As August morphed into September, the proverbial week-that-was in downtown Aurora certainly bodes well for the years that will be.
Consider this – from Aug. 25 through Sept. 1, there were 26 performances going on at four different venues: A Monday Classic Movie Night added to “Full Monty” opening at the Paramount Theatre; “Peter and the Starcatcher” closing out its run over the weekend at Copley Theatre; “Million Dollar Quartet” which continues to bring audiences to its feet at the new Stolp Island Theatre; and Fleetwood Mac tribute band Tusk at RiverEdge Park, which brought in over 5,000 people on Saturday.
Paramount CEO and President Tim Rater wants those impressive numbers to “be the norm rather than the exception.” And the biggest state-of-the-arts headline that came out last week could surely make that happen. The Aurora Civic Center Authority, which oversees all the above venues, announced its proposal for yet another downtown theater, this one far larger than the historic Paramount that anchors all of them.
The proposal, which was unveiled at a City Council Finance Committee meeting, came as a surprise to many, even though Rater had been alluding to this piece to the puzzle for a while now. Pulling this idea together – project cost is between $100 million and $120 million – has been in the works for a year, he told me recently. But it was really “a post-COVID idea” that set the stage for the plan that would not only provide ACCA sustainability and cut its financial apron strings to the city but cement Aurora’s reputation as a theater destination.
“It came out of necessity,” Rater said. Because the Broadway Series is so successful and its runs are getting longer – the upcoming “Frozen,” for example, will go 12 weeks – it cut into the availability of other types of shows, including comedy acts and concerts, that attract a different kind of Paramount audience whose needs were not being met.
“We have to offer shows for everyone,” he continued, “including those who might not want to see a musical.”
This proposed 4,000-seat venue – smaller than the Rosemont Theatre, bigger than the Chicago Theatre – hits that ”sweet spot for programming,” Rater said, noting that because it seats more than twice the Paramount’s capacity, it can attract higher-paid performers, including those in the $400,000 price range.
Rater was hesitant to list specific acts. After all, if all goes as planned, which would include passing a $13.8 million bond issue by the end of the year, the center would not open until the spring of 2027. He did, however, identify Keith Urban as an example. Jay Leno and James Taylor are other names that have been thrown out as examples.
Rater also promised the shows in this theater – which come from a list of about 224 possibilities – would be diverse, with a heavy focus on Latino performances. Others include comedians, rock, pop, easy listening, Americana, country, blues, jazz, tributes, Christian, family, festivals and theatrical dance.
And the “cross promotion benefits are invaluable,” Rater insisted, referring to this new center’s audiences that would hear more about the Broadway or Bold series or what’s got audiences on their feet at Stolp Island Theatre. (Residents had a chance Thursday evening to ask more questions of ACCA at a public open house on the proposed project.)
Growing performances is nothing new to Rater, by the way. When he was hired in 2010, his resume included more than doubling productions of the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in downtown Arlington Heights. At that time the Paramount was offering 20 to 53 shows annually.
Compare that to the 26 enjoyed by audiences last week alone.
By the end of this year, Rater estimates around 600,000 people will have enjoyed 700 performances at the four downtown venues, a number that will rise to around 900 after a full year of “Million Dollar Quartet.” And after adding another 200 shows via the City of Lights Center, close to a million people may see over 1,100 shows in 2027.
Studies by a marketing firm confirms that “if you build it they will come,” he said confidently.
Plenty of credit for those statistics, of course, go to Rater and his creative sidekick, Artistic Director Jim Corti, who he hired not long after arriving in Aurora. But none of his goals would have gotten off the ground, Rater points out, without plenty of behind-the-curtain support from the ACCA board of directors and the continued financial buy-in from the city of Aurora.
The pandemic forced so many such venues to close or scale back, Rater noted.
“We knew that in order to survive we had to grow,” he said.
To do anything else, he continued, would be compromising the caliber of Paramount musicals that patrons have grown to expect.
Too many struggling theaters, he added, are giving audiences a mediocre experience at best. “And that is not what we do. We want to provide an elevated experience, not just for customers but also performers, at all our venues.”
Which now could include Aurora’s largest stage yet. And why not, asks Rater.
“We are going to come out big. We are the second largest city in the state, after all.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
