Paramount in Aurora cuts Bold Series as city looks at pulling back on its financial support

Yahoo

06-08-2025

The Paramount Theatre is putting on hold its Bold Series as the city of Aurora looks at pulling back on discussed financial support of the organization.
The Aurora Civic Center Authority, which owns and operates the Paramount Theatre, sent a letter to subscribers on Monday announcing that the hiatus of the Bold Series would begin after the final performance of its current production, 'True West,' on Aug. 31 at the Copley Theatre in downtown Aurora.
According to the letter, the city's previously-communicated financial support of the organization could be reduced by up to 65%, a change made after programming and budgeting had already been committed for 2026.
'This decision was not made lightly. The Bold Series has been a vital and vibrant part of our programming, offering compelling, provocative, and important work in an intimate setting,' authority officials said in the letter. 'We are immensely proud of the stories told on the Bold stage and the artists who brought them to life.'
In addition to the Paramount Theatre, the Aurora Civic Center Authority owns and operates the Copley Theatre, Paramount School of the Arts and North Island Center plus manages the city-owned RiverEdge Park and Stolp Island Theatre.
The move comes amid budgetary concerns at the city of Aurora, with Mayor John Laesch saying at a recent public meeting that the city is facing a 'significant hole' between revenue and expenses in 2026, and that the city has been giving the Aurora Civic Center Authority 'way too much.'
However, on Tuesday, Laesch told The Beacon-News that the Paramount is 'an important crown jewel in the city of Aurora,' and that he would 'work hard to make sure it doesn't shut down on my watch,' though it isn't close to doing that. He previously said that the Paramount is 'vital for our downtown' and, without it, many of the restaurants in downtown would likely end up closing.
The newly-announced move to put the Bold Series on hold means the upcoming productions of 'Covenant' and 'Ride the Cyclone' in the series are canceled, and those with tickets will be refunded, according to the organization's letter to subscribers.
The change will take the organization's overall programming from 900 to around 700 performances annually, and further reductions both in theater and school programing may be coming, the letter said.
Plus, the Aurora Civic Center Authority reduced its full-time staff by around 20% early this week, President and CEO Tim Rater said.
In response to the authority's announcement about the programming cuts, the Actor's Equity Association released a statement calling Laesch's proposed funding cuts a 'betrayal,' citing promises he made on his campaign Facebook page of 'more art, more community,' and to 'continue supporting the Paramount.'
The Actor's Equity Association is a labor union that represents over 50,000 professional actors and stage managers.
However, Laesch said he has been consistent in calling for the Aurora Civic Center Authority to find a way to become financially stable, including during his time as an alderman at-large on the Aurora City Council.
'It's very frustrating that it's reached crisis mode,' he said. 'Some changes could have been made and adjusted sooner. It could have been made under the previous administration.'
Actor's Equity Association Assistant Executive Director for the Central Region, Andrea Hoeschen, called on the Aurora City Council to reverse the proposed cuts. She warned in the statement that the cuts would mean fewer jobs and would harm the city's economy, as patrons who come downtown to attend shows often also pay for things like food and parking.
'This budget is short-sighted and will only hurt the city in the long run,' Hoeschen said in the statement.
According to the Aurora Civic Center Authority's 'financial facts' webpage, the organization brought out more than 630,000 people in 2024 across performances and events held at Paramount Theatre, Copley Theatre, Stolp Island Theatre and RiverEdge Park. Of those attendees, more than 80% came from outside Aurora, according to the webpage.
The most recent national Arts & Economic Prosperity study, which was referenced on the authority's webpage, found that those who attend nonprofit arts or culture events spent more than $38 per person per event, not including the cost of the ticket. Based on those numbers, the Aurora Civic Center Authority likely generated around $24 million just from those who attended its performances and events in 2024.
The authority's website also highlighted the growth that has taken place in downtown Aurora since the Broadway Series started at the Paramount Theatre in 2011, noting the opening of many new businesses, restaurants and residential properties along with several renovation projects. According to the city's own Downtown Revitalization Open Data Portal, the 'growth and evolution' of downtown in recent years has been 'largely anchored in the arts and supported by a vibrant small business community.'
The Aurora Civic Center Authority has so far not been funded by local property taxes, according to the organization's 'financial facts' webpage.
Before 2021, the authority only got money through the city as part of a redevelopment agreement with the downtown Hollywood Casino, the webpage says. Because the casino was built on land owned by the authority, it gets a portion of the head tax paid by the casino and collected by the city.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Aurora gave some of the funds it received through the federal American Rescue Plan Act to the authority, among other local organizations, according to the webpage. In total, the authority has received over $11.5 million in federal funds from the city since 2021, the webpage states.
The Aurora Civic Center Authority was facing a $7 million gap in its 2026 budget, and under former Mayor Richard Irvin, the city was considering filling that gap as part of a larger plan to make the organization financially self-sufficient again, Rater said.
The $7 million in planned support from the city represented roughly 20% of the organization's overall yearly budget, he said.
But, just days after being elected as the city's new mayor, Laesch said that the City of Lights Center, a 4,000-seat theater and event space that would have been managed by the Aurora Civic Center Authority, was 'pretty much dead.'
The proposed venue was seen by proponents as a significant piece of the three-part plan to make the Aurora Civic Center Authority financial sustainable, but Rater said that since the project is no longer happening, it makes sense that Aurora would work to reduce the amount it supports the authority as it faces larger budgetary constraints.
Although Laesch has said that the center would cost too much and didn't make much sense to him or others, Rater previously said it would have helped the organization be financially stable without the city's help, which was backed by data compiled by CH Johnson Consulting, a Chicago-based real estate consulting firm.
The city previously intended to take out bonds to pay for the authority's $7 million budget gap and start construction on the City of Lights Center this year as part of the second phase of the three-part plan, according to past reporting.
Now, under a new mayoral administration and in the midst of the 2026 budgeting process, the city is looking to give the Aurora Civic Center Authority far less. City staff previously calculated that the city could afford to support the authority with around $2.5 million, but further along in the budget process, that number may be less, Laesch said.
'I understand that ACCA doesn't want a steep decline. Neither do I, but the math is going to drive that number,' he said.
Aurora Civic Center Authority officials said in their letter to subscribers that, if the city of Aurora's 'financial outlook and willingness to support our programming' shifts in the future, they are optimistic that they will get the chance to bring back the Bold Series and other programs.
Rater is hopeful that the city and the authority can work together to reach a 'common sense' number that both are comfortable with, he said. But if the city does end up funding the authority far under the $7 million mark, that would mean additional cuts beyond what have already been made, though it is unclear right now where those cuts would come from, according to Rater. He said the Paramount School of the Arts' programing and staffing could be impacted, along with other programs.
Laesch said his administration has made suggestions to the Aurora Civic Center Authority on ways to become more financially stable, including by adjusting subscriptions and ticket prices.
But when asked about the idea, Rater said tickets were already competitively priced with other theaters, and that the authority is committed to making its shows accessible to the community. However, the tickets can get expensive, and the prices do go up each year, he said.
The Aurora Civic Center Authority could only do what's profitable, but that would mean less shows, less people and less activity downtown, according to Rater. As a municipal corporation, its mission is to bring people downtown and expose them to the arts, he said, not turn a profit.
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