After the ribbon was cut and the doors were opened, there was a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on in downtown Aurora Friday night.
And it was all taking place at 5 E. Downer Place, home of the city’s brand new Stolp Island Theatre, where a party was taking place for the opening night of “Million Dollar Quartet.”
Could you feel it?
If not, you likely soon will note the reverberations because all this hoopla signified yet another seismic step in the emergence of Aurora as a destination place for those seeking top regional entertainment.
And “Great Balls of Fire” was this audience ever entertained!
Imagine, for a moment, you are inside a recording studio where Elvis Presley is crooning in a low drawl as his hips gyrate and legs shake. Imagine watching rockabilly king Carl Perkins, sporting blue suede shoes, glide forward and backward across the stage, with fingers coaxing musical explosions from his jumpin’ and jivin’ electric guitar.
Or hearing Johnny Cash’s somber, soothing bass-baritone as he sings “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Ghost Riders in the Sky.” Or witnessing the facial contortions of the arrogant and audacious Jerry Lee Lewis as this boogie-woogie showman pounds those black and white keys, then jumps atop the piano before parachuting onto the floor and falling flat on his back.
Now imagine watching and listening to all this just a few feet – and at times mere inches – away from these musical gods.
“We are about to take (live entertainment) to another level,” Paramount President and CEO Tim Rater promised the crowd that had earlier gathered on the riverwalk outside the theater for the city’s 50th ribbon cutting of the year.
That’s an impressive number of ribbons in itself, but as Rater also noted, “something special” is “happening here … and we are just getting started.”
Jonathan Hylton, chair of the Aurora Civic Center Authority Board of Directors, described what this 98-seat venue has to offer as “a very different experience.” And that started the moment people stepped across the theater’s threshold for the first time and were transported from 5 E. Downer Place in 2024 Aurora to 706 Union Ave. in 1956 Memphis.
From there, another door took them inside the legendary Sun Records studio to witness up close and personal that impromptu jam session with these four icons of rock ‘n roll.
“We are having the best time,” gushed an exuberant Laurie Cairns, who once hailed from Aurora and now lives in Arizona.
“I can’t sit still,” added her longtime friend, Gina Moga, who is vice chair of the ACCA board.
Those feelings were echoed by quite a few – including yours truly – who admitted they had to fight the urge to jump to their feet and start dancing. It became even more apparent during intermission when the women’s restroom filled with a gaggle of females behaving like teenyboppers.
And that was even before the show heated up in Act Two which, at the end, did indeed get the entire crowd standing and clapping – and wishing the performance would never end.
Such is the magic of theater. And the fact downtown Aurora now has one more live entertainment venue can’t be applauded loudly enough.
“Theaters (nationwide) are sinking right now. There are not many making an investment like this. This is a heavy lift at one of the hardest times possible,” said Hylton, praising the “vision and partnerships” that made this opening possible.
“We’re off the tarmac but … we’re still rising,” he continued, referring to Aurora’s quest to make downtown an entertainment district. “We are not afraid and we are not done.”
Later, taking a short break from the crowd as he stood near the vintage piano on the stage before the show began, Paramount Artistic Director Jim Corti, who co-directed “Million Dollar Quartet” along with Creg Sclavi, couldn’t help but reflect on the journey that brought him to that spot.
“It’s hard to believe it was 14 years ago” when the Paramount began its highly-touted Broadway Series with “My Fair Lady,” he said, shaking his head at all that had transpired.
It was six years ago Rater came to Mayor Richard Irvin and the ACCA board with the idea of creating this kind of small intimate theater. And a mere 11 months ago demolition began on what Corti described as “raw space” that once contained an Italian restaurant, a TV studio and office cubicles.
It took a lot of collaboration – the kind that’s needed more in our world these days – to make this opening possible, he and others noted. Which might be why the theater was described many times as “a miracle.”
Certainly it is an experience that must be seen to truly understand. Which I strongly encourage you to do.
Because tickets are sold out for the summer and into September, the Paramount has extended “Million Dollar Quartet” through Dec. 29. (The tickets for the first eight weeks went in less than 48 hours). And once word gets out just how fun, how unique, Stolp Island Theatre is, no doubt there will be a whole lot more shakin’ goin’ on in downtown Aurora.
dcrosby@tribpub.com
