Andrea Prestinario, Nathan M. Hosner Lead Paramount's MY FAIR LADY

The Paramount Theatre's new Artistic Director Jim Corti, who also will stage the inaugural production in the Aurora theater's first-ever Broadway musical subscription series, has announced the principal cast and design team for his fall opener, My Fair Lady.

Andrea Prestinario, Jeff Award winner for Best Actress as Violet in Bohemian Theatre Ensemble's Side Show in 2007, will play the Cockney flower girl turned refined lady Eliza Doolittle. Nathan M. Hosner, recently seen in Chicago Shakespeare Theater's acclaimed production of The Madness of King George, has been tapped to portray Henry Higgins.

Also cast in My Fair Lady: "the first couple of Chicago theater" - John Reeger and Paula Scrofano - as Colonel Pickering and Mrs. Pearce; multiple Jeff Award winning Best Actress Mary Ernster as Mrs. Higgins; two-time Jeff Award winner Andy Lupp as Alfred P. Doolittle; James Lee Glatz as Freddy Eynsford-Hill; Susan Gosdick as Mrs. Eynsford-Hill; and Mike Erickson as Zoltan Karpathy.

In addition to this impressive list of top-notch Chicago actors, an all-ages chorus of 22 actors/dancers/singers will bring the loverly world of My Fair Lady to vibrant new life on the Paramount stage. What's more, My Fair Lady will mark the official debut of the Paramount Theatre Orchestra, a 21-member live music ensemble who will provide full orchestration for all four Broadway series musicals in 2011-2012.

Behind the scenes, Paramount's My Fair Lady design team includes Jim Corti, director and choreographer; Shawn Stengel, music director/conductor; Jim Dardenne, scenic designer; Melissa Torchia, costume designer; Michael Rourke, lighting designer; Ray Nardelli, sound designer; MerEdith Miller, properties designer; Robert Quinlan, assistant director; Monique Haley, associate choreographer; William Collins, stage manager; and Donald Claxon, assistant stage manager.

My Fair Lady will run September 14-October 2, 2011 at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., in the heart of downtown Aurora, Illinois. The performance schedule is Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Press opening is Friday, September 16 at 8 p.m.

Already, more than 10,000 music theater fans have taken advantage of the Paramount's introductory Buy Two Shows, Get Two Shows Free Broadway subscription offer, which includes My Fair Lady, plus Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (November 2-November 20, 2011), A Chorus Line (January 18-February 5, 2012) and Hair (March 14-April 1, 2012). With packages starting as low as $70, Paramount Broadway series subscribers will enjoy four incredible musicals for the price of just one show downtown.

Single tickets to My Fair Lady ($34.90-$46.90) are also on sale now. To purchase subscriptions or single tickets, go to ParamountAurora.com, call the Paramount box office, (630) 896-6666, or visit the box office Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and 2 hours prior to evening performances.

More about the Paramount's production of My Fair Lady

One of the greatest American musicals ever written, My Fair Lady is the sweeping tale of a common flower girl and the distinguished professor who bets he can make her a refined lady. With book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe, this glorious musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1912 classic masterpiece, Pygmalion, features lavish sets, gorgeous period fashions, and songs you've long loved such as Wouldn't It Be Loverly?, The Rain in Spain, I Could Have Danced All Night and I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face. Funny, sweet and delightful in every way, Paramount audiences will soon be reminded why My Fair Lady is the standard by which all other musicals are written.

"Thanks to everyone who auditioned for Paramount's My Fair Lady. I'm proud to announce casting an all-Chicago, all-star ensemble for our inaugural production. Beautiful Andrea Prestinario is ‘Eliza,' thrillingly singing like I've never heard her before, promising a dazzling vocal performance and drawing nuanced, stirring sensitivity in the role. Tall, dashing Nathan Hosner is ‘Henry,' with an impressive, classically trained authority, intriguing instincts in his approach and an imposing, beautiful voIce To match," said Corti. "With their chemistry, a stellar supporting cast and a gifted ensemble of singers and dancers, I can't wait for rehearsals to begin next month. All this imbued with the creativity of our A-list designers hard at work has got me so excited for the theatrical experience in store for our audience. Join me for the opening of our first season in September. See you at the Paramount!"

Andrea Prestinario (Eliza Doolittle) is a Chicago-based actress, singer, and dancer who has been performing in the Midwest since the age of six. In 2007, she won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role for her work as "Violet" in Side Show with Bohemian Theatre Ensemble. A graduate of Ball State University in Musical Theatre, Prestinario began her professional career at 11 years old when she was cast in the long-running Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond at the Chicago Theatre. She also has worked with such companies as Writers' Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Timeline Theatre Company and Theatre at the Center.

Nathan M. Hosner (Henry Higgins) most recently played Mr. Pitt in The Madness of King George at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. His credits also include As You Like It at Chicago Shakespeare, the title role in Macbeth (First Folio Theatre); Measure for Measure, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, Henry V, 50-Minute Macbeth (The Shakespeare Project of Chicago); and What Every Woman Knows, The Apple Cart (ShawChicago). Regional credits include the title role in Hamlet, Othello, The Three Musketeers, The Comedy of Errors, All's Well That Ends Well (Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where he serves as an Associate Artist); Dracula, Comedy of Errors (Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre); Wit, The Seagull, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Comedy of Errors, Moonlight and Magnolias (BoarsHead Theater); King Lear, As You Like It (Illinois Shakespeare Festival); The Importance of Being Earnest, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Tartuffe (Door Shakespeare); and Lombardi/The Only Thing (Madison Repertory Theatre). Hosner is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London.

A quick scan of new artistic director Jim Corti's resume reveals why residents of Chicago's western suburbs, as well as musical theater fans from all over Chicago, have reason to celebrate his arrival at Aurora's Paramount Theatre. Corti is the only person to win a Jeff Award for directing (Sweet Charity & Blues in the Night), choreography (Singin' in the Rain) and acting (Grand Hotel), and he was the only director to have two productions - Cabaret at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace and O Coward! at Writer's Theatre in Glencoe - named to the Chicago Tribune's "Top 10 list of 2009." He is a sought-after director and choreographer, having served major Chicago theaters including the Goodman, Steppenwolf, The Second City, Northlight, Victory Gardens, American Theater Company and The Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. Moreover, Corti is a veteran Broadway actor and dancer, with credits including the New York cast of Ragtime, A Chorus Line, and Candide as well as the national tours of Urinetown, Cabaret and Bob Fosse's Dancin'. His most recent projects include staging Aida at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrance, and choreographing American Theater Company's acclaimed remount of the original Grease.

About The Paramount Theatre

Earlier this spring, the Paramount Theatre turned heads by announcing it would self-produce its first-ever Broadway at the Paramount series in 2011-12, presenting three-week runs of the popular musicals My Fair Lady, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, A Chorus Line and Hair, each featuring Chicago's top professional directors, actors and designers.

In addition, the Paramount is packing even more top drawer entertainment into the theater's 80th anniversary schedule, including The Bacon Brothers, the percussive explosion Blast!, the ballroom dance extravaganza Burn the Floor, the fiery magic of Celtic Fire, comedians Frank Caliendo, Bill Engvall, country legend Josh Turner, renowned songstress Mary Chapin Carpenter, Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Luft, rock and roll legends Huey Lewis and the News, Los Lobos, Cyndi Lauper with Dr. John, the popular Chicago band Poi Dog Pondering, amazing rock tribute concerts the Happy Together Tour, The Pink Floyd Experience and Almost Elton John and The Rocket Band, new "popera" phenoms Il Voce, family-friendly shows like illusionist Mike Super, The Flying Karamazov Brothers, The Von Trapp Children, and Frank Ferante in An Evening with Groucho, two New Year's Eve performances of Sandy Hackett's Rat Pack Show, the side-splitting comedy Southern Fried Chicks, the nostalgic musical Route 66, and an all-new Classic Movie Mondays series.

Celebrating its 80th season in 2011-2012, 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 Ten Theatres" by the League of Chicago Theatres, the 1,888-seat Paramount Theatre, located in the heart of downtown Aurora at 23 E. Galena Boulevard, attracts an annual audience of more than 150,000, and is nationally renowned for the quality and caliber of its presentations, superb acoustics and historic beauty.

The Paramount Theatre continues to expand its artistic and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Executive Director Tim Rater, Artistic Director Jim Corti, a dedicated Board of Trustees and a devoted staff of live theater professionals. For more information and a complete performance schedule, visit ParamountAurora.com.

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