Photos: First Look at SWEAT at the Copley Theatre

After two years of waiting, Paramount Theatre will launch its new BOLD Series next month, bringing a new, four-show subscription series and a new type of live theater - fearless, unexpected and thought provoking - to the heart of Aurora's downtown entertainment district.

The inaugural production is Sweat, Lynn Nottage's acclaimed modern-day drama about life in an American Rust Belt town being battered by the constant threat of company shutdowns. Sweat is the winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play and a landmark achievement of American theater. Performances are March 9th - April 24th, 2022. There are two press openings: Wednesday, March 16, and Thursday, March 17 at 7 p.m.

Just as exciting, Paramount will lift the curtain on its new home for its BOLD Series, the newly remodeled Copley Theatre, right across the street from Paramount at 8 E. Galena Blvd., in the North Island Center. Following a two-year, $2 million, top-to-bottom renovation, the Copley is no longer an unknown, underutilized space, but an intimate, state-of-the-art theater with 165 comfortable new seats and a modern new lobby bar, ready to attract more audiences to downtown Aurora.

Sweat is set in a bar in an impoverished American town, where factory workers gather to laugh, talk, and drink their cares away, despite the constant threat of company shutdowns. When promotions and layoffs are rumored, tensions and jealousy begin to rip apart their community. Can friendships and family endure when all hopes of economic stability and mobility disappear? An intense examination of race, class and the human costs of capitalism, Sweat captures the ever-present battle between human needs and business in America's Rust Belt.

Veteran Chicago director Andrea J Dymond is director. The cast features Jordan Anthony Arredondo (Oscar), Tiffany Bedwell (Jessie), Linda Gillum (Tracey), Joshua L. Green (Brucie), Bryant Hayes (Evan),, Shariba Rivers (Cynthia), Randy Steinmeyer (Stan) and Gage Wallace (Jason). The production team includes Jeffrey D. Kmiec, scenic designer; Yvonne L. Miranda, costume designer; Jessica Neill, lighting designer; Jeffrey Levin, sound designer; Jesse Gaffney, properties designer; David Woolley, fight choreographer; Khalid Long, dramaturg; Jinni Pike, stage manager; and Lanita VanderSchaaf, assistant stage manager.

Previews start Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Press openings are Wednesday, March 16, at 7 p.m. and Thursday, March 17, at 7 p.m. Sweat runs through April 24. Show times are Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Thursdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $67 to $74.

The Copley Theatre is located at 8 E. Galena Blvd., in the North Island Center, directly across the street from Paramount Theatre in downtown Aurora. For tickets and information, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Note: Sweat is suggested for ages 16 and up due to strong adult language, racial slurs and stereotypes, violence and political content.

In order to break down barriers to experiencing live theater, Copley Theatre will offer two Pay What You Can performances of Sweat: Thursday, March 10 at 7pm, and Saturday, March 12 at 3pm. Both days, starting at 10 a.m., visit the Paramount Theatre box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in-person to request tickets. Customers will be asked how much they'd like to pay and will simply pay what they can. Limit four tickets per person. Offer not valid toward previous purchases. Online or phone purchases are not permitted. The Pay What You Can initiative is part of Paramount's new program, REACH (Resources Expanding the Arts and Connecting Humanity). For the latest updates, visit ParamountAurora.com or follow @ParamountAurora on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Check out these production photos from the upcoming play below!

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