SAVE THE DATES: 2018 SEASON ANNOUNCED FOR THEATRE AT THE CENTER IN MUNSTER

Linda Fortunato, Artistic Director of Theatre at the Center (TATC), Northwest Indiana’s only professional theater company, has announced the mainstage titles for TATC’s 2018 Season.

Fortunato will direct three of the five productions, including Steel Magnolias, which will launch the 2018 season. Forever Plaid and The Lady with All the Answers are the spring and summer shows. In the fall, Fortunato will also direct Ghost The Musical, a stage adaptation of the 1990 Academy-Award winning film. Closing the 2018 season, she will direct and choreograph Meredith Willson’s Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical inspired by the 1947 classic film.

Steel Magnolias (February 22 – March 25, 2018) is a hilarious and heart-warming play set in a Louisiana beauty shop. It follows the hopes, dreams, triumphs and tragedies of six colorful characters and inspired the 1989 film which starred Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and Dolly Parton. It’s a story exploring the bond between a mother and daughter, and friendships of those who feel like family.

Spring welcomes Forever Plaid (May 3 – June 3, 2018), one of the most popular and beloved of musical revues. “The Plaids” are a quirky quartet of high school chums in the spotlight for the biggest performance of their lives. Their spirited antics and comic banter weave together such hits as “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “Heart and Soul” and “Love is a Many Splendored Thing,” in this playful tribute to the close harmony of “guy groups” of the 1950’s.

An up-close and personal introduction to the real Ann Landers awaits audiences in The Lady with All the Answers (July 12 – August 12, 2018).  Popular advice columnist Ann Landers had a life which seemed letter-perfect. With more than 90 million readers each day, she had a quick wit which could be comical and creative, as well as sharp and shocking, all in the same sentence. The play unfolds in Landers’ Lakeshore Drive apartment in 1975 where she shares some of her most fascinating stories as she prepares to write the most difficult column of her career.

In the fall, Ghost The Musical (September 13 – October 14, 2018) is the musical adaptation of the 1990 Academy-Award winning film sharing the love story of Sam and Molly. After Sam’s untimely death, he tries to protect Molly from an unknown threat. In an attempt to communicate with her, he enlists the help of a storefront psychic to hilarious and harrowing effect. This tale about the power of love features a score by Grammy Award winning songwriters Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard, and includes the classic “Unchained Melody.”

The holidays are celebrated with Meredith Willson’s Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical (November 15 – December 23, 2018), from the composer of The Music Man. Inspired by the beloved 1947 film, audiences will enjoy the gift of music and laughter. After Santa encounters a skeptical little girl during the season of sharing and caring, a message about the importance of believing is made clear to all. “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” became famous as one the memorable songs in this joyous favorite for all ages.

“In choosing Theatre at the Center’s 2018 season, I wanted to create a blend of different styles to engage our audience,” Fortunato said.

“Through intimate plays, a beloved musical revue, a new musical, and a holiday classic, we will explore the bonds of friendship and family, of loves lost and found, and meet strangers who feel like family. I hope our audiences will laugh heartily, maybe cry a little, and enjoy some favorite music and songs as they join us for both familiar stories and new ones, as well.” 

Founded in 1991, the 410 seat Theatre at the Center is a year-round professional theater at its home at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana. Theatre at the Center is the only professional theater company in Northwest Indiana, offering downtown caliber performance in an accessible venue with plenty of free parking. Theatre at the Center is located off I-80/94, just 35 minutes from downtown Chicago.

Renewal for existing Season Subscriptions begins Aug. 20 and continues through Sept. 24, with sales for new Season Subscription patrons beginning Oct. 10. Individual tickets for any of the five mainstage shows of the new 2018 Season are on sale beginning Dec. 12.

Theatre at the Center mainstage show performances are 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Fridays, 3:00 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays and select Thursday and Sunday evenings.  Individual ticket prices range from $42 - $46.  To purchase individual tickets, including the remaining shows of the 2017 Season, call the Box Office at 219-836-3255 or Tickets.com at 800-511-1552.   Group discounts are available for groups of 11 or more and gift certificates are also available. 

For more information about Theatre at the Center, visit www.TheatreAtTheCenter.com.

Tonight We Mourn And Celebrate MARIANN MAYBERRY: May 1965 – AUGUST 2017

STEPPENWOLF ENSEMBLE MEMBER 

MARIANN MAYBERRY: 

MAY 1965 – AUGUST 2017

It is with great sorrow that Steppenwolf Theatre Company announces that ensemble member of 24 years Mariann Mayberry passed away this morning after a long, private battle with cancer. She left the world peacefully in the company of family and friends who love her deeply.

Tonight’s performance will be dark and the theatre lights dimmed. All are invited to gather at Front Bar, 1700 N. Halsted, beginning at 4pm to share memories in her honor. Information about memorial services will be shared at a later date.

As dear friends, ensemble members, donors, staff, artists, audience members and members of the Steppenwolf and Chicago communities, we all will dearly miss the powerful presence Mariann brought to our lives and the stage. Her remarkable talent, humor, strength and bravery were a gift to all those who knew her or saw her on stage. We are so lucky to have had her in our Steppenwolf family. She was greatly loved.

Artistic Director Anna D. Shapiro shared, "Mariann was our girl. Funny, strong, unbelievably hard working, with a quick smile that belied a complex and beautiful interior life, she was at the center of who this company is and has always been. It is impossible to imagine our theater - or this astonishingly cruel world - without her. We are devastated." 

Of one of her memorable performances in Grand Concourse, the Chicago Tribune shared, “Everything is on fire for Mayberry…For those of us who've been watching Mayberry morph, over some two decades, from a quirky outsider and a happy theatrical vagabond into a moral authority on stage, this really is an essential performance in her formidable Chicago oeuvre.”

Mariann Mayberry, a Steppenwolf ensemble member since 1993, most recently appeared in Grand Concourse (2015). The Chicago Tribune hailed her performance as one of the ‘Top 10 performances of 2015.’ 

Previous Steppenwolf credits include Russian Transport, Good People, August: Osage County (Chicago, Broadway, London and Sydney), Love Song, Last of the Boys, and many others. Broadway credits also include One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Metamorphoses.  Off-Broadway credits include Go Back To Where You Are (Playwright's Horizon) and The Notebooks Of Leonardo Da Vinci (Second Stage).  Some other favorites include Argonautika (Lookingglass), The Odyssey (Goodman), Hamlet (Chicago Shakespeare) and How I Learned to Drive (Northlight/Alliance).  Television credits include Person Of Interest, Are We There Yet, Law & Order (C.I., Trial By Jury, SVU), Mercy, The Dave Chappelle Show, The Pennsylvania Miner’s Story. Film credits include Dogman, The Company, War of the Worlds and Since You’ve Been Gone.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation’s premier ensemble theater. Formed by a collective of actors in 1976, the ensemble has grown to 49 members who represent a remarkable cross-section of actors, directors and playwrights. Thrilling and powerful productions from Balm in Gilead to August: Osage County—and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony Awards—have made the theater legendary. Steppenwolf produces hundreds of performances and events annually in its three spaces: the 515-seat Downstairs Theatre, the 299-seat Upstairs Theatre and the 80-seat 1700 Theatre. Artistic programing includes a seven-play season; a two-play Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; Visiting Company engagements; and LookOut, a multi-genre performances series. Additional outreach initiatives include Steppenwolf Education, which engages 15,000 participants annually from Chicago’s diverse communities with teen programming, educator training and community partnerships; the esteemed School at Steppenwolf; and Professional Leadership Programs for arts administration training. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, nearly 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success both nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Anna D. Shapiro is the Artistic Director and David Schmitz is the Executive Director. Eric Lefkofsky is Chair of Steppenwolf’s Board of Trustees. 

For additional information, visit steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

SAVE THE DATES: MOTOWN THE MUSICAL TO PLAY CADILLAC PALACE THEATRE OCT. 3-8, 2017

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

  

RETURNS TO CHICAGO BY POPULAR DEMAND

CADILLAC PALACE THEATRE

OCT. 3-8, 2017

TICKETS NOW ON SALE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC 

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we caught MOTOWN THE MUSICAL when it played Chicago several years ago and it was phenomenal. With a real life backstory custom made for a Broadway musical, this plots a keeper. And the hits just keep coming. The audience was holding hands and grinning ear to ear. Don't miss this. 

Broadway In Chicago and Producers Kevin McCollum, Doug Morris and Motown Founder Berry Gordy are delighted to announce that individual tickets for the return of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL will go on sale on Friday, July 28, 2017. MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, which launched its first national tour in Chicago, will play at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph) for a limited one-week engagement that runs October 3-8, 2017.



Featuring more than 40 classic hits such as “My Girl” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” MOTOWN THE MUSICAL tells the story behind the hits as Diana, Smokey, Berry and the whole Motown family fight against the odds to create the soundtrack of change in America.

Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, MOTOWN THE MUSICAL is the true American dream story of Motown founder Berry Gordy’s journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and so many more.

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL features staging by Schele Williams, choreography by Patricia Wilcox (A Night with Janis Joplin) and Warren Adams (Toy Story), scenic design by David Korins (Bring It On: The Musical, Annie), costume design by Tony Award® nominee Emilio Sosa (The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, “Project Runway”), lighting design by Tony Award® winner Natasha Katz (Once, Sister Act), sound design by Tony Award® nominee Peter Hylenski (Rock of Ages, The Scottsboro Boys), projection design by Daniel Brodie (Aladdin), hair and wig design by Charles LaPointe (Memphis) and casting by Wojcik | Seay Casting.

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL’s arrangements and orchestrations are by Grammy and Tony Award® nominee Ethan Popp (Rock of Ages), who also serves as music supervisor in reproducing the classic “Sound of Young America,” with co-orchestrations and additional arrangements by Tony Award® nominee Bryan Crook (“Smash”) and dance arrangements by Zane Mark (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels).

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL is produced by Tony Award® winning producer Kevin McCollum (Rent, In the Heights, Avenue Q), Chairman and CEO of SONY Music Entertainment Doug Morris and Motown Founder Berry Gordy, in association with Work Light Productions.

For more information, visit www.MotownTheMusical.com




PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Tuesday, October 3 - 7:30PM
Wednesday, October 4 - 7:30PM
Thursday, October 5 - 7:30 PM  
Friday, October 6 - 7:30PM
Saturday, October 7 - 2:00PM & 8:00PM
Sunday, October 8 - 2:00PM & 7:30PM

TICKET INFORMATION
Individual tickets for MOTOWN THE MUSICAL at the Cadillac Palace Theatre begin at $30. A select number of premium seats are also available for many performances. Tickets are available now for groups of 10 or more by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710.  Tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St., 18 W. Monroe St. and 175 E. Chestnut), the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000 and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com.  For more information, visitwww.BroadwayInChicago.com.

ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 17 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country.  A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining well up to 1.7 million people annually in five theatres.  Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago’s Loop including The PrivateBank Theatre, Oriental Theatre, Cadillac Palace Theatre, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and presenting Broadway shows at The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.

For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Facebook @BroadwayInChicago ● Twitter @broadwaychicago ● Instagram @broadwayinchicago ● #broadwayinchicago

FREE Open House Event Featuring FIVE ORIGINAL WORKS-IN-PROCESS via House Theatre at Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts

THE HOUSE THEATRE OF CHICAGO 

HOSTS 

FREE OPEN HOUSE EVENT 

FEATURING 

FIVE ORIGINAL WORKS-IN-PROCESS 

AS PART OF THE UCHICAGO PERFORMANCE LAB SATURDAY, AUGUST 5

13 Works Have Been Supported by The House this Summer in Partnership with University of Chicago at their Logan Center for the Arts for the Fourth Year Running.

The House Theatre of Chicago, in partnership with University of Chicago’s Theatre and Performance Studies Program and their Logan Center for the Arts, presents an afternoon Open House touring new works in development. Guests will have the opportunity to see short selections from five projects, and meet the creative artists spearheading them. The audience in attendance will break into small groups and tour each project in various creative spaces in the state-of-the-art Logan Center.  

The Open House is held Saturday, August 5 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E 60th St, Chicago IL on the University of Chicago campus. Refreshments to follow. 

**Admission is Free with RSVP via The House’s website, thehousetheatre.com.**

The House is providing varying levels of support for 13 projects through the UChicago Performance Lab in the summer of 2017. Five of those are featured in the Open House event on August 5.

WHAT: Open House featuring five theatrical works in development in five spaces of the Logan Center for the Arts. Guests will be lead on a guided tour stopping at each project’s station for a short presentation.

WHO: Company Members and guests artists of The House Theatre of Chicago will present short selections. The public is invited to attend. The event is recommended for ages 10 and up.

WHERE: The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E 60th St, Chicago IL on the University of Chicago campus.

WHEN: Saturday, August 5, from 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. with refreshments following


Projects to be Featured at the August 5 Open House
Verboten
By Brett Neveu and Jason Narducy
Directed by Nathan Allen
The story of how punk rock saved a lost kid's present and future life. It’s 1982. After making the long flight from Seattle, Dave and his parents head to his cousin Tracey’s home in Evanston for a summertime visit. Tracey and her teenage bandmates, all serious punk rockers stuck in suburbia, blow Dave away with their stories, their brashness, their ability to overcome damaging family crap with their overall punk excellentness as they head toward playing a make-or-break show.

Ellen Bond, Union Spy
Written by Jenni Lamb
Music, Lyrics & Movement by Tanji Harper & Blu Rhythm Collective
Conceived & Directed by Jess McLeod
*Included in The House’s upcoming Season 16*
The year is 1864. The Civil War has ripped America in half, and while Union forces greatly outnumber the Confederates, Jefferson Davis and his generals doggedly persevere. Who can help end the war and free slaves once and for all? Enter Ellen Bond, Union Spy! Mary Bowser is the (real!) freed former slave woman who risked her life to go undercover as "Ellen Bond, dim-witted but able servant" inside the Confederate White House. "Ellen" cooks, cleans, and uses her photographic memory to collect military intelligence from the papers on Davis's desk to help win the war and free American slaves. Meet Mary/Ellen, her fellow spies, and the generals and gentility of the Confederacy in this new multi-genre serio-comedy featuring contemporary music and fantastical breakout dance sequences!

Hatfield & McCoy
By Shawn Pfautsch
Music by Matt Kahler and Shawn Pfautsch
Directed by Matt Hawkins
**Included in The House’s upcoming Season 16**
Murder and moonshine! Hoe-Downs and Holy Rollin’! It’s the true tale of the most infamous family feud in American history. Gunplay and romance erupt between the Hatfields and McCoys, served up with a heaping helping of bluegrass and bloody revenge. Shawn Pfautsch’s love letter to Romeo and Juliet in a philosophically polarized America was originally produced in Season 4. This revised piece now features a new score, expanded to included a wide variety of Americana music styles from blues, to gospel, to pop, and of course, bluegrass.

Little Girl, Don't Fall
By Jesse Roth, with music by Matthew Muñiz
An adaptation of the Bluebeard fairytale, Little Girl, Don’t Fall is a heroine’s journey, a gothic ghost-story, and a fairytale mash-up musical for young women who don’t know how to fall in love–and are too chippy to listen to those who try to tell them.

Nova to Lodestar
By Nathan Allen, Lee Keenan, Sandor Weisz
Nova to Lodestar is a live, asymmetric, cooperative game played by two teams in two separate rooms. Lead by the creators of Season 14’s The Last Defender, this all-new adventure will once again set audience-teams to work on challenging puzzles and collaborations.  Players will take on the roles of space miners set adrift after their ships collide, and must learn to spend resources between their two ships to get everyone home safely.

Additional projects receiving support from The House this summer as part of the UChicago Performance Lab include Pinocchio, by Ben Lobpries and Joey Steakley, Thatcher Woods by Monty Cole, Borealis by Bennett Fisher, The Violet Sequence by John Henry Roberts, TONY KUSHNER CONSIDERS WRITING A GAY FANTASIA BASED ON NATIONAL THEMES: A FANTASIA BY CALAMITY WEST by Calamity West with director Seth Bockley, The Ragged Claws  by Lina Patel in collaboration with Silk Road Rising, Kissing by Abigail Boucher, and Saved by the Bell by Marika Mashburn. 

OPENING: 90210: THE MUSICAL Coming To Chicago's Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place

CHICAGO TICKETS NOW ON SALE

90210

 WILL PLAY BROADWAY IN CHICAGO’S BROADWAY PLAYHOUSE AT WATER TOWER PLACE

LIMITED ENGAGEMENT

SEVEN PERFORMANCES ONLY! SEPT. 13 – 17, 2017

Broadway In Chicago and the producers of Bob and Tobly’s Beverly Hills 90210: THE MUSICAL are delighted to announce that 90210: THE MUSICAL will play Chicago's Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut) for a limited five-day engagement September 13 through 17, 2017. 

From the creators of FULL HOUSE: THE MUSICAL, SHOW GIRLS: THE MUSICAL, BAYSIDE! THE MUSICAL and KATDASHIANS comes the “unauthorized parody” of the 90’s TV cult-classic, “Beverly Hills, 90210." The show features a number of original songs that include, “The Ballad of Andrea Zuckerman,” “We Are Drama Zombies,” and “Will Tori Spelling Graduate?” After playing New York City’s East Village, this comedy comes to Chicago chock-full of drama – and laughs.

Critics in New York City call 90210: THE MUSICAL, “a lot of fun... snarky, hilarious, take no prisoners,” (Huffington Post), “better than the real McKoy (McKay?),” (Bedford & Bowery), “prime parody material,” (Nerd Reactor) and a musical that “pays affectionate homage to its source material and also stands out as a hilarious and enjoyable theatrical outing.” (Theatre Scene)

www.90210themusical.com
Facebook: @90210musical
Twitter: @90210themusical
Instagram: @90210musical

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets begin at $35. A select number of premium seats are also available for many performances. Tickets are available now for groups of 10 or more by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710.  Tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St., 18 W. Monroe St. and 175 E. Chestnut), the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000 and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com. For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.



ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 17 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country.  A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining well up to 1.7 million people annually in five theatres. Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago’s Loop including The PrivateBank Theatre, Oriental Theatre, Cadillac Palace Theatre, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and presenting Broadway shows at The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.

For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Facebook @BroadwayInChicago ● Twitter @broadwaychicago ● Instagram @broadwayinchicago ● #broadwayinchicago

OPENING: Million Dollar Quartet To Rock Paramount Theatre 9/13-10/29

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! 

MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET 

OPENS PARAMOUNT THEATRE’S 2017-18 SEASON, 

SEPT. 13–OCT. 29, 2017

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we're elated to hear that the Million Dollar Quartet will be rockin' the Paramount this fall! We reviewed this show in Chicago during their epic run of 2,500 performances, and loved it. This is a true multigenerational crowd pleaser full of instantly recognizable classics and larger than life personas. Don't miss this! 

Paramount Theatre is excited to tune up for its rollicking 2017-18 Broadway Series opener Million Dollar Quartet, the wildly popular rock and roll musical.
Travel back in time to Memphis’s Sun Records recording studio on December 4, 1956, when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins played together their first and only time and created an explosive album that has yet to be matched. Million Dollar Quartet tells that story with all the raw energy and monumental talent everyone has come to expect from these music giants.

Paramount Artistic Director Jim Corti, the man responsible for the past two Jeff Award-winning Best Musicals (Large), Les Misérables and West Side Story, will stage Paramount’s rockin’ opener.

Playing the Quartet are Adam Wesley Brown as Carl Perkins, Kavan Hashemian as Elvis Presley, Gavin Rohrer as Jerry Lee Lewis and Bill Scott Sheets as Johnny Cash, with Nicholas Harazin as Sam Phillips, Zach Lentino as Brother Jay, Courtney Mack as Dyanne and Scott Simon as Fluke.

The production team is Kory Danielson, music director; Trent Stork, associate director; Ethan Deppe, associate music director; Kevin Depinet, scenic design; Sally Dolembo, costume design; Jesse Klug, lighting design; Adam Rosenthal, sound designer; Katie Cordts, wig, hair and makeup design; Amanda Relaford, properties design; Susan Gosdick, dialect coach; Maggie O’Donnell, stage manager; and Matthew McMullen, assistant stage manager. 

Don’t miss Paramount’s high-spirited, nostalgic new take on the three-time Tony Award nominated musical, featuring some of the biggest and best songs of all time like “Peace in the Valley,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “I Walk the Line,” “Hound Dog” and “Great Balls of Fire.”

Previews start September 13. Press opening is Saturday, September 16 at 8 p.m. Performances continue through October 29: Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Thursday at 7 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Single tickets are $36 to $64. Million Dollar Quartet is rated PG.

But hold on, there’s still time to include Million Dollar Quartet in Paramount’s “Buy Two Shows, Get Two Shows Free” 2017-18 Broadway subscription offer. For less than the cost of a ticket to one show downtown, patrons can see three more Broadway-quality musicals: Elf The Musical (November 22-January 7), Cabaret (February 7–March 18) and Once (April 25-June 3). Four-play packages start as low as $72. The rewards are ample – four amazing, Broadway-quality musicals, at one of the most majestic theaters in the Midwest. 

The Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, is surrounded by affordable parking and a variety of restaurants for pre- or post-show dining. For subscriptions and single tickets, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and two hours prior to evening performances. 


Behind the scenes: 
Paramount’s Million Dollar Quartet
There was no plan for Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins to record together on December 4, 1956. But as fate would have it, their impromptu jam session left behind a historic and mind-blowing album. The evening begins in the Sun Records recording studio in Memphis. Up and comer Jerry Lee Lewis is recording songs with rockabilly king Carl Perkins when the iconic Elvis Presley stops by with his girlfriend. The not-quite-yet-guitar-god Johnny Cash is there to pay a visit to music manager Sam Phillips. Throw them all together, and you have one of the most unexpected, unprecedented and unforgettable musical moments in history. It was the first and only time they played together and, through their musical genius, created an explosive album that has yet to be matched.   

Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux wrote the book for Million Dollar Quartet based on Mutrux’s original concept and direction. The Chicago production ran from 2008 to 2016 and became the third longest-running show in Chicago theater history. Critics called it “the most exuberant theatrical event,” “dazzling from first beat to last” and “the best live rock ‘n’ roll show I have ever seen.” 

Fast forward to the kick off of Chicago’s 2017-18 theater season, featuring Paramount’s talented lead cast for Million Dollar Quartet. Adam Wesley Brown (Jerry Lee Lewis) played Eamon in Once on Broadway, has numerous regional credits and has been seen on local stages including Lookingglass and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Kavan Hashemian (Elvis Presley) began performing his Elvis tribute at age three. Today he performs all over the world, including in London where he won the title of "The World's #1 Rock N Roll Elvis” on BBC-TV. Gavin Rohrer (Jerry Lee Lewis) is fresh from playing the role at Lyric Theatre in Oklahoma City, where Broadwayworld.com raved “his piano skills are unrivaled, and his brash certainty provides some of the funniest moments of the night.” Bill Scott Sheets (Johnny Cash) just played the “Man in Black” at Berkshire Theatre Group in Massachusetts. Berkshire Fine Arts wrote “particularly strong was Bill Sheets, whose voice and delivery were sublime.” 

"Icons Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash were southern, rockabilly country boys before they were discovered by Sam Phillips, the young, upstart record producer and owner of Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Their purely by chance meeting for the first and only time on Dec. 4, 1956, is a seminal moment in the birth of Rock ‘N’ Roll,” said Paramount Artistic Director Jim Corti. 

“The show, exploring the connections of these four to their music and each other, is full of intriguing surprises and is not only a fascinating, short history but a full scale, no holds barred, in-your-face jam session of the kind of music that grabbed hold of our youth culture back then and hasn’t let go ever since,” Corti added. “From our Chicago and national talent pool, we’ve assembled a dynamite cast; you won’t believe your eyes and ears! There’ll be a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on, all live, all on the Paramount stage, all made in Aurora!”

Jim Corti (director) was hired in 2011 to be the first-ever artistic director in the Paramount’s 80+ year history. He was instrumental in launching Paramount’s inaugural Broadway Series and directed and choreographed Paramount’s first self-produced Broadway Series show My Fair Lady, which played to rave reviews. Corti’s 2013 Paramount production of Fiddler on the Roof was a smash hit, and his Miss Saigon was the only musical to make the Chicago Tribune’s Top Ten Shows of 2013. Rent in 2014 was a critical and box office success, followed by consecutive productions of The Who’s Tommy and Les Misérables, which collectively garnered five Jeff Awards for Paramount in its first year of eligibility, including Best Production – Musical - Large for Les Misérables and Best Director - Musical for Corti. He also staged Paramount’s 2015-16 opener Oklahoma! and closer West Side Story, Paramount’s second-consecutive Jeff Award winning Best Musical. Last season, Corti directed memorable productions of Mamma Mia! and Sweeney Todd. Before Paramount, Corti was a seasoned Broadway veteran, appearing in the New York casts of Ragtime, A Chorus Line and Candide and national tours of Urinetown, Cabaret and Bob Fosse’s Dancin’. Career highlights over three decades include being the only director in Chicago to have two productions at the same time in the Chicago Tribune’s list of 10 Best Shows in 2009 – Drury Lane’s Cabaret and Writers Theatre’s Oh, Coward!. He remains the sole honoree to have garnered a Jeff Award as an actor (in Marriott’s Grand Hotel), a choreographer (Drury Lane’s Singin’ in the Rain) and director (Paramount’s Les Misérables, Drury Lane’s Sweet Charity and Northlight’s Blues in the Night).

Kory Danielson (music director) is coming back for his 11th consecutive musical at the Paramount, after serving as co-music director and associate conductor with Tom Vendafreddo on Jesus Christ Superstar, and assistant music director and associate conductor for Sweeney Todd-The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Mamma Mia!, West Side Story, Hairspray – The Broadway Musical, A Christmas Story - The Musical, Oklahoma!, Les Misérables and The Who's Tommy. Other Chicago credits include Assassins, The Full Monty, Loving Repeating, Heathers, Tomorrow Morning (Kokandy Productions); Passion (2014 Jeff Award for Outstanding Music Direction), Smokey Joe's Cafe (Theo Ubique); How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Porchlight Music Theatre); Hedwig, Wedding Singer (Haven Theatre); and Zanna, Don't!, Lucky Stiff, Triumph of Love (The Music Theatre Company). Danielson has also worked with Drury Lane, Broadway in Chicago, Chicago Children's Theatre, Bailiwick and Hell in a Handbag.

Paramount’s 2017-18 Broadway Series is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank and The Dunham Fund. Broadway Series Orchestra Sponsor is Rush-Copley Medical Center. Broadway Series Lighting Sponsor is ComEd. Broadway Series Costume Sponsor is Gerald Kia. Million Dollar Quartet is also sponsored by Asbury Gardens.


More about Paramount Theatre’s 2017-18 Season
In addition to Paramount’s Broadway Series, Paramount’s 2017-18 season also includes Tim Allen (August 18), 60s music favorite The Happy Together Tour (August 25), Unforgettable: Falling in Love with Nat King Cole (November 5) featuring Evan Tyrone Martin (Jesus in Paramount’s 2017 smash hit Jesus Christ Superstar), comedian and impersonator Frank Caliendo (November 10), The Second City’s Non-Denominational Christmas Show (December 1-23 in the Copley Theatre), Las Vegas’s #1 ventriloquist Terry Fator (January 20), the incredible magic of Penn & Teller (March 23), Chicago’s own Jersey boys Under the Streetlamp (March 24), country star and American Idol winner Scotty McCreery (March 25), late night comedy legend Jay Leno (April 13), Judy Garland: Come Rain or Come Shine featuring Angela Ingersoll (June 10) and the world’s #1 Bee Gees tribute band Stayin’ Alive (June 15).

For subscriptions, single tickets or more information, go to ParamountAurora.com, call
(630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in Aurora.



About the Paramount Theatre
The Paramount Theatre (ParamountAurora.com) is the center for performing arts, entertainment and arts education in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. Named "One of Chicago's Top 10 Attended Theatres" by the League of Chicago Theatres, the 1,888-seat Paramount, located in downtown Aurora at 23 E. Galena Blvd., is nationally renowned for the quality and caliber of its presentations, superb acoustics and historic beauty.

The Paramount opened on September 3, 1931. Designed by renowned theater architects C.W. and George L. Rapp, the theater captures a unique Venetian setting with a 1930s art deco influence. The first air-conditioned building outside of Chicago, the Paramount offered a variety of entertainment, including "talking pictures," vaudeville, concerts and circus performances for over 40 years. In 1976, the Aurora Civic Center Authority (ACCA) purchased the Paramount, closed the theater for restoration and returned the Paramount to its original grandeur. The Paramount Arts Centre reopened in 1978, offering a variety of theatrical, musical, comedy, dance and family programming. In 2006, a 12,000-square-foot, two-story Grand Gallery lobby was added, with a new, state-of-the-art box office, café and art gallery.

Today, the Paramount self-produces its own Broadway Series, presents an eclectic array of comedy, music, dance and family shows, and on most Mondays, screens a classic movie. 

The Paramount Theatre is one of three live performance venues programmed and managed by the ACCA, which also oversees the Paramount’s “sister” stage, the intimate, 173-seat Copley Theatre located directly across the street from the Paramount at 8 E. Galena Blvd., as well as RiverEdge Park, downtown Aurora’s summer outdoor concert venue. 
                                                                             
The 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 theatre and music professionals. For tickets and information, go to ParamountAurora.com or call (630) 896-6666.

HELP OUT: Tonight Disney's Aladdin Cast Members Hold Side Track Benefit For Broadway Cares

CAST MEMBERS FROM DISNEY’S ALADDIN NORTH AMERICAN TOUR PRESENT

CLUB AGRABAH: A CABARET EVENT

MONDAY, JULY 31, 7PM – 9PM

AT SIDETRACK

ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS

Cast members from Disney’s Aladdin will present CLUB AGRABAH: A CABARET EVENT, a live cabaret-style concert, on Monday, July 31, 2017 from 7-9PM at Sidetrack Video Bar (3349 N. Halsted St., Chicago).

Aladdin cast members will perform a selection of their favorite songs, and the concert will be followed by Sidetrack’s signature ‘Musical Monday’ which features show-tune videos that play throughout the bar until 2AM.

There is a $20 suggested donation at the door for CLUB AGRABAH: A CABARET EVENT. To learn more about Sidetrack Video Bar, visit www.sidetrackchicago.com.

All donations and money raised go to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community since 1988, BC/EFA has raised more than $225 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States. To learn more, visit www.broadwaycares.org.

Disney’s ALADDIN is currently playing Broadway In Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre through September 10, 2017.

ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO 
Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 17 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country. A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining well up to 1.7 million people annually in five theatres. Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago’s Loop including The PrivateBank Theatre, Oriental Theatre, Cadillac Palace Theatre, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and presenting Broadway shows at The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.

For more information, visit www.broadwayinchicago.com.

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