a love story, Nancy García Loza’s world premiere drama about a Mexican-American man who returns to Chicago to find a family who has moved on and a neighborhood he no longer recognizes, October 5-November 20.

Summing up the series, Paramount Artistic Director Jim Corti said, "Up close and personal, the Bold Series calls audiences together urgently and right on time. By turns comic and cautionary, rendered by prize-winning, contemporary playwrights, passionate voices will soon be let loose in the dynamically renewed space of Paramount's Copley Theatre. Come discover what we've found for you in these four inaugural season productions. 

“After nearly two years since we were originally supposed to launch our Bold Series, the time has finally come to lift the curtain on an exhilarating and new storytelling experience,” added Tim Rater, President and CEO, Paramount Theatre. “Housed in the beautifully renovated Copley Theatre, audiences will discover stories that challenge, enlighten, engage and entertain. I could not be more excited to share these stories with our patrons and hope that when the lights come up, the conversations will last long after the ride home.”

Four-show Bold Series subscriptions are on sale now, ranging from just $134-$148. That’s a “buy two shows, get two shows free” offer. Single tickets to individual performances are $67-$74. To purchase subscriptions, single tickets or for more information, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

All four Bold Series performances will be staged in Copley Theatre, located in the North Island Center, 8 E. Galena Blvd., in downtown Aurora. 

About Paramount Theatre

Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., is the center for performing arts and education 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 manages downtown Aurora’s newly renovated 165-seat Copley Theatre, Paramount’s smaller, more intimate, 165-seat “sister” stage, right across the street at 8 E. Galena Blvd. ACCA also oversees 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.

Playwright and director biographies

Lynn Nottage (playwright) is the first, and remains the only, woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Her play Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Evening Standard Award, Obie Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Tony Nomination, Drama Desk Nomination) premiered and was commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival American Revolutions History Cycle/Arena Stage. It moved to Broadway after a sold-out run at The Public Theater. Goodman Theatre presented the Chicago premiere of Sweat in 2019. Most recently, Nottage premiered MJ the Musical at the Neil Simon Theater on Broadway, and Clyde's at Second Stage Theater on Broadway. Other plays include Floyd's (Guthrie Theater) Mlima’s Tale (Public Theater), By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Nomination), Ruined (Pulitzer Prize, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award); Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play); Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine (OBIE Award); Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers; Stone and POOF! Nottage also wrote the book for the world premiere musical adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's novel The Secret Life of Bees, with music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead. She is the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship, Steinberg "Mimi" Distinguished Playwright Award, PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award, TIME 100 (2019), Merit and Literature Award from The Academy of Arts and Letters, Columbia University Provost Grant, Doris Duke Artist Award, The Joyce Foundation Commission Project & Grant, Madge Evans-Sidney Kingsley Award, Nelson A. Rockefeller Award for Creativity, The Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, the inaugural Horton Foote Prize, Helen Hayes Award, the Lee Reynolds Award, and the Jewish World Watch iWitness Award. Her other honors include the National Black Theatre Fest's August Wilson Playwriting Award, a Guggenheim Grant, Lucille Lortel Fellowship and Visiting Research Fellowship at Princeton University. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. She is also a screenwriter and an Associate Professor in the Theatre Department at Columbia School of the Arts. For more, visit lynnnottage.com.

Andrea J Dymond (director) is a Chicago-based freelance director, specializing in developing and directing new work. Recent directing credits include Thirst at Strawdog Theatre, the world premieres of The Greatest Theatrical Event…EVER! at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Shepsu Aahku’s Black and Blue for MPAACT. Dymond was formerly Resident Director at Victory Gardens Theater, where she directed 11 productions, including seven world premieres, and helped to develop and launch the The Ignition Festival of New Plays. In addition to directing around Chicago and the U.S., her experience includes literary management, research and production dramaturgy, directing at new works festivals; serving as thesis play advisor for MFA playwrights at Carnegie Mellon University and directing at NNPN’s MFA Playwrights Workshops at the Kennedy Center. A teacher at Columbia College Chicago, Dymond's courses have included Directing, Collaboration, African American Scene Study, Text Analysis, Dramaturgy, Acting and New Play Development. She was also the facilitator of the Theodore Ward Award for African American Playwriting.

Season Announced: PARAMOUNT THEATRE'S 2022-23 BROADWAY SERIES

 ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

PARAMOUNT THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2022-23

BROADWAY SERIES: 

DREAMGIRLS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, 

INTO THE WOODS AND SCHOOL OF ROCK

Aurora’s Paramount Theatre enters its second decade with today’s announcement of the four blockbuster musicals on tap for its 2022-23 Broadway Series:

Meet the Dreamgirls - Effie, Lorrell and Deena - three talented young Black singers in the turbulent 1960s whose rise to the top will test their friendships to the very limit. This Tony-winning musical spawned an Oscar-winning movie for a reason: Henry Krieger’s music and Tom Eyen’s lyrics and book are unstoppably excellent. Christopher Betts makes his Chicago directing debut with Dreamgirls. Performances are August 31-October 16, 2022. Opening Night is Friday, September 9, at 8 p.m.

Set in Austria 1938 on the brink of World War II, The Sound of Music is the unforgettable Rodgers and Hammerstein classic musical about Maria, a young woman who takes a job as governess of the von Trapp Family while deciding whether to become a nun. After falling in love with the children, and eventually, Captain von Trapp, a clever ruse leads to the family’s daring escape from the Nazis through the Austrian Alps. Paramount’s Amber Mak directs. Performances are November 9, 2022-January 8, 2023. Opening Night is Friday, November 18, at 8 p.m.

Into the Woods, a seminal work by the late Stephen Sondheim, reimagines Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Cinderella and other Brothers Grimm characters in one of the most astounding and original fairytale retellings the stage has ever seen. Artistic Director Jim Corti directs Paramount’s journey Into the Woods. Performances are February 1-March 19, 2023. Opening Night is Friday, February 10, at 8 p.m.

Now we’re rocking, because Paramount Theatre’s 11th season finale is School of Rock, the fun-loving musical based on the popular Jack Black movie, from the genius mind of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Trent Stork directs. Performances are April 12- May 28, 2023. Opening Night is Friday, April 21, at 8 p.m.

“The promise of Season Eleven is a theatrical panorama of magnificent orchestras and a rock ‘n’ roll romp telling tales of making music and family on the merits of some of the most popular Broadway shows ever written for the stage,” said Paramount Artistic Director Jim Corti. “At once classical and contemporary, there is something for everyone here gathering us together, laughing and loving in sync, discovering loss and joy and what perhaps we have most in common: 'No one is alone.'”

Just as it has since it launched its first Broadway Series in 2011, Paramount still offers the same “Buy Two Shows, Get Two Shows Free” subscription offer. Broadway Series packages start as low as $56. In fact, Paramount subscribers pay no more than $39.50 per show, and that’s the most expensive ticket. Fees not included.                                                                        

Renewals begin today, Tuesday, March 8 at 10 a.m. As always, current subscribers are given the first chance to secure their seats for all four shows. During this renewal process, new subscribers can also pre-order a subscription to queue up for the best seats available before subscriptions and single tickets go on sale to the general public in July. 

Paramount Theatre is located at 23 E Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. For information, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or visit the Paramount Theatre box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m; or, Sunday, 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Paramount’s 2022-23 Broadway Series:

Dreamgirls

August 31 – October 16, 2022

Opening Night: Friday, September 9, 8 p.m.

Book and lyrics by Tom Eyen

Music by Henry Krieger

Original Broadway production directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett

Orchestrations by Harold Wheeler

Produced on Broadway by Michael Bennett, Robert Avian, Geffen Records and The Shubert Organization

Directed by Christopher Betts

It’s the 1960s where the sound of Motown is on the rise. Meet the Dreamettes, Effie, Deena and Lorrell, three women trying to break their way onto the music scene. When car salesman Curtis Taylor Jr. signs the trio to a record label, he sets in motion a series of events that will forever change their lives, for better and for worse. Join the Dreamgirls as they navigate the highs and lows of life, love and fame. And remember, all you gotta do is dream.

Dreamgirls was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Originally from Chicago, director Christopher Betts makes his hometown debut with Dreamgirls. He is a New York-based writer, director and professor, currently earning his MFA at Yale School of Drama. He was the 2017-18 Julie Taymor World Theater Fellow, and received his BFA in drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

 

The Sound of Music

November 9, 2022 – January 8, 2023

Opening Night: Friday, November 18, 8 p.m.

Music by Richard Rodgers

Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse

Directed by Amber Mak

When Maria, a prospective nun is sent to be the governess of seven children for a captain of the Navy, she finds herself unexpectedly questioning her life path as she falls in love with the entire family. Music is at the heart of what unites them as they face tough decisions as Austria, their homeland, is on the brink of World War II. Do they stay or do they leave? 

Director Amber Mak has staged so many unforgettable Paramount blockbusters, including Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, nominated for six Jeff Awards including Best Musical, The Wizard of Oz, which earned seven Jeff nominations including Best Musical and Best Director. Just wait until you experience Mak’s staging of The Sound of Music, a nine-time Tony Award nominee and winner of Best Musical. Bring the family for a holiday outing at Paramount Theatre, where the lobby will be decked out in Christmas decorations and a two-story Christmas tree.

Into The Woods

February 1 – March 19, 2023

Opening Night: Friday, February 10, 8 p.m.

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by James Lapine

Originally directed on Broadway by James Lapine

Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick

Original Broadway production by Heidi Landesman, Rocco Landesman, Rick Steiner, M. Anthony Fisher, Frederic H. Mayerson and Jujamcyn Theaters

Originally produced by The Globe Theater, San Diego, CA

Directed by Jim Corti

A red cape, a strand of yellow hair, a golden shoe and a white cow. It’s these four items that send a baker and his barren wife through the woods on a magical journey to reverse a spell cast by an evil witch. Throw in Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Cinderella and you have one of the most astounding and original fairytale retellings the stage has ever seen. If you’ve seen The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast or Cinderella on Paramount’s stage, then you know the spectacle and extravagance that awaits you in Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant reimagining, nominated for ten Tony Awards, and winner, Best Score.

Paramount’s trip Into the Woods will be staged by Artistic Director JIm Corti, Chicago’s only theater artist to have won Jeff Awards as an actor, choreographer and director, responsible for such Paramount past hits as Newsies, The Producers, Sweeney Todd and Les Misérables.

School of Rock

April 12–May 28, 2023

Opening Night: Friday, April 21, 8 p.m.

Based on the Paramount movie by Mike White

Book by Julian Fellowes

Lyrics by Glenn Slater

New Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Directed by Trent Stork

From the genius mind of Andrew Lloyd Webber comes a rousing, feel good and inspirational story of kids at a prestigious prep school. Wannabe rocker, Dewey Finn, has just been kicked out of his band, he can’t pay rent and his life is falling apart. When he scams his way into a teaching job meant for his roommate, Dewey turns a class of straight-A pupils into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. Dewey’s love of music and rock soon inspires the kids to pursue what they love. 

Based on the hit movie starring Jack Black, School of Rock was nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The director of School of Rock is Trent Stork, who staged Paramount’s hit productions of Kinky Boots and Legally Blonde.

Subscribe now to Paramount’s 2022-23 Broadway Series 

The rewards of subscribing to Paramount’s 2022-23 Broadway Series are ample – four amazing, Broadway-quality musicals at one of the most glamorous Art Deco theaters in the Midwest, all for less than the price and hassle of seeing just one show downtown.

In addition to the lowest major theater subscription prices in Illinois, exclusive benefits for Paramount Broadway subscribers are first choice of the same seats for all four shows, free ticket exchange privileges and first notice of added shows and special events. Broadway subscribers also receive first notice and exclusive pre-sale discounts of 10% off single tickets for Broadway performances and other select shows at Paramount, including concerts by internationally acclaimed music artists, comedy, dance, holiday shows, movies and family presentations. 

Paramount’s 2022-23 Broadway Series is sponsored by Dunham Foundation, BMO Harris Bank, ComEd, Illinois Arts Council and City of Aurora.

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 the anchor of downtown Aurora 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.

Rock of Ages Still Rollin' in Aurora at Paramount Theatre Through MAY 29, 2022

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?

PARAMOUNT THEATRE HITS THE HIGH NOTES WITH 

ROCK OF AGES

ITS 10TH BROADWAY SEASON FINALE 

APRIL 13-MAY 29, 2022

Note: Rock of Ages is suggested for ages 14 and up due to adult language and sexual content.

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we've seen the Broadway touring company perform Rock of Ages at least three times in Chicago and we just can't get enough. We can't wait to see Paramount's take on this big hair, big dreams, big fun, hit. Relive the 80's, hairband era, with a LA love story that redefines success from fame and fortune to family. This is one of those musicals that you can bring straight men who hate musicals to. With hits from top ‘80s rock bands like Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Poison and more, Rock of Ages might even have them singing along! Break out your leopard and leather and dress the part. Rock of Ages is an epic 80's party you don't want to miss.

(top, from left) Kieran McCabe plays Drew, Taylor DiTola is Sherrie, (below) Melody A. Betts is Justice and Josh Scholl plays Stacee Jaxx. Credit: Amy Nelson

Are you ready to rock? Like, really rock?!

Nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Rock of Ages will take Paramount Theatre audiences back into the iconic music era of the ‘80s, where rock ‘n’ roll dreamers turn their fantasies into reality. 

Paramount Artistic Producer and New Works Director Amber Mak, known for staging Paramount’s smash hit blockbusters Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz and The Little Mermaid, directs Rock of Ages. Don’t miss Paramount’s 10th Anniversary Broadway Series finale, a trip back to when rock was king, and every song was a hitmaker.

Previews start April 13, 2022. Performances run through May 29 at Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. Single tickets are $36-$79. For tickets and information, visit ParamountAurora.com, or call the box office, (630) 896-6666, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.



 

(from left) Kieran McCabe plays Drew, Taylor DiTola is Sherrie, Melody A. Betts plays Justice and Josh Scholl is Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages, Paramount Theatre’s 10th Anniversary Broadway Series finale. Credit: Amy Nelson

Rock of Ages is the story of a small-town girl with Hollywood dreams who meets a big-city boy chasing his rock-star fantasies on L.A.’s infamous Sunset Strip. With the historic Bourbon Room as the backdrop, their love story unfolds right where the biggest names in rock got their start – all told through the biggest, baddest, mind-blowing rock songs of the ‘80s including “Just Like Paradise,” “Sister Christian,” “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” and a whole lot more.

Rock of Ages, book by Chris D’Arienzo, arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp, premiered on Broadway April 7, 2009, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre and later moved to the Helen Hayes Theatre where it closed on January 18, 2015 after 2,328 performances. With pulsating percussion, blazing guitar riffs, vocal gymnastics and glam 80’s rock hits, Rock of Ages earned five Tony Nominations, including Best Musical, spawned tours and productions worldwide, and was turned into a 2012 major motion picture starring Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough and Mary J. Blige.

“This show has been on my bucket list since I first saw it when I was living in New York City and would use my outdated student ID to snag a $25 ticket to the show,” said director Amber Mak. “As a self-proclaimed rule follower, this show allowed me to indulge in my fantasies of being a spontaneous, care-free rocker and groupie. So I invite you to leave the heaviness of the world and the crazy ride we have been on for the past two years behind. Get a drink and escape to the Sunset Strip of L.A. in the ‘80s where big hair and rock ruled. Let’s Rock Aurora!”

Principal cast members for Paramount’s new staging of Rock of Ages are Melody A. Betts (Justice/Mother), Shea Coffman (Lonny), Taylor DiTola (Sherrie), Nick Druzbanski (Franz), Carisa Gonzalez (Regina), Karl Hamilton (Dennis), Kieran McCabe (Drew) and Josh Scholl (Stacee Jax/Father). The ensemble includes Lexie Bailey, Max J. Cervantes, Maeve Cosgriffe, Shantel Cribbs, Andres J. DeLeon, Alley Ellis, Michael Ferraro (Drew at some performances), Paige Hauer, Christopher John Kelley, Maggie Malaney, Trey Mendlik, David Sajewich, Charlie Ward, Natalie Welch and Travis Austin Wright.

The band members, performing live, on stage, are Kara Kesselring (conductor/keyboard), Dan Peters (guitar one), Scott Tipping (guitar two), Janis Wallin (bass) and Jim Widlowski (drums).

 The full production team is Amber Mak, director and co-choreographer; Annie Jo Fischer, co-choreographer; Kory Danielson, music director/supervisor; Kara Kesselring, conductor/associate music director; Jeffrey D. Kmiec, scenic designer; Theresa Ham, costume designer; Greg Hofmann, lighting designer; Adam Rosenthal, sound designer; Mike Tutaj, projection designer; Katie Cordts, wig, hair and makeup designer; Jesse Gaffney, properties designer; Ethan Deppe, electronic music designer; Jerry Galante, fight choreographer; Susan Gosdick, dialect coach; Sara Reinecke, associate director; Charlie Ward, associate choreographer; Kailey Rockwell, associate conductor; Sean McNeely, orchestra contractor; Maegan Burnell, stage manager; and Mary Zanger, assistant stage manager. 

Rock of Ages performance schedule and ticket information

Previews start Wednesday, April 13, 2022, at 7 p.m. Press opening is Friday, April 22, at 8 p.m. Rock of Ages runs through May 29. Show times are Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Thursdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. (exception: No 1:30 p.m. matinee on Wednesday, April 13). Tickets are $36 to $79. 

Paramount Theatre is located at 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. For tickets and information, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Breaking down barriers to live theater: 

Paramount introduces Pay What You Can events

Paramount Theatre is offering two Pay What You Can performances of Rock of Ages on Thursday, April 14, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, April 16, at 3 p.m.

Both days, starting at 10 a.m., visit the Paramount Theatre box office in-person to request tickets. Customers will be asked how much they’d like to pay and will simply pay what they can. Limit four tickets per person. Offer not valid toward previous purchases. Online or phone purchases are not permitted. Paramount’s Pay What You Can program is part of the theater’s new program, REACH (Resources Expanding the Arts and Connecting Humanity).

Access Services

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.

For patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing, Rock of Ages will be presented on Friday, May 27, at 8 p.m. with two certified sign interpreters translating all dialogue and lyrics into American Sign Language. Patrons can purchase single tickets with special seating for this performance for $30 with the code ASLPARAMOUNT.

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 effective February 28, 2022. Mask wearing is strongly encouraged, but will be optional. For complete details, please read Paramount’s full Covid Policy.

Paramount’s new BOLD Series, launched in March 

in the newly renovated Copley Theatre

After two years of waiting, Paramount Theatre is launching its new BOLD Series, bringing a new, four-show subscription series and a new type of live theater – fearless, unexpected and thought provoking – to the heart of Aurora’s downtown entertainment district.

Just as exciting, Paramount is lifting the curtain on its new home for its BOLD Series, the newly remodeled Copley Theatre, right across the street from Paramount at 8 E. Galena Blvd., in the North Island Center. Following a two-year, $2 million, top-to-bottom renovation, the Copley is an intimate, state-of-the-art theater with 165 comfortable new seats and a modern new lobby bar, ready to attract more audiences to downtown Aurora.

Paramount’s inaugural BOLD production is Sweat, winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play and a landmark achievement of American theater. Lynn Nottage’s acclaimed modern-day drama about life in an American Rust Belt town being battered by the constant threat of company shutdowns runs at the Copley March 9-April 24, 2022. Check out my full review here: http://chiilliveshows.com/2022/02/opening-lynn-nottages-pulitzer-prize.html

Following Sweat, Paramount’s BOLD Series continues with Hand to God by Robin Askins, a darkly humorous shocker told Sesame Street meets Exorcist style, puppets included, May 25-July 10; the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home, book by Lisa Kron, music by Jeanine Tesori, based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, August 3-September 18; and BULL: a love story, Nancy García Loza’s world premiere drama about a Mexican-American man who returns to Chicago to find a family who has moved on and a neighborhood he no longer recognizes, October 5-November 20.

Four-show subscriptions are on sale now from $134-$148. That’s buy two shows, get two shows free. Single tickets to individual performances are $67-$74. To purchase subscriptions, single tickets or for more information, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

About Paramount Theatre

Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., is the center for performing arts and education 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, music stars, dance events 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.