Paramount Theatre postpones entire Broadway season for a year

Aurora's Paramount Theatre has postponed its entire 2020-2021 Broadway season for a full year, President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Rater said in a letter Friday to patrons.

The decision comes as entertainment venues across the country struggle with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Despite our best efforts, we can't find a path forward for this season," Rater wrote. "We don't know when a vaccine will be developed and available or when capacity restrictions will be lifted, but we do know that, for the foreseeable future, it would be difficult to do shows and keep everyone safe."

Rater said the plan is to open "Kinky Boots" on June 30, 2021, and then officially launch the theater's 10th anniversary Broadway season next Sept. 1.

Scheduled performances of Killer Queen, Frank Caliendo, Jay Leno and Straight No Chaser are still on sale and, Rater hopes, will take place as scheduled next spring and summer, beginning with Killer Queen on April 3.

Next year's Broadway schedule will feature "Rock of Ages" from Sept. 1 to Oct. 17, 2021; "Cinderella from Nov. 10, 2021, to Jan. 9, 2022; "Groundhog Day" from Jan. 26 to March 13, 2022; and "Ragtime" from April 13 to May 29, 2022.

Subscribers who bought tickets for this season's shows will have those tickets applied to the same four shows next year.

"A theater is a sanctuary that bonds strangers through shared experiences, awakens the heart through powerful performances and stirs the soul through transformative stories," Rater wrote. "We understand the void that is created by Paramount's stage being bare.

"We know this impacts our community. Please know, our lights are merely dimmed right now, and after this intermission, they will shine brighter than ever. We will all be together when that curtain rises again and the overture fills the air."

For detail, call the theater box office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays at (630) 896-6666.