“SIMPLY SPECTACULAR” ★★★★
(out of 4 stars) – Chris Jones / Chicago Tribune
“This sting in the show’s tail had me sniffling in my seat Sunday night. Miss Saigon used to smack you over the head and make you emotionally numb, but this truly formidable (and, note, affordably priced) staging, replete with full orchestra playing the original orchestrations, embraces the populism of the piece without losing emotional complexity. Miss Saigon feels fresh, and I did not expect to write that again.
In a locale that gets less and less unlikely with every self-produced show at the Paramount Theatre, director Jim Corti’s thrilling new staging of this show manages to be at once progressive, counterintuitive and simply spectacular.”
“The most heartwrenching Miss Saigon ever.”
Highly Recommended – Hedy Weiss / Chicago Sun-Times
“Run to Paramount Theatre in Aurora; you will not regret it. Acting, voices, staging sublime. Opera house level.
Those familiar with the Paramount’s Broadway Series, now in its third season, need no reminder that this is not just Broadway on the Fox River, but Broadway at its most golden, with formidable actors, grand-scale design and a large, topnotch orchestra as givens.
Vividly directed by Paramount’s artistic director, Jim Corti — who has cast the show with actors who generate a powerful onstage chemistry, and whose acting is as formidable as their clarion voices — this Miss Saigon unfolds with immense momentum and intensity. Love, war and desperation mix with opportunism, cruelty and battered dreams from first beat til last, with a scorching score that moves from ballad to anthem, prayer to aria, seductive jazz riff to political rant.
Shawn Stengel’s expert musical direction, Jeff Hancock’s choreography and Linda Buchanan’s set (ever-reconfigured scaffolding and red bamboo poles, with dramatic lighting by Jesse Klug, sound by Adam Rosenthal and projections by Mike Tutaj), combining to heartstopping effect in a production not to be missed.”
“NOTHING SHORT OF SPECTACULAR”
– Dean Richards / WGN-Radio & TV
“MASTERFUL”
Highly Recommended – Alan Bresloff / Around The Town Chicago
“…the Paramount in Aurora has proven time and again that the talent in the Chicagoland area is far above that of any other major city…Shawn Stengel is the musical director, conducting his 20 talented musicians to perfection.”
“The real Broadway in Chicago.”
Highly Recommended – Colin Douglas / Chicago Theatre Review
“While Broadway in Chicago brings high quality plays and musicals to the city, Jim Corti, Artistic Director of Paramount Theatre’s Chicago-based productions of classic musicals, is consistently producing Broadway caliber productions with each offering and could be called ‘the real Broadway in Chicago.’
…This show should not be missed.”
“Lavish, lusty and lively. A spectacular accomplishment.”
Highly Recommended – Tom Williams / Chicago Critic
“Paramount Theatre’s Miss Saigon is lavish, lusty and lively. It is a first class production that is a ‘must see.’ …the last few scenes will hit you right in the heart.”
“Another fantastic show; nothing held back”
Recommended – Dean Richards / WGN-TV & Radio