Paramount Broadway Series shows are major events
She flew. I cried. Although I’ve been to many of the Paramount Broadway Series productions at the Aurora theater since the series started in 2011, 2014’s “Mary Poppins” remains my favorite.
Not that my tears were that unusual. Even shows that I wasn’t that crazy about made me misty at some point. There’s just something about live theater that tugs at my heartstrings, and theater of this level of quality isn’t common.
It sometimes made for some interesting looks, such as when the cast of “Mamma Mia!” did a curtain call and sang “Dancing Queen” and I dabbed at my eyes, overwhelmed at the crowd, the singing, the applause, the nostalgia, just all of it.
Although I usually manage to make it to the end before the waterworks start, at “Mary Poppins” they were barely into the second song before I started blubbering. By the time Mary “flew” over the audience toward the end, all pretense that I was not overcome with emotion ended.
I’m dabbing at my eyes for a different reason now. Paramount announced last week that the beloved Broadway Series, in fact all of the Paramount’s 2020 scheduled artists and productions, will be postponed until 2021. In June 2021, “Kinky Boots,” the last show of the 2019-20 season, will be performed, more than a year after it was originally scheduled.
Paramount Broadway Series shows are special events. Moms, dads, grandmothers and grandfathers,
and the grandkids, in their Sunday best, file in, especially during the holiday shows.
The pride of the Aurora community in this crown jewel is on full display. Every show I’ve been to ended with a hearty standing ovation. Even the shows that didn’t get the usual great reviews were greeted with compassionate support from the community.
You can feel the sadness in the announcement of another postponement. After all, fall 2020 was supposed to be when the Paramount’s new Bold Series was supposed to debut across the street at the Copley Theatre. The new series will feature more mature fare than the familyfriendly Broadway Series, and the first season included titles like “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Rabbit Hole.” That is also on hold until fall 2021.
My first Paramount Broadway Series production was “Fiddler on the Roof ” in 2013. I wasn’t super excited; it was astonishing. Since then, I’ve been talking the shows up to anyone who will listen, enticing my Chicago friends with the incredibly low ticket prices, cheap parking, and just-plain top-shelf entertainment. I paid more for “Hamilton” than I do for a year and a half of Paramount Broadway shows. The Chicago Tribune’s Chris Jones routinely gives the shows excellent reviews. By the 2015-16 season, I was a subscriber.
“West Side Story” in 2016 was great not just for the show but for the company. My father and I take in Paramount shows together, and for this one my youngest son Jack, who is a huge fan of the show, came with us in a blatant attempt by me to stoke a love of musicals in the next generation of Webers.
My plan worked. We will go to the Paramount again.
“Cabaret” ended with an audience stunned silent by Kelly Felthous as Sally Bowles, desperately trying to sing and dance away World War II. “Once” ended with an all-cast sing-along of the hit song “Falling Slowly” on the set that looked like a friendly neighborhood pub. Theatergoers were invited to have a drink onstage before the show started in a functioning bar.
I watched a 60-something man clap in delight in time for the entirety of “We’re in the Money” during “42nd Street.” It was the best.
After “Newsies,” which I had somehow never seen despite being a journalist for decades, I delighted in using “papes” (for newspapers) for weeks afterward. I don’t think my family was as delighted as I was.
After an illness forced me to miss “The Little Mermaid” and “Sweeney Todd” in 2017, coming back to see “Jesus Christ Superstar,” one of the best shows I have seen there, was overwhelming.
It was great to get back to a normal activity — a Saturday afternoon spent at the Paramount — and it will be great again to get back for “Kinky Boots,” hopefully in June.
What are your favorite Paramount Broadway Series memories? Send them to wweber@ tribpub.com.