Paramount earns 26 2024-25 Jeff Award nominations

Aurora’s Paramount Theatre reached for the stars during Chicago’s 2024-25 theater season, and its commitment to excellence paid off with yesterday’s news that Paramount earned 26 nominations - more than any other Chicago theater - in Chicago’s 2025 Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards.

Six Paramount productions earned 26 nominations across categories for outstanding performance, direction and design. Paramount’s tally was topped by its circus-inspired, Broadway Series staging of Cats with nine nominations, followed by Paramount’s Chicago Regional Premiere of Disney’s Frozen the Broadway Musical, with eight.

Nominations for Waitress, also part of the Broadway Series, Paramount’s BOLD Series productions Peter and the Starcatcher and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and its immersive staging of Million Dollar Quartet at its new Stolp Island Theatre brought Paramount’s total nominations to 26, besting Chicago’s Goodman and Court theaters with 21 nominations each.

This year’s total also toppled Paramount’s record for most nominations in a single year, which previously stood at 18 during the 2016-2017 season.

“The Jeff Committee, the critics and more than 40,000 Paramount subscribers agree: Paramount is producing the very best large-scale musicals in the entire Chicago area,” said Paramount President and CEO Tim Rater. “This is our tenth consecutive year for multiple nominations, which we see as strong recognition for the work consistently being produced by our amazing artists on stage and behind the scenes. In addition, our patrons and the City of Aurora share in the excitement every year. Indeed, we all have much to take pride in and be thankful for.”

In sum, since the Jeffs started judging Paramount’s productions in 2015, Paramount has been honored with 150 Jeff nominations and 31 wins, including six Jeff Awards in 2022 for Kinky Boots, including Best Musical-Large, Paramount’s fourth win in the most coveted category following Sweeney Todd (2017), West Side Story (2016) and Les Misérables (2015).

Following is the full list of Paramount’s 26 nominations for outstanding performance, direction and design in Chicago theater during the 2024-25 season. Mark your calendars: the 2025 Equity Jeff Awards will be announced on Monday, September 29 at the Harris Theatre in downtown Chicago. For tickets and to see the total list of nominees, visit jeffawards.org.

Cats - 9 nominations

Production - Musical - Large
Ensemble - Musical or Revue

Director - Musical - Large - Trent Stork

Costume Design - Large - Izumi Inaba

Lighting Design - Large - Greg Hofmann
Choreography - Kasey Alfonso
Music Direction - Kory Danielson
Artistic Specialization - Wig, Hair, and Makeup Design - Katie Cordts

Artistic Specialization - Circus Choreography - Sylvia Hernandez-DeStasi

Disney’s Frozen the Broadway Musical - 8 nominations

Director - Musical - Large - Trent Stork

Performer in a Principal Role - Musical - Beth Stafford Laird (Anna)

Scenic Design - Large - Jeffrey D. Kmiec
Costume Design - Large - Mara Blumenfeld
Lighting Design - Large - Greg Hofmann

Music Direction - Kory Danielson
Projection Design - Paul Deziel
Artistic Specialization  - Puppet Design - Jesse Mooney-Bullock

Million Dollar Quartet - 3 nominations

Production - Musical - Large
Director - Musical - Large - Jim Corti and Creg Sclavi
Scenic Design - Large - Jeffrey D. Kmiec

Peter and the Starcatcher - 3 nominations

Ensemble - Play
            Performer in a Supporting Role - Play - Nick Sandys (Black Stache)

            Sound Design - Large - Eric Backus

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - 2 nominations

Ensemble - Musical or Revue
Performer in a Supporting Role - Musical - Elizabeth Stenholt (Olive)

Waitress - 1 nomination

Performer in a Principal Role - Musical - Michelle Lauto (Jenna)

Paramount’s 2025-26 Broadway Series just weeks away

Looking ahead to more award-winning, Broadway-caliber productions, Paramount’s 2025-26 Broadway Series launches with the Chicago Regional Premiere of Come From Away, a breathtaking musical about September 12, 2001, and the days that followed, on stage August 20-October 12.

Paramount Theatre’s four-play 2025-26 Broadway season also boasts Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (November 12, 2025–January 11, 2026), the Chicago Regional Premiere of Dear Evan Hansen (February 4–March 22, 2026) and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific (April 29-June 14, 2026).

Just as it has since it launched its first Broadway Series in 2011, Paramount still offers the same “Buy Two Shows, Get Two Shows Free” offer, with packages starting as low as $60. That’s four Broadway-quality musicals for less than the price of one show in downtown Chicago. Plus, Aurora boasts easy, affordable parking and a host of new restaurants all around.

That’s not all! Paramount’s immersive production of Million Dollar Quartet continues to rock in Paramount’s new Stolp Island Theatre, 5 E. Downer Place, Suite G in downtown Aurora. The critically acclaimed jukebox musical celebrating the music of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley has surpassed the one-year mark, and has been extended a third time, through January 4, 2026. All seats remain just $66 (when purchased in-person; additional fees may apply for phone and online orders). Don’t wait, as performances continue to sell-out.