December 30, 2024
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The Scene

Suburban theater in review: Stolp Island Theatre opens, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble wins first Jeff Award

By Barbara Vitello - Daily Herald Media Group
Garrett Forrestal (center) plays Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet, the inaugural production at Paramount Theatre’s new Stolp Island Theatre, 5 E. Downer Place, Suite G, in downtown Aurora. Performances have already been extended through December 29, 2024 due to popular demand. Also pictured (backs to camera, from left): Christopher Wren as Carl Perkins and Bill Scott Sheets as Johnny Cash. Tickets: paramountaurora.com or (630) 896-6666. Credit: Liz Lauren

Garrett Forrestal (center) plays Jerry Lee Lewis in "Million Dollar Quartet," the inaugural production at Paramount Theatre’s new Stolp Island Theatre, 5 E. Downer Place, Suite G, in downtown Aurora. Credit: Liz Lauren (Photo provided by Liz Lauren)

While many theaters continue to rebound from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aurora’s Paramount Theatre and its concomitant venues, in cooperation with the Aurora Civic Center Authority, have not just recovered, they’ve thrived.

Now in its 13th season, the flagship 1,843-seat Paramount Theatre has emerged as the nation’s largest subscription theater with more than 37,000 subscribers. Its more intimate counterpart, the 165-seat Copley Theatre opened across the street in 2022. And last July, on the bank of the Fox River, Paramount inaugurated its 98-seat Stolp Island Theatre with a roof-rattlin’ revival of “Million Dollar Quartet,” that proved so popular it has been extended through June 2025.

And Paramount and the ACCA aren’t done yet.

In September, Paramount Theatre president and CEO Tim Rater announced an ACCA proposal to construct The City of Lights Center, a 4,000-seat venue unlike any other in the Western suburbs. Projected to cost $125 million, it would occupy city-owned property at New York and Lake streets.

If approved next year, the City of Lights Center — which Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin called “a game changer for our downtown, the city and the region” — could open in 2027.

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble earns first Jeff Award

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble earned its first Joseph Jefferson Award for costume design for the period dramedy “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” one of five nominations this year and the most in the Glen Ellyn theater’s history.

The recognition comes a decade after BTE prevailed in its fight for artistic survival thanks to fans who rallied around the theater after the College of DuPage pulled support for the company, a longtime resident of the McAninch Arts Center.

On a bittersweet note, longtime ensemble member Connie Canaday Howard retired in June after serving 24 years as BTE’s managing artistic director.

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble managing artistic director Connie Canaday Howard announced her retirement in 2024. Howard remains a BTE ensemble member.

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble managing artistic director Connie Canaday Howard announced her retirement in 2024. Howard remains a BTE ensemble member. (Photo provided by Buffalo Theatre Ensemble)

“I probably will slow down a bit, but I’m not retiring from theater,” said the 35-year BTE veteran who remains a member of the ensemble.

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