Tuesdays with Corti: Change is Happening

It’s about time to check-in with you, dear reader! I’m thinking it might be good to look at this “pause” as more of a “reset.” Is anything literally at a standstill? Within this temporary suspension so much change is happening. Daily work on developing health and safety protocols is being put into the return of our audience and Paramount’s staff, artists and crews – if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s last week’s letter from President and CEO Tim Rater on “Reopening.”

In-house, Paramount’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee has been assembled. From within our Paramount Family we have been getting the inside story – the hard, honest, truth-telling perspective on how to do more, do better, together. Dear friends, this is only the beginning of our heartfelt commitment to change.

Another example of the lack of stasis is the renovation of The Copley Theatre, which of course came to a halt there for a bit and has been safely restarted – the $2 million project began pre-Covid early this year and the intimate 165-seat space will be complete by the end of 2020. I had to drop by the office to pick up some mail (we are still working from home) – jaw-dropping, my eyes bugged outta my head to see the changes to the upstairs lobby and the addition of a new balcony bar space! The theater itself is now a beauty of an intimate amphitheater wrapped around a performance space ready to explode with challenging, adventurous works and new voices!

God willing, we will soon know how and when we will be opening our doors and getting back on the job to serve you!

So ya see, not much has actually shut-down around here – things are incredibly active and developing to be ever-ready when we get the green light and GO! (Covid can just eat our dust!)

If any of this moves you to participate in funding any or all of the change going on around here, please don’t hesitate to join us and contribute to the action going on. We are not on hold – internally, virtually, socially and culturally we continue to serve the City of Aurora and our theater arts community – God willing, we will soon know how and when we will be opening our doors and getting back on the job to serve you!

Love and thanks,

Jim
he/him