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Paramount in Aurora unveils its fifth season

Two musical masterpieces and two recent Broadway hits make up the Paramount Theatre's 2015-16 season, its fifth since the Aurora venue started self-producing its own productions.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's groundbreaking "Oklahoma!" opens the season (Sept. 16 to Oct. 18) in a production directed by Paramount Theatre artistic director Jim Corti. It will also feature recreations of Agnes de Mille's original 1943 choreography.

After a 2011 stint at the Chicago Theatre and its Tony Award-nominated Broadway run in 2012, "A Christmas Story ­- The Musical" returns to play through the holiday season (Nov. 25 to Jan. 3). Nick Bowling from TimeLine Theatre in Chicago directs this adaptation of Jean Shepherd's beloved quirky tale, most famously known from its 1983 film version.

Amber Mak directs and choreographs the Broadway smash "Hairspray" (Jan. 20 to Feb. 21), the acclaimed 2002 adaptation of John Waters' 1988 film about a plus-size 1960s teenager who helps desegregate a Baltimore teen TV show.

Closing the season is "West Side Story" (March 16 to April 24). Corti directs this jazzy 1950s take on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" by playwright Arthur Laurents, original director/choreographer Jerome Robbins and songwriters Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.

Current Paramount Theatre subscribers can renew now and add friends and family through Sunday, April 26. New subscriptions start at $82 and are available Monday, June 1. For more information, call (630) 896-6666, go online at paramountaurora.com or visit the box office in person at 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora.

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