Press contacts: Jay Kelly jkelly@lcwa.com, 312.565.4623

orJim Jarvis, Paramount Theatre

jimj@paramountarts.com, 630.723.2474

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EXPERIENCE THE GORGEOUS SCORE, HEART AND HUMANITY OFMISS SAIGON, OCT. 30-NOV. 24 AT AURORA’S PARAMOUNT THEATRE

Paramount Theatre’s Miss Saigon features (from left) Joseph Anthony Foronda (Engineer), Shawna Haeji Shin (Kim),

Brandon Moorhead (Chris), Emilie Lynn (Ellen), W. Blaine Brown (Thuy), Elliot Greer (John) and Zachary Uzarraga (Tam).

Hi res candid photos from the first day of rehearsal of Miss Saigon are also available at http://paramountaurora.com/press-kits/

AURORA, IL, October 11, 2013 – Love, loss and the ultimate sacrifice…be a part of Paramount Theatre’s remarkable, emotionally charged staging of Miss Saigon, one of the most epic productions of modern musical theater.

Directed by Paramount Theatre Artistic Director Jim Corti, Miss Saigon is the second installment in the Paramount’s “Better than Broadway” 2013-14 Broadway series. Performances are October 30-November 24, 2013 at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, Ill. Press opening is Saturday, November 2 at 8 p.m. Single tickets are only $36.90 to $49.90. To purchase tickets, go to ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or visit the Paramount box office Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and 2 hours prior to evening performances.

From the creators of Les Miserables, Miss Saigon is the riveting story of an American solider that has fallen in love with a Vietnamese bargirl as the fall of Saigon is looming. Following a quick wedding and an evening of passion, the GI is forced to evacuate, pledging to return for his new bride. Years later, he learns his love escaped the country with their son he never knew…beginning a quest that will change everyone.

Miss Saigon is an experience filled with brilliant imagery, rich orchestrations, unforgettable lyrics and a story that will stir your heart. Director Jim Corti explains “Paramount is about producing large scale shows in a way Chicago audiences haven’t seen them before, while still remaining ever true to the authors’ intentions. As it alludes to Madame Butterfly, Miss Saigon is based on real lives and inspired by documentary photographs of the Vietnam War. This is simply an idea from where we are taking off. Paramount audiences can look forward to a very physical production that integrates compelling documentary imagery with the heat and color of live performance.”

To meet growing demand for its Broadway series, Paramount has extended each show’s run from three to four weeks in 2013-14. Show times are Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at

3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Miss Saigon is rated PG-13 for adult themes and language. -more-Paramount Theatre presents Miss Saigon – pg 2 of 3

Behind the Scenes of Paramount’s Miss Saigon

Corti sees “spectacular promise with the authenticity of youth and ethnicity with this thrilling cast” led by W. Blaine Brown (Thuy), Anthony Joseph Foronda (Engineer), Elliot Greer (John), Sophie Kim (Gigi), Emilie Lynn (Ellen), Brandon Moorhead (Chris), Shawna Haeji Shin (Kim), Zachary Uzarraga (Tam), with Aurora Adachi-Winter, Adrian Aguilar, Michael Bailey, Christopher Behmke, Bear Bellinger, Audrey Billings, Aaron Conklin, Jasmine Ejan, Nelson Green, Jake Klinkhammer, Dan Lin, Joyee Lin, Allison Lind, Richard Manera, Chip Payos, Geena Quintos, Creg Sclavi, Peter Sipla, Vi Tran, Matthew Uzarraga, Janelle Villas and J. Tyler Whitmer.

Principal cast member Anthony Joseph Foronda (Engineer) won a Jeff Award performing in the first and second national tours of Miss Saigon. Emilie Lynn (Ellen) started with Paramount in the ensemble of My Fair Lady, moved up to a principle in Hair, went on tour as Christine in Phantom of the Opera, and is now back as a principle in Miss Saigon. Brandon Moorhead (Chris) also appeared in Paramount’s My Fair Lady, Hair and as Fyedka in Fiddler on the Roof. Making their Paramount debuts are Shawna Haeji Shin (Kim), originally from South Korea, she recently appeared in The King and I at Ocean State Theatre; W. Blaine Brown (Thuy), a member of the acclaimed "Late Night Blue" jazz group; Elliot Greer (John), a recent graduate from The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York; and eight-year-old Zachary Uzarraga of Sugar Grove, Illinois in the role of Tam.

For Miss Saigon, veteran Paramount set designer Linda Buchanan (Annie) and projection designer Mike Tutaj (Hair, Annie, Fiddler on the Roof) have created a hybrid design of contemporary tragic opera and docu-drama, grounded in Buchanan’s stunning environment of red bamboo sculptured levels in a black surround. Combined with the exceptional singing, dancing, and acting talents of the cast, audiences will be immersed in a rich and fresh insight into Miss Saigon and its score, all set against Tutaj’s striking projection design using historical, non-fiction photography. The production team also includes Jeffery Hancock (choreographer), Linda Roethke (costumes), Jesse Klug (lights), Adam Rosenthal (sound), Sarah E. Ross (props), Dianne Morrissette (wigs), Rose Marie Packer (stage manager) and Beth Ellen Spencer (assistant stage manager).

Shawn Stengel (Music director/Conductor) will lead the Paramount Theatre Orchestra with live, lush, thrilling renditions of the play’s beloved musical score. Stengel returns to Paramount where he music directed and conducted the inaugural production, My Fair Lady, as well as Joseph. . . and A Chorus Line. In addition to conducting the Chicago productions of Billy Elliot and Wicked, both at the Oriental Theatre, Shawn was MD/conductor for the national tours of Crazy for You, And The World Goes ‘Round, and Cats, and played keys for Kander & Ebb’s The Visit, Sondheim’s Bounce (Goodman), Mamma Mia!, Chicago, and Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby. His Chicago music direction credits include Jeff nominations at the Marriott and Pegasus, plus Chicago Shakespeare, Northlight and the Royal George.

Jim Corti (Director) was hired in 2011 to be the first-ever Artistic Director in the Paramount’s 80+ year history. He was instrumental in launching Paramount’s inaugural Broadway Series, and directed and choreographed Paramount’s first self-produced Broadway show, My Fair Lady, which played to rave reviews. His production last season of Fiddler on the Roof at Paramount was similarly a smash hit, and he will next direct Paramount’s 2013-14 Broadway season finale, RENT, March 12-April 6, 2014. He is a seasoned veteran to Broadway productions, appearing in the New York casts of Ragtime, A Chorus Line and Candide. Corti has also appeared in the national tours of Urinetown, Cabaret and Bob Fosse’s Dancin’. Highlights from his body of work over three decades include: being the only director in Chicago to have two productions at the same time in the Chicago Tribune’s list of 10 Best Shows in 2009 – Drury Lane’s Cabaret and Writers’ Theatre’s Oh, Coward!. He is the sole honoree to have garnered a Jeff Award as an actor (in Marriott’s Grand Hotel), a choreographer (Drury Lane’s Singin’ In The Rain) and director (Northlight’s Blues In The Night and Drury Lane’s Sweet Charity). Other Chicago credits include choreographing The Original Grease (American Theatre Company), directing The Lost Boys of Sudan and The Snow Queen (Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre), and Meet Me In St. Louis and The Full Monty (Drury Lane). Corti has also served productions for Second City, Goodman and Steppenwolf theaters.

-more-

Paramount Theatre presents Miss Saigon – pg 3 of 3

Miss Saigon features music by Alain Boubil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, with lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boubil. The play’s inspiration stemmed from a news photograph that Schönberg found showing a Vietnamese woman parting with her child at Tan Son Nhut airport so that the child could have a better life with her G.I. father in America. It reminded him of Cio-Cio-San’s ultimate sacrifice in Madame Butterfly.

Miss Saigon opened on September 20, 1989 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London’s oldest and most historically important theatre. It proved enormously popular, becoming the longest running musical at that theatre, closing in October 1999 after a ten year run. Miss Saigon opened at the Broadway Theatre in New York on April 11, 1991 with a record $37 million advance. The public loved Miss Saigon and it became Broadway’s sixth longest running show at the time, seen there by more than 6 million people before closing after almost ten years in January 2001. It has received many awards including three Tonys and two Olivier Awards, and there are cast recordings in a variety of languages.

About The Paramount Theatre Still to come in Paramount Theatre’s 2013-14 Broadway series is 42nd Street (directed by Rachel Rockwell, January 15-February 9, 2014) and Rent (directed by Jim Corti, March 12-April 6, 2014). For tickets and information, go to ParamountAurora.com, or call (630) 896-6666.

The Paramount Theatre is the center for performing arts, entertainment and arts education in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. Named "One of Chicago's Top 10 Attended Theatres" by the League of Chicago Theatres, the 1,888-seat Paramount Theatre, located in the heart of downtown Aurora at 23 E. Galena Blvd., is nationally renowned for the quality and caliber of its presentations, superb acoustics and historic beauty.

The Paramount Theatre opened on September 3, 1931. Designed by nationally renowned theater architects C.W. and George L. Rapp, the theater captures a unique Venetian setting portrayed in the art deco influence of the 1930s. The first air-conditioned building outside of Chicago, the Paramount offered the public a variety of entertainment, including "talking pictures," vaudeville, concerts and circus performances for more than 40 years.

In 1976, Aurora Civic Center Authority purchased the Paramount and closed the theater for restoration. The $1.5 million project restored the Paramount to its original grandeur. On April 29, 1978, the Paramount Arts Center opened, offering a variety of theatrical, musical, comedy, dance and family programming. In 2006, a 12,000-square-foot, two-story Grand Gallery lobby was added, with a new, state-of-the-art box office, café and art gallery.

Today, the Paramount Theatre continues to expand its artistic and institutional boundaries under the guidance of President and CEO Tim Rater, Artistic Director Jim Corti, a dedicated Board of Trustees and a devoted staff of live theater professionals. Paramount’s 2013-14 Paramount Broadway Series is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank. Paramount’s 2013-14 General Season is sponsored by the Daily Herald. The 2013-14 season is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. For more information, visit ParamountAurora.com.

# # #