RENT dazzles at Paramount Theater

The road to some of Chicago's best theater now runs to Aurora. The Paramount Theater has reclaimed its place as one of our area's best show houses. RENT, the current production, continues that trend. How good is RENT?

Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times, wrote in her review, "This is the best production of “Rent” I’ve seen, Broadway included."

The Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones said in his review, "...this is a very fulsome and expansive union "Rent," replete with the full Broadway charts for the band and staged on a colossal, exciting, Broadway-size set...."

If you're new to RENT, it's a story about love and life and living in the moment, combined with tremendous music and songs you'll sing long after the curtain closes. The show won both a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Award. The RENT press release describes the show by saying, "Based on the experiences of creator Jonathan Larson - and loosely inspired by the opera La Boheme - RENT follows a year in the life of a group of young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side.  From a poet and a musician to a lawyer and a drag queen, their lives are intertwined as they fight to survive in the Big Apple and, in some cases, fight for their mortality from HIV. In the end, friendship, love and the ability to maintain their individuality keeps these souls together while providing the unforgettable narrative thread for this groundbreaking musical."

Luckily for everyone in this area, it's easy to get to the Paramount Theater, where's there's plenty of free parking and lots of good restaurants for a pre-theater dinner. RENT is on stage through April 6, 2014. Tickets are $36.90 to $49.90, a very reasonable price for theater of this quality. For those considering taking the family, RENT would be rated R if it were a movie, with  strong adult language and themes. Just like a rated R movie, it is not recommended for audiences under 17.

The Paramount Theatre is located in downtown Aurora at 23 E. Galena Blvd. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit ParamountAurora.com or call (630) 896-6666.