Paramount’sMillion Dollar Quartetfeatures (top, from left)Garrett Forrestal (Jerry Lee Lewis), Bill Scott Sheets (Johnny Cash), Alex Swindle (Elvis Presley) and Christopher Wren (Carl Perkins) with (bottom) Dan Leali (Fluke), Madison Palmer (Dyanne), Sam Pearson (Sam Phillips), Jake Saleh (Brother Jay) and Haley Jane Schafer (Marion).
DirectorsJim CortiandCreg Sclaviare working with a “million dollar” production team includingKory Danielson, music director;Jeffrey D. Kmiec, scenic designer;Matt Guthier, costume designer;Greg Hofmann, lighting designer;Adam Rosenthal,sound designer;Mike Tutaj,projections designer;Katie Cordts, wig, hair and makeup designer;Jonathan Berg-Einhorn, properties designer;Ethan Deppe, electronic music designer;Susan Gosdick, dialect coach;Max Fabian, fight and intimacy director;Devon Hayakawa, dramaturg;Bill Scott Sheets, associate music director;Rebecca J. Lister, stage manager; andEmily Hanlon, assistant stage manager.Book byColin EscottandFloyd Mutrex. Original concept and direction byFloyd Mutrix.
Previews ofMillion Dollar Quartetstart July 10. Opening Weekend is July 19-21. Show times are Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. though December 29, 2024.
Tickets toMillion Dollar Quartetare $65. For tickets and information, visitparamountaurora.com, call(630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount Theatre box office,23 E. Galena Blvd., Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until show time on show days.For updates, follow @ParamountAurora onFacebook,Instagramand @paramountarts onLinkedIn.
Stolp Island Theatre is located at5 E. Downer Place Suite G, facing the Fox River in downtown Aurora. It’s just a block and a half from Paramount Theatre, the 1,888-seat Art Deco palace, home to Paramount’s blockbuster Broadway Series and the largest subscription base in the nation, and the 165-seat Copley Theatre, where Paramount presents its BOLD Series of more intimate works.
“Our 2017 Broadway staging ofMillion Dollar Quartetremains an audience favorite, and has always been one of our top requested shows to ‘bring back,’” saidJim Corti, Paramount Artistic Director and co-director ofMillion Dollar Quartet. “Not only are we bringing it back, but this new production will be staged in a whole new way, where audiences are going to feel surrounded by amazing musical talent and the dazzling production values they’ve come to expect from Paramount.”
Creg Sclavi, who is both project manager supervising construction of Stolp Island Theatre, and co-directingMillion Dollar Quartetwith Corti, added, “When audiences walk inside, they’ll encounter dramaturgical displays about the history behind one of the most seminal nights in music history. Making their way through a 1950s downtown Memphis streetscape, they’ll then step inside a theatrical recreation of Sun Studio, with seats all around. It will feel like Elvis, Jerry Lee, Johnny and Carl are treating them to a personal, intimate, one-of-a-kind live music experience.”
Talk about popular demand: when tickets went on sale in May, the first four weeks of shows sold out in 30 minutes. The first eight weeks sold out in less than 48 hours. The day after tickets went on sale to the general public, due to box office demand, Paramount announced an extension through the end of the year, December 29, 2024.
“Aurora is already a destination for Broadway-caliber musicals at Paramount Theatre, our BOLD Series in our intimate Copley Theatre, and live outdoor concerts at RiverEdge Park,”saidTim Rater, President and CEO, Aurora Civic Center Authority. “Now, we’re adding an all-new theater experience, just a block away, right on the Fox River.WithParamount’s commitment to doing more and better, and the City of Aurora’s commitment to the arts and downtown, we are the model that others can look to as to how the performing arts can revitalize a community.”
Stolp Island Theatre received a multi-year funding commitment fromVerano, a leading multi-state cannabis company that operatesZen Leaf Aurora, located at740 Illinois Route 59, and nine additional Zen Leaf dispensaries across Chicagoland.
Director and lead cast bios
Jim Corti(Paramount Artistic Director, co-director,Million DollarQuartet) is fresh from co-directing Paramount’s 12th Broadway Series finale,Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, with Johanna McKenzie Miller. Corti inaugurated Paramount’s Broadway Series with President and CEO Tim Rater in fall 2011 with the critically acclaimedMy Fair Ladyand a subscriber base of 12,500 patrons. In 2015, Paramount’s Broadway Series became Jeff Award eligible. Since then, Paramount has garnered 115 nominations with 29 wins, including three consecutive Best Large Musical awards forLes Misérables,West Side StoryandSweeney Todd. Corti helmed all three, and won Best Director for two of them,Les MisérablesandSweeney Todd. Corti also directed Paramount’sFiddler on the Roof,Miss Saigon,RENT,The Who’s Tommy,Oklahoma!,Mamma Mia!,Million Dollar Quartet,Once,The Producers,Newsies,Groundhog Day: The Musical,Next to Normal,and co-directedInto the Woods,A Streetcar Named DesireandFun Home. A Broadwayveteran, he appeared in the original New York casts ofRagtimeandCandide, joined the long runningA Chorus Line, and toured nationally inUrinetown,Cabaretand Bob Fosse’sDancin’. Other highlights include being the only director to have two productions in the same year in theChicago Tribune’s2009 list of 10 Best Shows for Drury Lane’sCabaretand Writers Theatre’sOh, Coward!He remains the sole honoree to have won Jeff Awards as an actor (Marriott’sGrand Hotel), choreographer (Drury Lane’sSingin’ in the Rain) and director (Paramount’sSweeney ToddandLes Misérables, Drury Lane’sSweet Charityand Northlight’sBlues in the Night).
Creg Sclavi(Stolp Island Theatre Project Manager, co-director,Million Dollar Quartet) hasspent the past year project-managing the construction of the new Stolp Island Theatre. His credits include associate director,Next to Normal(Paramount’s BOLD Series) and assistant director,Murder on the Orient Express(Maltz Jupiter) andDead Man’s Cell Phone(FSU/Asolo). Sclavi earned a BFA in Musical Theatre at UW-Stevens Point, and a MFA in Acting at FSU/Asolo Conservatory).cregsclavi.com
Garrett Forrestal(Jerry Lee Lewis)is making his Paramount debut. Since his first production ofMillion Dollar Quartetin 2022, Forrestal has dreamt of doing the show in an intimate space. He has performed all over the country and is especially excited to call Chicago home for the next bit of time.
Bill Scott Sheets(Johnny Cash) returns to Paramount after playing Johnny Cash in its acclaimed 2017 Broadway Series production ofMillion Dollar Quartet. His credits includeMillion Dollar Quartet Christmas(2021, 2022, 2023 national tour and original cast album),Million Dollar Quartet(Norwegian Cruise Line and more) andRing of Fire(Drury Lane, Palace Theater). Concert performances includeCash vs. The King,Million Dollar ReunionandDecember of ‘63.billscottsheets.com
Alex Swindle(Elvis Presley)is a singer, musician, National Grand Champion and 2015 Ultimate Elvis Top Ten World Finalist from Birmingham, Alabama. Growing up in a household of musicians, Swindle discovered his passion for performing at a very young age. After twelve years of performing as an Elvis tribute artist, he brings to the stage the thrill and charged atmosphere that’s reminiscent of young Elvis in his Sun record days of 1956. A genuine southern gentleman, Swindle presents to his audience a raw talent and compelling charm much like Elvis at the beginning of his career.
Christopher Wren(Carl Perkins)is making his Paramount debut and entering Sun Studios for the 16th time since starting with the 2015-2016 national tour ofMillion Dollar Quartet. Off-Broadway credits includeGod Loves My People BestandIva: The Myth of Tokyo Rose. Other credits includeThe Buddy Holly Story,Hank Williams: Lost Highway,The Civil WarandBig River. TV credits includeBilly on the Street(truTV) andDates from Hell(ID.)
The cast ofMillion Dollar Quartet(from left) - Bill Scott Sheets (Johnny Cash), Christopher Wren (Carl Perkins), Garrett Forrestal (Jerry Lee Lewis) andAlex Swindle (Elvis Presley)take a stroll along the Fox River, right in front of Paramount Theatre’s new Stolp Island Theatre,5 E. Downer Place, Suite G, in downtown Aurora. Credit: Amy Nelson
