This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2013) |
Address | 23 E. Galena Blvd. |
---|---|
Location | Aurora, Illinois |
Owner | Aurora Civic Center Authority |
Capacity | 1,885 |
Construction | |
Built | 1931 |
Renovated | 1978 |
Website | |
paramountaurora | |
Paramount Theatre | |
Coordinates | 41°45′27.6″N88°18′52″W / 41.757667°N 88.31444°W |
Architect | Rapp and Rapp |
NRHP reference No. | 80001371 |
Added to NRHP | September 10, 1986 |
The Paramount Theatre, also known as the Paramount Arts Center, opened in Aurora, Illinois in 1931. It was designed by Rapp and Rapp in the Art Deco style with Venetian elements. Over the years, it has hosted films, plays, musicals, concerts, comedy shows, and other acts. [1] The structure was restored in the 1970s and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. [2] It is part of the Stolp Island Historic District.
In the 1920s, Paramount Pictures began to construct theaters that could accompany their latest films. Talkies had just begun to appear in theaters, and Paramount executives predicted exponential growth in the industry. Older theaters had acoustics and audience accommodations ideal for live theater, but advances in film technology required new trends in these areas. However, since all new theaters showed the same performances, theater design could streamline by having similar visual design. Vaudeville was now only shown on weekends and was no longer a medium for nationally recognized talent.[ citation needed ]
The Paramount Theatre in Aurora was commissioned in 1931 by J. J. Rubens for one million dollars. It was designed by esteemed theater architects C. W. and George Leslie Rapp. It was the first air conditioned building built outside of Chicago. Paramount intended to bring such large theaters to all large cities across the country, but the Great Depression effectively ended these plans. The theater opened in September 1931 with appearances from Paramount film stars including The Marx Brothers, Jack Benny, Jeanette MacDonald and Burns and Allen. It is capable of holding 1,885 people; originally it held 2,125, but capacity had to be reduced to conform to fire codes.[ citation needed ]
In 1976, the theater closed for renovation following its sale to the Aurora Civic Center Authority. It re-opened on April 19, 1978. On September 10, 1986, it was recognized as a Historic Place by the United States National Park Service, and was simultaneously recognized as contributing property of the Stolp Island Historic District. A lobby was added in 2006, and it remains an important part of the downtown Aurora economy.[ citation needed ]
In March 2020 The Secret of My Success, based on the 1987 movie of the same name, was mid-run for its world premiere and pre-Broadway tryout with Sydney Morton (Christy Lockhart) and Billy Harrigan Tighe (Brantley Foster/Carlton Whitfield) as leads and Gordon Greenberg directing when production was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. [3] [4] [5] It had been scheduled to run from February 21 – March 29, and the final performance was March 12, as Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker shut down all performance venues starting March 13. [4] [6]
Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area. Located primarily in DuPage and Kane Counties, it is the second most populous city in Illinois, after Chicago, and the 144th most populous city in the United States. The population was 197,899 at the 2010 census, and was 180,542 at the 2020 census.
Broadway theatre, or Broadway, are the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats, located in the Theater District and the Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world.
The Secret of My Success is a 1987 American comedy film produced and directed by Herbert Ross and starring Michael J. Fox and Helen Slater. The screenplay was written by A.J. Carothers, Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. from a story written by Carothers. It was filmed on location in Manhattan.
Anthony Deane Rapp is an American actor and singer who originated the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of Rent. Following his original performance of the role in 1996, he reprised it in the film version of the show and the show's United States tour in 2009. He also performed Charlie Brown in the 1999 Broadway revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and originated the role of Lucas in the musical If/Then in 2014. Since 2017 he has played Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets on the television series Star Trek: Discovery.
C. W. & George L. Rapp, commonly known as Rapp & Rapp, was an American architectural firm famed for the design of movie palaces and other theatres. Active from 1906 to 1965 and based in Chicago, the office designed over 400 theatres, including the Chicago Theatre (1921), Bismarck Hotel and Theatre (1926) and Oriental Theater (1926) in Chicago, the Five Flags Center (1910) in Dubuque, Iowa and the Paramount Theatres in New York City (1926) and Aurora, Illinois (1931).
A movie palace is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 1925 and 1930. With the advent of television, movie attendance dropped, while the rising popularity of large multiplex chains in the 1980s and 1990s signaled the obsolescence of single-screen theaters. Many movie palaces were razed or converted into multiple-screen venues or performing arts centers, though some have undergone restoration and reopened to the public as historic buildings.
Disney Theatrical Productions Limited (DTP), also known as Disney on Broadway, is the stageplay and musical production company of the Disney Theatrical Group, a subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, a major division and business unit of The Walt Disney Company.
The St. James Theatre, originally Erlanger's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 246 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a neo-Georgian style and was constructed for A. L. Erlanger. It has 1,709 seats across three levels and is operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.
The James M. Nederlander Theatre is a theater located at 24 West Randolph Street in the Loop area of downtown Chicago, Illinois. Previously known as the Oriental Theatre, it opened in 1926 as a deluxe movie palace and vaudeville venue. Today the Nederlander presents live Broadway theater and is operated by Broadway In Chicago, currently seating 2,253.
Thomas Robert Kitt is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and musician. For his score for the musical Next to Normal, he shared the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Brian Yorkey. He has also won two Tony Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Next to Normal, as well as Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominations for If/Then and SpongeBob SquarePants. He has been nominated for eight Drama Desk Awards, winning one, and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for Jagged Little Pill in 2021.
Gordon Greenberg is an American stage director, a theater and television writer, and an Artistic Associate at The New Group.
The Orpheum Theater opened in Champaign, Illinois in 1914 on the site of a vaudeville theater built in 1904. Designed by the Architectural firm Rapp & Rapp, the Orpheum was built to accommodate both live vaudeville performances and the projection of film. After a series of renovations and changes of ownership, the Orpheum screened its final film in 1986.
Stolp Island is a small island in the Fox River in Aurora, Illinois. In 1986 the island and its 41 buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Stolp Island Historic District. It covers 0.03 square miles (0.1 km2) of land area.
Frozen is a musical with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and book by Jennifer Lee, based on the 2013 film of the same name. The story centers on the relationship between two sisters who are princesses, Elsa and Anna. Elsa has magical powers to freeze objects and people, which she does not know how to control. After inheriting the throne, Elsa flees, inadvertently causes the kingdom to become frozen in an eternal winter, and nearly kills her sister. She must sacrifice and show true love to save the day.
Mean Girls is a musical with music by Jeff Richmond, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and a book by Tina Fey. It is based on the 2004 film of the same name written by Fey, which in turn is based on the 2002 book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. The musical premiered at the National Theatre, Washington, D.C., in October 2017 and opened on Broadway in April 2018 at the August Wilson Theatre. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show played its final performance on Broadway on March 11, 2020.
Reneé Mary Jane Rapp is an American actress and singer. She was the winner of the 2018 Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress. She later took over the role of Regina George in the Broadway musical Mean Girls. She then went on to play Leighton in the HBO Max comedy series The Sex Lives of College Girls. In November 2022, her EP Everything to Everyone was released.
Once Upon a One More Time is a jukebox musical based on songs popularized by Britney Spears. Set in a fantasy storybook realm, the plot follows numerous fairy-tale characters transformed by a feminist awakening.
Antonio Cipriano is an American actor and singer. He made his Broadway debut in 2019 playing Phoenix in the musical Jagged Little Pill, a role he originated at the American Repertory Theater. On screen, he has made appearances in television series such as City on a Hill, The Sex Lives of College Girls, and the Disney+ series National Treasure: Edge of History.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the performing arts, mirroring its impacts across all arts sectors. Due to physical distancing requirements and closure of the physical venues, curtailing not only public performances but also rehearsals, many performing arts institutions attempted to adapt by offering new digital services. In particular this resulted in the free online streaming of previously recorded performances of many companies – especially orchestral performances and plays – lists of which were collated by journalists as well as bespoke crowdsourcing projects.
The Secret of My Success is a musical comedy play based on the 1987 movie of the same name starring Michael J. Fox. Music is by Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler and book by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen.