PicksInSix Review: Come From Away - Paramount Theatre

Paramount’s Heartwarming Hit Channels Friendship, Hospitality.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Regina Belt-Daniels

A quandary—at least that must have been what the residents of the Newfoundland town of Gander were dealing with as 38 airplanes carrying 6,579 passengers from 100 countries landed at the Gander airport on September 11, 2001. “Come From Away” marks both Paramount Theatre’s season opener for the 25-26 Broadway Bold Series as well as the Chicago Regional premiere of the show based on hundreds of hours of interviews with the Gander townspeople and the “come from away”(a.k.a. stranded) passengers. The award-winning show, the work of playwrights Irene Sankoff and David Hein who are also responsible for the music and lyrics, originated at the Jolla Playhouse in San Diego on its way to earning three Drama Desk awards (including Best Musical) and seven 2017 Tony Award nominations, winning for Best Direction.

The 90-minute musical (no intermission) is masterfully directed by the multiple Jeff Award-winning Trent Stork, and joins a prestigious string of hits—27 in all—of outstanding Paramount productions including “Cats,” “Frozen,” “Kinky Boots,” and “School of Rock” among others. Stork has assembled a clever and creative production team including choreographer Kasey Alfonso, scenic designer Milo Bue, costume designer Izumi Inaba, lighting designer Greg Hoffman, sound designer Adam Rosenthal, projections Mike Tutaj, wigs hair and makeup designer Katie Cordts and dialect coach Susan Gosdick. Stage manager Amber R. Dettmers keeps the well-paced show running smoothly.

This production is in the capable hands of Music Director Kory Danielson with the very talented Associate Musical Director Kailey Rockwell conducting the performance on Sunday evening. The songs are heart-tugging, lively, energetic, determined and performed flawlessly by Danielson’s eight-piece band, some who are seated on stage and are included in the story. Most notable of the 14 songs are the company sung “Welcome to the Rock,” “Screech In,” “Something is Missing,” and the standout performances of “I Am Here” by Soara-Joye Ross (Hannah) and “Me and the Sky” by Andrea Prestinario (Captain Beverley), both of whom have amazing vocal ranges.

Each member of the ensemble of 18 create multiple endearing and vibrant characters celebrating friendship, compassion, and extraordinary hospitality. The themes of kindness, global community and resilience resonate in everyone, however, I did favor Russell Konstans’s Mayor; Nick Druzbanski’s Constable Oz; Abby C. Smith’s Gander citizen Beulah, and the already mentioned Soara-Joyce Ross’s worried mom Hannah and Beverley Bass, the first female American Airline captain played by Andrea Prestinario.

There is plenty of charming humor in both the songs and dialogue surprisingly in such a historically tragic event. In “Welcome to the Rock,” which introduced both the plot and setting, we hear “small place on a rock in the ocean, and you won’t understand half of what we say,” comments about the infamous Tim Horton’s where everything starts and ends, the six cardiologists dance and the reason why the planes were sent to Gander.

“Come From Away” is entertaining, educational and sings of miracles. There is something for everyone, even as we recognize and remember the tragedy of 911. You will be crying and dancing through the finale with the superb cast. You don’t have to ‘come from away’ to enjoy this heartwarming story and you have until October 12 to experience it yourself.

Postscript: There is another existing quandary in Aurora. The City Council of Aurora has cut Paramount’s budget impacting future shows at the Copley—which closed a critically acclaimed production of “True West” last weekend—and has already canceled upcoming productions of “Covenant” and “Ride the Cyclone.” Paramount Theatre is among the largest subscription series in the country and yet the theater now is facing an inevitable reduction to its overall programming from 900 to 700 performances annually. “Million Dollar Quartet” is thriving at the year-old Stolp Island Theatre even as additional reductions to the Riveredge Park and Paramount School of the Arts are on the table. Hopefully, the City Council will reconsider this key investment in the arts for the citizens of Aurora and the surrounding region.

Guest Contributor|Regina Belt-Daniels is a retired special education teacher who has acted, directed, and staged managed throughout Illinois and has reviewed theater for numerous publications for over a decade.

PHOTO|Brett Beiner 

Paramount Theatre
presents
Chicago Regional Premiere
Come From Away
23 E Galena Blvd
Aurora
through October 12, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: Disney's FROZEN The Broadway Musical-Paramount Theatre

For the First Time in Forever…
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Paramount Theatre’s sensational production of Disney’s “FROZEN The Broadway Musical”— featuring the electrically-charged performances of Emily Kristen Morris and Beth Stafford Laird—opened Friday in Aurora to the thunderous cheers of fans both young and old who have helped to canonize the 2013 film’s anthems “Let It Go” and “For the First Time in Forever” into Disney’s musical lexicon and made modern day icons of a rambunctious reindeer with an attitude and a playful snowman with joie de vivre and a yearning for a summer vacation.  

The show that garnered three 2018 Tony nominations (Best Musical, Book and Original Score) features music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and book by Jennifer Lee based on the smash hit 2013 Disney animated film written by Lee. Paramount’s Midwest Regional premiere is directed by Trent Stork with a top-flight creative team including choreographer Tiffany Krause and music director Kory Danielson who also conducts the orchestra.

The story begins in the mythical kingdom of Arendelle and follows the child sorcerous Elsa (Everleigh Murphy shared with Genevieve Jane) and her younger sister Anna (Avelyn Choi shared with Elowen Murphy) whose loving relationship for each other is severed when their parents King Agnarr (Brian Hupp) and Queen Iduna (Allison Sill) discover that Elsa’s inability to control her mystical powers are a direct threat to Anna’s life. When Anna is saved by the Hidden Folk with no memory of the encounter, the parents venture off for a cure and disappear. As time passes, the coming-of-age Anna (Laird) is confused by her sister’s self-isolation in the castle and yearns to be reunited with Elsa (Morris). On the day of Elsa’s coronation, Prince Hans (Jake DiMaggio Lopez) arrives, sweeps Anna off her feet and proposes marriage. Elsa refuses to bless the sudden union and in a frustrated rage, drops her guard and is forced to flee from the castle when her powers are revealed. In the wilderness, Elsa then creates an icy sanctuary of her own, unaware that her awakening has plunged the kingdom into an endless winter. Anna, despondent and desperate, is left with no choice but to pursue her sister and try to bring her back. She is soon joined by the mountain man Kristoff (Christian Andrews), his trustworthy reindeer companion Sven (Adam Fane) and the irrepressible snowman Olaf (Ryan Stajmiger)—courtesy of puppet designer Jesse Mooney-Bullock. Not far behind is Hans and the conniving Duke of Weselton (Jason Richards) who have diabolical plans of their own.

Scenic designer Jeffrey D, Kmiec, projections designer Paul Deziel and lighting and sound designers Greg Hofmann and Adam Rosenthal have created a magical, ever-evolving icy landscape with superb scenic projections—including a wink to Aurora’s Fox River—and eye-popping special effects. Mara Blumenfeld’s stunning costume design has magical treats all their own.

The shimmering and flawless performances of Laird’s “For the First Time in Forever” and Morris’s “Let It Go” are highlights in a score that includes brilliant ensemble arrangements and specialty numbers including the fine company with Oaken (David Blakeman) in the hilarious trading post number “Hygge,” with Elsa in “Dangerous to Dream,” and Kristoff, Olaf and Hidden Folk in “Fixer Upper.”     

Life lessons abound here about remaining positive in the face of adversity, coping with loss and isolation, and understanding ourselves and our place in the world around us. But it’s Anna’s determination to put her love for others above all else that will warm your heart for “FROZEN,” a fun-filled musical extravaganza for the entire family.

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

PARAMOUNT THEATRE
presents
FROZEN
The Broadway Musical
through January 19, 2024

23 East Galena Boulevard
Aurora, IL 60506

(630) 896–6666

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PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC

PicksInSix Review: Billy Elliot The Musical - Paramount Theatre

Billy Elliot: “It’s Showtime Baby!”
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy

What’s happening right now at Paramount Theatre in Aurora will not soon come this way again. “It’s showtime, baby!” Bring it on!

“Billy Elliot The Musical,” the Elton John/Lee Hall ten-time Tony Award winner with a long, rich love affair with Chicago, opened Friday in what can only be described as a phenomenal, electrifying production. As directed by Trent Stork and choreographed by Isaiah Silva-Chandley, this quintessential “Billy Elliot” features an enormously talented cast led by Ron E. Rains as Dad, Michelle Aravena as Mrs. Wilkinson and, on opening night, the arresting performance of Neo Del Corral as Billy Elliot, the young boy discovering his life’s passion in the midst of a tumultuous period of unrest as his small hometown north of London is embroiled in the 1984 coal miner’s strike.

The story unfolds amid a visual feast—adorned with Izumi Inaba’s costumes on scenic designer Michelle Lilly’s colossal sixty-foot-high steel-themed coal mine set with two-story moving stairway systems that are reconfigured to frame the evolving scenes moving effortlessly in sync with Greg Hoffman’s dynamic lighting design, Mike Tutaj projections and a crisp sound design by Adam Rosenthal.

The lovely and talented Aravena commands the stage in a fierce performance as the dance instructor who first discovers Billy’s true potential in ballet and fights for his opportunity to pursue a dream. Del Corral—who alternates the role of Billy with Sam Duncan—plays the 1,900 seat Paramount Theatre with extraordinary poise, presence and a strength of character that belies his years. And when Billy and his gay friend Michael (Gabriel Lafazan) get together, it’s showtime, baby! — a dynamic duo of pint-sized firebrands tap dancing and singing up a storm with a streak of sassy larceny a mile long in the show-stopping hit “Expressing Yourself.”

One of the most impressive ensembles ever assembled at Paramount includes many of Chicago’s most accomplished actors who cover the citizenry of life-worn miners opposed by an army of police along with a bevy of early career prima ballerinas all under the brilliant musical direction of Kory Danielson who conducts the Paramount Orchestra. Rains returns to a role he has played previously with a seasoned, passionate and superb multi-layered performance as Billy’s Dad. Barbara Robertson is exquisite as Billy’s endearing Grandma and Jennie Sophia is a beacon of purity as Billy’s Mum in the tender, emotionally charged ballad “The Letter” with Aravena and Del Corral.  Dakota Hughes (Mr. Braithwaite), Joe Foust (George), and Spencer Davis Milford (Tony) are all stellar, as is the stunning Swan Lake ballet with Billy and Older Billy (Christopher Kelley)— a work of art that utilizes the full range of the Paramount’s expansive stage.

The sheer grandeur of the closing moments of this production left me in awe and ranks as the most beautiful visual tapestry I have ever—repeat, ever—seen in a theatre. I am still thinking about it and how Paramount's stunning production of "Billy Elliot" will now occupy a permanent place in my memory box of this show.

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

PARAMOUNT THEATRE
presents
Billy Elliot The Musical
through March 24, 2024

23 East Galena Boulevard
Aurora, IL 60506

(630) 896–6666

WEBSITE

TICKETS

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PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC

PicksInSix Theater Review: The Wizard of Oz

DOROTHY AND FRIENDS ELECTRIFY PARAMOUNT’S ‘OZ’

Bolts of lighting and seat-shaking thunder claps. Twirling graphics and flashes of light that are so startling that the poor lady in front of me popped out of her seat. Spiraling cones swirling around Dorothy (Elizabeth Stenholt) as she was perched atop a rig holding on for dear life in the middle of the twister that propels her from Kansas to the magical Land of Oz. And once the twister stops, the relative calm and beauty that follows is all pretty much by the L. Frank Baum book (as adapted by John Kane) as Dorothy meets up with the Scarecrow (Kyle Adams), Tinman (Carl Draper) and Cowardly Lion (Paul-Jordan Jansen) who must face all manner of threats from the Wicked Witch of the West (Caron Buinis) to get back home again.

Every stage production of “The Wizard of Oz” must first come to terms with our own perception of the 1939 film classic starring Judy Garland. When I first saw the film on a creaky console television set in the late 50s, all I could think about for days was the vision of Margaret Hamilton bursting through the screen into our living room. Without the benefit of a dvr to replay it, I had only the immediate memory that would have to serve until the film came around again. Through no fault of my own, I did not know the Wicked Witch was green or that Oz was in color until I saw the actual film at a screening in 1973. Our television way back then was black and white.

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That feeling of discovery is exactly what it is like to watch “The Wizard of Oz” live, particularly in a big stage, fully-loaded, hi-tech treatment like the one that opened Saturday at Paramount Theatre in Aurora. Expertly cast by director/choreographer Amber Mak, the show is stacked with seasoned talent from top to bottom. Making her Paramount debut, Stenholt’s startlingly fresh, electrifying performance of “Over the Rainbow” and her journey in Oz is extraordinary. It helps to be clutching the best and most accomplished Toto, too. Nessa, trained by William Berloni, not only looks the part, but accomplishes everything short of biting Almira Gulch.

Each of Dorothy’s stalwart companions in Oz elevate this sumptuous, brilliantly-crafted production by making each of their performances classically unique. Adams limbo-like contortions and comic range combine with his innate ability to make the all-important emotional connection between the Scarecrow and Dorothy. (He also has the biggest laughline of the night, but I won’t tell you which one.) Draper knocks “If I Only Had a Heart” out of the park, in a tap-dance number that is not an easy assignment for a Tinman carrying an axe and romping about with rusted joints. Jansen, shows why his Cowardly Lion is King of Forest with vocal chops that simultaneously bark and roar.

Even though we know they are coming, the scenes with Buinis as the fiendish Gulch and the Wicked Witch will have you on the edge of your seat. Professor Marvel/Wizard (Gene Weygandt), Auntie Em/Glinda (Harriet Nzinga Plumpp) and Uncle Henry/Emerald City Guard are picture perfect. Everyone looks magical in the Theresa Ham designed costumes from the adorable Munchkins and the Winkies to the brightly emerald-clad residents of the Emerald City. The exquisite Harold Arlen and E. Y. “Yip” Harburg score is under the very capable musical direction of conductor Kory Danielson. With over two dozen imaginative puppets – crows, jitterbugs, flying-monkeys, the crabby-apple trees (Emily Agy, Allyson Graves and Leah Morrow) and more – by Jesse Mooney-Bullock, the atmosphere is whimsical and fun, all set up by the masterful scenic design by Kevin Depinet and Christopher Rhoton, lighting design by Greg Hoffman, projection designer Kevan Loney and sound by Adam Rosenthal.

When all the world is hopeless jumble, it is good to know that some things can always be counted upon to help you make your dreams come true. The time-honored story of “The Wizard of Oz” live on stage is an experience for young and old of all ages which makes the Paramount production perfect family fare for the holiday season, and brings new meaning to the lyric: Fa La La La La La La La La La!      

PHOTOS|Liz Lauren



THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE
Presents
THE WIZARD OF OZ
through January 6th
23 East Galena Boulevard
Aurora
(630) 896–6666

WEBSITE

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PICKSINSIX Review: LEGALLY BLONDE

‘LEGALLY BLONDE’ “SISTERHOOD. IT’S FOREVER!”

A champion we can believe in… Elle Woods, the fashionista-turned-law-school-student-turned-goddess in “Legally Blonde,” is a champion we can believe in to succeed at every turn. One of those turns — a dramatic and inappropriate confrontation with a professor — may jolt you like it did everyone I sat next to in a recent matinee. But Elle (the shimmering Casey Shuler) sends a defiant message to Callahan (James Rank) in that moment, firmly standing her ground. It’s powerful stuff and with a mantra like: “Sisterhood. It’s Forever!” there is no doubt that the underlying message of this new age edition has crystalized in the hands of Director Trent Stork. For “OMIGOD!” so many reasons, the Paramount Theatre production of “Legally Blonde” is a monster must-see hit!

"LEGALLY BLONDE" starring Casey Shuler now playing at Paramount Theatre through October 21st. TICKETS

Effervescent romp… There may be no more timely musical on stage in Chicago at this moment than “Legally Blonde.” The rollicking 2007 pop anthem for female empowerment with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe/Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach is an effervescent romp that will make you giddy enough to accessorize in pink, get a dog of your own and get into Harvard Law School. (Good luck with that last one!)

Amazingly versatile company… Pursuing what she believes is her endless love, Elle hopelessly yearns for Warner Huntington III (Tyler Lain) the elitest boyfriend who dumped her and took up with Vivienne Kensington (Jacquelyne Jones) who is a bit of a snob. Elle finds that there is more to being accepted than just getting into Harvard. Along the way, she meets Emmett Forrest (Gerald Caesar) an earnest student mentor who sees Elle for herself. The amazingly versatile company includes a terrific Greek Chorus following Elle’s every move led by Serena (Lucy Godinez), Margot (Sara Reinecke), and Pilar (Kyrie Courter) who shake the pillars and rock the house.

Paramount Theatre production of “LEGALLY BLONDE” now playing through October 21st. TICKETS

Pump-It-Up… In the sidetrack to the main story, Paulette (Sophie Grimm) is a hair stylist who enlists Elle and Emmett’s support to retrieve what is rightfully hers. Paulette gets some advice of her own to help break out of her shell in “Bend and Snap.” When the murder mystery points to Brooke Wyndham – the electric, ‘Pump-It-Up!’ workout number “Whipped Into Shape” by Jenna Coker-Jones – things start to go into hyperdrive all the way to the show-stopping courtroom scene “There! Right There!” Featured performances abound but watch for the debonair UPS guy Kyle B. O’Boyle (James Doherty), Carlos (Yando Lopez) a key witness, and a couple of lovable canines named Bruiser (Frankie) and Rufus (Romeo) the two rescue-dog stars.

Top-flight production team… Director Stork, who also choreographs with Megan E. Farley, has assembled a top-flight production team that includes Jeffrey D. Kmiec (Scenic), Theresa Ham (Costumes), Mick Belley (Lighting), Mike Tutaj (Projections) and Adam Rosenthal (Sound). Music Director Kory Danielson conducts the impressive orchestra, so, in short, as the kids say: “OMIGOD! OMIGOD, You Guys! GO!”

PHOTOS|Liz Lauren
VIDEO|Paramount Theatre
Originally Published: September 29, 2018
Revised: October 1, 2018

PARAMOUNT THEATRE
Presents
LEGALLY BLONDE
through October 21st
23 East Galena Boulevard
Aurora, IL
(630) 896-6666

WEBSITE

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

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