The Paramount Theatre in Aurora, IL, will present a production of Billy Elliot the Musical (BETM) from February 7 to March 24, 2024. Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area.
The Aurora Theater Company was founded in 1915 by J.J. Rubens and other far-seeing theatre owners. New theatres were needed to accommodate the movies’ transition to “talkies.” While on a trip to Italy, Rubens came up with the idea of a new theatre with a Venice theme. He asked nationally known architects C.W. and George L. Rapp to design his new theatre. They combined Rubens’ Venetian theme with the Art Deco influence to come up with a stunning theatre design.
In 1930, prior to construction, Aurora Theater Company was sold to the Paramount-Famous-Lasky Corporation. Therefore, the new theatre was renamed The Paramount, rather than The Venetian, though it retained the planned design. The $1 million dollar building opened on September 3, 1931.
The Paramount was built with movies in mind but it also offered vaudeville, concerts, sing-a-longs and circus performances.
The theatre remained open and operated continuously for the next 40 years, until it closed temporarily in 1976 for much needed restoration work.
Today Paramount provides a range of entertainment including dance, music, Broadway-caliber theatre, and children’s programming. They have an annual audience of 350,000 patrons from over 250 communities. They’ve also recently expanded operations by opening the Paramount School of the Arts.
Every year the Paramount puts on four Broadway shows. In the 2023-24 season, BETM will be their third such show, alongside Little Shop of Horrors, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
The cast for Paramount’s production of BETM was announced on December 3, 2023. The starring role of Billy will be shared by Neo Del Corral, who has previously played the role in Bakersfield (CA), and Sam Duncan, who will be making his debut in the role.
As well as Neo, there are a few other members of the cast who have also appeared in BETM previously. The actors playing Mrs Wilkinson, Dad and Tony have all appeared in other productions of the show.
To learn more about the Paramount Theatre Billys, click on the Billy Profiles button (below) to be taken to their detailed profiles.
To see a complete listing of the rest of the Paramount Theatre cast, just click on the Cast Information button.
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