Download Behind the Scenes of 42 nd Street - The Paramount Theatre

Press contacts: Jay Kelly
[email protected], 312.565.4623
or
Jim Jarvis, Paramount Theatre
[email protected], 630.723.2474
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TAP DANCE YOUR WAY TO DOWNTOWN AURORA FOR RACHEL ROCKWELL’S
NEW TAKE ON 42ND STREET, JAN. 15-FEB.9, 2014 AT THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE
"You're going out there a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!"
Paramount Theatre’s 42ND Street features the talents of (from left) director Rachel Rockwell, choreographer Tammy Mader,
music director/conductor Doug Peck, and actors Larry Adams as Julian Marsh, Tyler Hanes as Billy Lawlor and Laura Savage as Peggy Sawyer. Go to
paramountaurora.com/press kits to download headshots, and eventually, rehearsal and production photos of 42nd Street.
AURORA, IL, December 12, 2013 – No more tap dancing around it. If you haven’t checked out the new “Better than
Broadway” musical series at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Aurora, the company’s upcoming revival of the
quintessential song-and-tap-dance musical 42nd Street, directed by Rachel Rockwell, choreography by Tammy Mader,
with music direction by Doug Peck, is the perfect excuse.
It’s the classic story of Broadway. Peggy, the small town girl, leaves the sanctity of family to pursue her dreams in
Depression-era New York City. While keeping the big city wolves at bay, she befriends the working class of the theater
world – the chorus – and lands a place on the line in the newest play Pretty Lady. But when the lead actress gets injured,
will Peggy have the talent and moxie it takes to tap her way out of the chorus line to the top of the Great White Way?
42nd Street runs January 15-February 9, 2014 at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in Aurora, IL. Press opening is
Saturday, January 18 at 8 p.m. To meet growing demand for its Broadway series, Paramount has extended each show’s
run from three to four weeks in 2013-14. Show times for 42nd Street are Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.;
Thursday at 7:30 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. Tickets are
only $36.90 to $49.90. To purchase, go to ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or visit the Paramount box office
Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and 2 hours prior to evening performances. 42nd Street is rated G.
As always, Paramount is attracting top theater artists from Chicago and all over the country who will reward audiences
with a breathtaking production of 42nd Street. “Come and meet those dancin’ feet,” as Paramount’s talented young
hoofers perform some of the most show-stopping tap numbers in Broadway history, complete with gorgeous 1930s
costumes, beautiful sets and hit-after-musical hit including “We’re in the Money,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Shuffle Off to
Buffalo,” and of course the title number “42nd Street.”
Leading the effort is Rachel Rockwell, the Chicago Tribune’s “2012 Chicagoan of the Year in Theatre” and director of
Paramount’s wildly acclaimed productions of In the Heights, The Music Man, Annie and Hair. Doug Peck, Rockwell’s
music director for Paramount’s Hair and, more recently, Goodman Theatre’s The Jungle Book, returns for 42nd Street as
music director and conductor of the Paramount Theatre Orchestra. Multi-Jeff Award-winner Tammy Mader is making
her Paramount debut as choreographer.
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Paramount’s 42nd Street cast is led by Larry Adams as cut-throat Broadway producer Julian Marsh, Tyler Hanes as
charming song and dance man Billy Lawlor, and Laura Savage as Allentown, Pennsylvania’s own Peggy Sawyer. Adams
was last seen at Paramount in Annie, has appeared on Broadway and nationally in The Phantom of the Opera and Off
Broadway in The Hunchback Variations, and has countless Chicago musical theater credits. Hanes’ Broadway credits
include Larry in the original revival of A Chorus Line, Link Larkin in Hairspray, Johnny Boyle in Juno, Charlie in Sweet
Charity, in the new Stephen Sondheim revue A Bed and a Chair: A New York Love Affair, The Frogs, The Boy From Oz,
Urban Cowboy and Oklahoma! Chicago credits include The Drowsy Chaperone, All Shook Up and a Jeff nomination for
best actor in Footloose at Marriott Lincolnshire. Paramount audiences will recall Savage for her zesty portrayal last
season as teenage ingénue Zanetta Shinn in Rockwell’s The Music Man. She was recently nominated for a 2013 Jeff
Citation as Best Actress in a Musical in BoHo Theatre’s SpitFire Grill.
Featured actors include Catherine Lord as Dorothy Brock, Nancy Voigts as Maggie Jones, Michael Weber as Bert Berry,
Roger Mueller as Abner Dillon, Richard Strimer as Andy Lee, James Rank as Pat Denning and Dina DiCostanzo as
Anytime Annie. Ensemble members are Kelley Abell, Kelsey Andres, William Carlos Angulo, Larry Baldacci, Jaclyn
Burch, Matthew Crowle, Brian Duncan, Andy Frank, Jonathan Kwock, Alex McCrary, Nathan Mittleman, Mandy Modic,
Amy Orman, Katheryn Patton, Steven Spanopoulos, Tiffany Trainer and Lucy Zukaitis.
The design team also boasts Kevin Depinet, set; Theresa Ham, costumes; Greg Hofmann, lights; Palmer Jankens, sound;
Sarah E. Ross, props; and Rose Marie Packer, stage manager.
Behind the Scenes of 42nd Street
42nd Street is based on the novel by Bradford Ropes and the subsequent 1933 film adaptation directed by Lloyd Bacon
with choreography by Busby Berkeley. The Broadway musical – produced by David Merrick, book by Michael Stewart
and Mark Bramble, music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Al Dubin – opened in 1980, won the Tony Award for Best Musical
and became the 13th longest running Broadway musical in history. Original direction and dances were by an ailing Gower
Champion, who tragically passed away after a long bout with cancer just hours before the show’s official opening. A
West End production in 1984 famously launched the career of teenage chorus girl Catherine Zeta-Jones when, in a
moment of life imitating art, she was forced to go on as Peggy for a vacationing leading lady and her ailing understudy.
42nd Street returned to Broadway in 2001 and earned a Tony for Best Revival.
Rachel Rockwell (Director) returns to Paramount following her smash hit stagings of In the Heights, The Music Man,
Annie and Hair. Her Chicago directing/choreography credits include Hello, Dolly!, Xanadu, The Sound of Music (Equity
Jeff nomination – Musical and Director), Sweeney Todd (Equity Jeff nomination – Musical and Director), Ragtime (Equity
Jeff Awards — Musical and Director), Miss Saigon (Equity Jeff nomination — Musical and Director) and The King and I
(Equity Jeff nomination – Choreography) at Drury Lane Oakbrook; 42nd Street (Equity Jeff nomination – Director), A
Chorus Line (Equity Jeff nomination – Choreography) and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Equity Jeff
nomination – Musical) at Marriott Theatre; Shrek The Musical, Beauty and the Beast, The Emperor’s New Clothes and
The Adventures of Pinocchio at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; The Taming of the Shrew for Chicago Shakespeare in the
Parks; Enron at TimeLine; It’s A Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play and Leaving Iowa at Fox Valley Repertory and John
and Jen at Apple Tree. Soon after 42nd Street, Rockwell will make her Goodman Theatre directing debut this summer
with Brigadoon. No wonder she was named “2012 Chicagoan of the Year in Theatre” by the Chicago Tribune and “Best
Director of 2010” by Chicago Magazine!
Tammy Mader (Choreographer) is a proud member of SDC, the union of professional Stage Directors and
Choreographers. Credits include: Hairspray (Jeff Award), Next To Normal, Sunset Blvd., Gypsy, Spamalot, Seven Brides
For Seven Brothers (Jeff Nomination), Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story, Thoroughly Modern Millie (Jeff Award), Meet Me
In St. Louis, Kiss Me Kate (Jeff Nomination), Anything Goes (Jeff Nomination), and My One And Only (Jeff Award) at
Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace; Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story, Meet Me In St. Louis, Grand Hotel and The Full Monty at
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Drury Lane Water Tower Place; Guys & Dolls and Invisible Man at Court Theatre; My One And Only (Jeff Nomination) ,
42nd Street (Jeff Award), Beauty And The Beast for Marriott’s Lincolnshire Theatre; Do Black Patent Leather Shoes
Really Reflect Up? for Drury Lane Theater in Evergreen Park; She Loves Me, Singin’ In The Rain (Jeff Nomination), Grand
Hotel, 42nd Street, Meet Me In St. Louis, and Swingin’ On A Star: The Johnny Burke Musical at Theater at the Center,
Elizabeth Rex at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and Porchlight Theatre’s production of Assassins.
Doug Peck (Music Director) is the recipient of five Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best Musical Direction, including most
recently for Goodman Theatre’s The Jungle Book. His credits also include such major hits as Porgy and Bess
and Caroline, or Change (Court), Candide (Huntington Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre), A
Catered Affair (Porchlight Music Theatre), Carousel, Man of La Mancha (Long Wharf Theatre, Court Theatre), Animal
Crackers (Goodman), Fiorello! (Timeline Theatre), and Oh, Coward! (Writers’ Theatre), as well as work at Asolo Rep,
Marriott Lincolnshire, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Apple Tree, Chicago Shakespeare, Northlight, Peninsula Players, and the
Ravinia Festival.
About The Paramount Theatre
The Paramount Theatre 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 Theatre, located in the heart of 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 Theatre opened on September 3, 1931. Designed by nationally renowned theater architects C.W. and
George L. Rapp, the theater captures a unique Venetian setting portrayed in the art deco influence of the 1930s. The
first air-conditioned building outside of Chicago, the Paramount offered the public a variety of entertainment, including
"talking pictures," vaudeville, concerts and circus performances for more than 40 years. In 1976, Aurora Civic Center
Authority purchased the Paramount and closed the theater for restoration. The $1.5 million project restored the
Paramount to its original grandeur. On April 29, 1978, the Paramount Arts Center opened, 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 produces its own, self-produced Broadway Musical series, presents an eclectic array of comedy,
music, dance and family shows, and on most Mondays, screens a classic movie. Still to come in Paramount Theatre’s
2013-14 Broadway series is Rent (directed by Jim Corti, March 12-April 6, 2014). For tickets and information, go to
ParamountAurora.com or call (630) 896-6666.
The Paramount Theatre is one of three live performance venues programmed and managed by the Aurora Civic Center
Authority (ACCA). ACCA also oversees the Paramount’s “sister” stage, the intimate, 216-seat Copley Theatre located
directly across the street from the Paramount at 8 E. Galena Blvd., as well as RiverEdge Park, downtown Aurora’s new
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 theater and music professionals.
42nd Street is sponsored by Holiday Inn. Paramount’s 2013-14 Paramount Broadway Series is sponsored by BMO Harris
Bank. Paramount’s 2013-14 General Season is sponsored by the Daily Herald. The 2013-14 season is partially supported
by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. For more information, visit ParamountAurora.com.
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