Displaying items by tag: Jim Corti

If there's one play every American should see in their lifetimes, without a doubt it's Tennessee Williams' perennial classic A Streetcar Named Desire. It's the type of play that transcends theatre and stands alone as one of the best contributions to contemporary literature. Its complexities and social commentary make it worth revisiting. Whether Williams intended his 1947 Pulitzer Prize winner to be laden with symbolism and rich in themes, is a debate for English teachers. What's indisputable is that before 'Streetcar', few plays dared to push a mainstream Broadway audience quite so far.

Paramount Theatre presents a thrilling, and faithful production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Copley Theatre. Co-directed by Jim Corti and Elizabeth Swanson, this production is absolutely worth a Metra ride to downtown Aurora. Who says all the great theater must be within the Chicago city limits?

You can't have a good 'Streetcar' without a good Blanche and Paramount certainly has that in actress Amanda Drinkall. Her performance as Blanche deviates from the cliched washed up Southern belle many associate with Streetcar and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. It's not to say she's giving an understated performance either. Rather, Drinkall wisely interprets Blanche as foremost, an alcoholic, as well as someone in already in the throes of a nervous breakdown. Often Blanche is portrayed as being driven to madness, but here it seems she arrives in that condition. Drinkall has an uncanny way of shifting between Blanche's "illusion" and her mania with just a facial expression. Perhaps eeriest of all is that Drinkall is much younger than, say, Vivien Leigh, so her unraveling seems all the more tragic as these days mid-30s is hardly considered “old maid” territory. 

Alina Taber as Stella and Casey Hoekstra as Stanley round out the principal casting and both turn in exceptional performances. Particularly Alina Taber - who brings a three dimensionality to Stella that may not be as developed in the script. Instead of the demure younger sister, Taber plays Stella with a bit more passion, and at times combativeness with Blanche.

Amanda Drinkall as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire at Paramount Theatre’s Copely Theatre.

Adding to this production's high quality are the lighting effects by Henry Toohey. The ways Blanche is lit during her gory monologues leave a haunting impression. Costumes created by Alan Richards and Kaia Mortenson are sexy but true to 1940s fashion as is the set design in general. Stella and Blanche are both styled in a way that gives this production authenticity as well as glamor.

Tennessee Williams' actual script is much more provocative than the classic Elia Kazan film with Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. What's always somewhat disappointing about the film version is that it cuts short one of Blanche's most heartbreaking monologues. Drinkall sinks her teeth into that monologue in this production. This by-the-books Streetcar is visceral, sexy and shocking just as Williams' intended it to be.

This is a play meant to be discussed. With each time you see it, there are always new ways to examine character motives and ask yourself the central question to any play - did the characters get what they want? There's probably no real right or wrong answer, but you'll just have to see this production for yourself in order to make up your mind.

Through April 21 at Paramount Theatre. 8 E. Galena Blvd. Aurora, IL 630-896-6666

Carole King made more than beautiful music. She wrote the soundtrack to a generation with indelible songs like “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Natural Woman,” “Late,” “I Feel the Earth Move,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “So Far Away.”

Not so far away is Paramount Theatre’s 2023-24 season finale, the Broadway smash hit Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Nominated for seven Tony Awards, with two wins, plus a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, Paramount will pull out all the stops in this season-finale jukebox musical celebration of one our most beloved music icons ever.

Performances are April 24-June 16. Opening Night is Friday, May 3 at 8 p.m. For tickets and information, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666.

Before she was the Carole King we know today, she was a young songwriter from Brooklyn trying to make a name for herself. Beautiful tells the inspiring true story of her remarkable rise to stardom with her husband and songwriting partner, Gerry Goffin, and how she went on to become one of the most successful singers, songwriters and musicians in contemporary music history. 

Paramount’s new production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical will be directed by Paramount Theatre Artistic Director Jim Corti and Johanna McKenzie Miller, in her Paramount directorial debut.

Returning to Paramount in the title role of Carole King is Tiffany Topol, a multi-talented singer, songwriter, producer and performer based in New York and Chicago. Paramount audiences will recall Topol for her Jeff-nominated performance in 2018 as Girl in Once. Topol’s other credits include the first National Tours of Xanadu and Once, Sweet Charity at Writers’ Theatre, Shining Lives at Northlight Theatre and Eastland at Lookingglass. 

The principal cast also features C.J. Blaine Eldred as Gerry Goffin, Rebecca Hurd as Cynthia Weil, Christopher Kale Jones as Barry Mann, Ian Paul Custer as Donny Kirshner and Laura T. Fisher as Genie Klein. The ensemble (at press time) includes Averis Anderson, Marta Bady, Corey Barlow, Corey Barrow, Lydia Burke, Ariana Burks, Michaela Dukes, Jared David Michael Grant, Conor Jordan, Clare Kennedy, Kevin Kuska, Donna Louden, Yasir Muhammad, Luke Nowakowski, Colleen Perry, Calvin Scott Roberts, Abby C. Smith, Matt Thinnes and Shelbi Voss.

Per usual, Paramount has assembled a stellar design and production team to create a night of Beautiful theater including Kenny Ingram, choreographer; Kory Danielson, music director and conductor; Jeffrey D. Kmiec, scenic designer; Theresa Ham, costume designer; Greg Hofmann, lighting designer; Adam Rosenthal, sound designer; Katie Cordts, wig, hair and makeup designer; Jesse Gaffney, properties designer; Ethan Deppe, electronic music designer; Erin Barnett, assistant choreographer; Celia Villacres, associate music director and associate conductor; Jaci Entwisle, stage manager; and Madeline M. Scott and Lanita VanderSchaaf, assistant stage managers.

Times, Dates and Ticket Information

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical starts previews Wednesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. Opening Night is Friday, May 3 at 8 p.m. Performances run through June 16: 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. Run time is approximately 2 hours 30 minutes with intermission.

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., and until show time on show days. For group discounts, contact Melissa Striedl, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (630) 723-2461. 

For the latest updates, follow @paramountaurora on Facebook and Instagram, and Paramount Theatre on LinkedIn. 

Pay What You Can Performances

Paramount will offer two Pay What You Can performances of Beautiful: Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m., and Saturday, April 27 at 3 p.m. Both days, starting at 10 a.m., visit the Paramount box office in-person to request tickets. Limit four per person. Subject to availability. See paramountaurora.com/pay-what-you-can for details. 

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.

Paramount will offer American Sign Language interpretation on Friday, June 7 at 8 p.m. and open captioning on Wednesday, June 12 at 1:30 p.m.

If you require wheelchair or special seating or other assistance, please contact the box office at (630) 896-6666 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in advance.

Behind the scenes of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Pop music would be very different without the contributions of Carole King, who at age 17 wrote her first #1 song with Gerry Goffin, “Will You Love me Tomorrow,” for the Shirelles. The dozens of hits Goffin and King wrote during this period became legendary, but it was 1971’s “Tapestry” that took King to the pinnacle, speaking to her contemporaries and providing a spiritual background to the decade. More than 400 of her compositions have been recorded by over 1,000 artists, resulting in 100 hit singles and six Grammys. She was recognized in 2015 by the Kennedy Center Honors for her unparalleled influence on American culture. King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical features a book by Douglas McGrath that tells the inspiring true story of King’s early life and career, using songs that she wrote, often together with Gerry Goffin, and other contemporary songs by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Phil Spector and others. Orchestrations, vocal and incidental music arrangements are by Steve Sidwall. 

The original production of Beautiful received its world premiere in October 2013 at the Curran Theatre, San Francisco, with direction by Marc Bruni and choreography by Josh Prince, starring Chicago’s own Jessie Mueller. It debuted on Broadway in January 2014 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, earning seven Tony nominations and two wins, including a Tony for Mueller for best leading actress in a musical for her portrayal of Carole King. 

About Paramount’s upcoming production, Artistic Director Jim Corti said, “Collaborating with co-director Johanna McKenzie Miller, choreographer Kenny Ingram, and music director Kory Danielson, we’re set up for singer/songwriter, and music producer herself, Tiffany Topol, to star and lead us into a nuanced reveal of the great Carole King."

"From her little known personal story and trailblazing professional career, from her start as a 17-year-old songwriter for hire to her triumphant Carnegie Hall concert in 1971, the year she was the first woman ever to win four Grammy Awards for her record breaking album 'Tapestry,' which remained the bestseller by a female artist for a quarter century. Take a seat and ride with us for her rise to self realization as a pop music powerhouse while continuing her work and desire toward life as a wife and mother. As she honors and owns her fearless and true gift, witness the start of how Carole King becomes one of the most celebrated and iconic singer/songwriters of all time!”

Paramount Artistic Director Jim Corti will co-direct Paramount’s production of Beautiful. Corti inaugurated Paramount’s Broadway Series with President and CEO Tim Rater in fall 2011 with the critically acclaimed My Fair Lady and a subscriber base of 12,500 patrons. In 2015, Paramount’s Broadway Series became Jeff Award eligible. Since then, Paramount has garnered 115 nominations with 29 wins, including three consecutive Best Large Musical awards for Les Misérables, West Side Story and Sweeney Todd. Corti helmed all three, and won Best Director for two of them, Les Misérables and Sweeney Todd. Corti also directed Paramount’s Fiddler on the Roof, Miss Saigon, RENT, The Who’s Tommy, Oklahoma!, Mamma Mia!, Million Dollar Quartet, Once, The Producers, Newsies, Groundhog Day: The Musical, Next to Normal, and co-directed Into the Woods and Fun Home. A Broadway veteran, he appeared in the original New York casts of Ragtime and Candide, joined the long running A Chorus Line, and toured nationally in Urinetown, Cabaret and Bob Fosse’s Dancin’. Other highlights include being the only director to have two productions in the same year in the Chicago Tribune’s 2009 list of 10 Best Shows for Drury Lane’s Cabaret and Writers Theatre’s Oh, Coward! He remains the sole honoree to have won Jeff Awards as an actor (Marriott’s Grand Hotel), choreographer (Drury Lane’s Singin’ in the Rain) and director (Paramount’s Sweeney Todd and Les Misérables, Drury Lane’s Sweet Charity and Northlight’s Blues in the Night). In addition to Beautiful, Corti is also directing Paramount’s BOLD Series spring 2024 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire with Elizabeth Swanson, March 13-April 21 at Paramount’s Copley Theatre.

Johanna McKenzie Miller (co-director) is making her Paramount debut with Beautiful. Most recently she directed Shrek at Music Theatre Works. Other directing credits include Steel Magnolias (Jeff Award, Best Ensemble Play-Large), The 39 Steps and Shrek (TYA) at Drury Lane Theatre; Kiss Me, Kate, The Wizard of Oz (TYA), Junie B. Jones (TYA) and Elephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play! (TYA) at Marriott Theatre; A Peculiar Inheritance and Romance en Route, the 91st and 92nd Annual Waa-Mu shows at Northwestern University; How to Lobster with Steppenwolf LookOut series, and Shrew’d! with First Folio Theatre. McKenzie Miller is the co-founder and artistic director of Lombard Children’s Theater Workshop.

The 1993 Bill Murray movie comedy, Groundhog Day,is one of those cult classics with millions of fans. Like ‘The Big Lebowski,' people love it, or don’t quite see the appeal. I fall in the latter class on both films: appreciating the concept, but not with a lot of fervor.

So I was hopeful that the 2017 Broadway musical version would help me get into the story. Indeed, ‘GroundHog Day: The Musical,’ is a tremendous musical production. The story tells of cynical, self-centered TV weatherman Phil Connors who balks at being relentlessly assigned to cover the furry forecaster at the annual Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA. You know, if the groundhog sees his shadow, winter lingers; if not, we get an early spring.

Alex Syiek is exceptionally good as the arrogant weatherman Phil Connors, channeling the flavor of Bill Murray’s version but making it his own. And Phoebe González as Rita Hanson, Phil’s new producer and love interest, is terrific.

The full production team has done a wonderful job, with very creative staging: Jim Corti, director; Megan E. Farley, choreographer; Kory Danielson, music supervisor, music director and conductor; Courtney O’Neill, scenic designer; Jordan Ross, costume designer; Greg Hofmann, lighting designer; Adam Rosenthal, sound designer.

In its Midwest premier at the beautifully restored Paramount Theatre in Aurora, IL through March 13, 'Groundhog Day: The Musical' a remount of the Broadway version that garnered seven Tony nominations. One suspects there is a reason it didn't win any. Frankly, the underlying material is pretty bad, in particular, the music. That would be the underlying material.

As in the film, Connors gets stuck in a time loop, awakened by his alarm each day at 6:00 a.m. to cover Groundhog Day. The musical version explores Connor’s desperation to escape the loop, and how he uses his time - for instance, hitting on every woman in town, and taking piano lessons - always “for the first time.”

But the repetitive nature of the morning 6:00 a.m. alarm seems to be incorporated into the music, yielding what basically sounds like endless variations on a single song for an overly long first act. The soporific effect was counteracted in a shorter second act with two distinct songs, one even memorable. And a Two Brothers coffee available at intermission helped.

It would have been hard to predict when this show was originally planned that Omicron Covid would still bedevil us. And in a sense, we are consigned to our own relentless treadmill of masks and constraints. Perhaps 'Groundhog Day The Musical' was chosen only for its coincidence with the real annual Groundhog Day each February. Infusing our masked treadmill wouood have given it more relevancy.

But I wouldn't write off seeing this show, which is a beautiful production, pretty much perfectly executed. But get yourself a Two Brothers in the lobby when you arrive.