Paramount’s new season is opening in August with a little attitude, and some might say that’s appropriate considering the challenges the Aurora theater faced in 2025.
The Chicago-area premiere of “Mean Girls” kicks off the lineup for its 15th Broadway Series – a show which a press release labeled as “sassy” – but it could also be described as a reflection of today’s social behavior.
Still, “Mean Girls” the musical has a softer, more comedic tone than the sharper, sarcastic 2004 movie version, notes Paramount President Tim Rater, who has borne much of the brunt of last year’s controversial budget cuts that led to the closing of its excellent BOLD Series, not to mention plenty of angst, anger and uncertainty over the future of downtown Aurora’s undisputed economic turnaround engine.
But with this announcement as we kick off 2026 Rater says he’s feeling much better about that future.
“We’re really excited about the new season and where things are going. We still have lots to figure out but we’re in a good spot,” he insisted.
Much of Rater’s optimism comes from a highly successful “White Christmas” holiday run as well as the big gala fundraiser last weekend that featured top-tier celebrity Jerry Seinfeld.
A couple dozen protesters outside the theater withstood frigid temperatures on Jan. 17 to protest the comedian’s controversial pro-Israel comments made last year. And inside, a few ticket holders tried to interrupt the sold-out show, including one who was taken into custody, police said, and cited for obstructing a peace officer and criminal trespass, both misdemeanors.
Still, this political interlude, which kept Rater and other officials on high alert, did not take away from the great time people had during Seinfeld’s performance or at the gala parties, he told me.
“I felt recharged” after the event, Rater said, adding that he had “some of the best conversations” that evening.
The passion and commitment so many feel toward the Paramount not only buoyed his spirits, he felt good about a recent discussion with Aurora Mayor John Laesch, who’s hardly been on the same page as the Paramount president after the city dramatically reduced previously discussed funding for the Aurora Civic Center Authority – which owns the Paramount Theatre, the Copley Theatre, Paramount School of the Arts and North Island Center plus manages the city-owned RiverEdge Park and Stolp Island Theatre – from $6 million to $2 million, to combat a budget shortfall.
The misinformation and mistrust flying around last year could have made for a musical production’s dramatic narrative thread. But a new year and new season holds out the hope of an Act Two with less controversy and conflict.
“I have had productive conversations with Mr. Rater and will be scheduling future meetings to talk about vision, goals and financing,” Laesch said in an email response. “There has been a lot of progress between ACCA leadership and the mayor’s office, and we look forward to building on the successes of the past, while attracting new, high-energy entertainment options for Aurora” and the region around it.
There are still important questions, including who will go and who will stay on the current Aurora Civic Center Authority board. Laesch noted he’s been interviewing existing board members and new candidates “to share my vision with ACCA with them.” And I’ve been told a decision should be made in the next couple of months.
ACCA Board Chairman Jonathan Hylton, who said he finally got a sit-down with the mayor, shared Rater’s cautious optimism, noting “we are trying to find ways to partner together” but “need to define what it is (the mayor) wants to see and what we can do to help.”
Still, he compared ACCA’s challenges to “landing a jumbo jet in the middle of Galena Boulevard after flying at 42,000 feet,” without destroying everything in its path, including downtown.
The $2 million in previously discussed funding that ACCA received from the city – at one point that number had plunged to zero – is “not what we need,” Hylton told me. “But we built the budget around it” and under Rater’s leadership – “he is the glue,” declared the chairman – found a way to maintain the Paramount School of the Arts while not taking “a step back” from the quality of shows audiences have come to expect.
In addition to “Mean Girls,” the new season includes what the Paramount described as the world premiere of a new and reimagined version of Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol,” Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning musical “Sunday in the Park with George” and the return of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
ACCA officials admit they relied too much on funding from past administrations, a mistake that will never be made again, said Hylton, adding that the strength of this board is not being afraid of missteps but learning from them.
And “that takes experience,” he insisted, then went on to promise that, even with “costs rising all around us,” the board will continue to work toward fiscal sustainability.
“We want to be an important anchor in the downtown, and continue to bring in patrons,” he said, noting that, while ticket costs will go up, as they are in theaters everywhere to keep pace with rising production expenses, “we do not want to abandon our mission of inclusion,” which means keeping shows affordable and available.
“This is the first year of our crunch,” Hylton said. “We can start to lower our landing gear but we need a clearly defined runway to land” this metaphoric big plane.
“But we are making progress.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
