Paramount Theater’s Route 66 got off to a fast start last April, winning critics and wowing ever-growing audiences as the hit musical revue about America’s favorite highway raced to the front of Chicago’s crowded spring theater season. 

The Paramount announced it is extending Route 66 beyond its original June 10 closing date, and putting the popular jukebox musical on cruise control for a nice long summer ride through Aug. 19.

Route 66 is performed in the intimate Copley Theater, 8 E. Galena Blvd., across the street from the Paramount in downtown Aurora. There will be a one week hiatus after the original closing date, June 10, and shows will resume on Wednesday, June 20. Show times are Wednesday at 1:30 pm; Friday at 7:30 pm; Saturday at 8 pm; and Sunday at 3 pm.
Watch Route 66 cast members Adam Michaels, Rusty Koenig and Dan Beno announce the extension of Route 66 on YouTube
Beginning with the sounds of 1950s Chicago and traveling along the Main Street of America to the California coast and the surf music of the 1960s, Route 66 features 34 of the greatest “Rock ‘n’ Road” hits of the 20th century including “Dead Man’s Curve,” “King of the Road,” “Little Old Lady From Pasadena,” “Beep Beep,” “Six Days On The Road,” “G.T.O.,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” and many more.
In short, take a dollop of Grease, mix in some Pump Boys & Dinettes and add a generous dose of Forever Plaid, and you’ve got the high-octane fun of Route 66.
When it opened in April, the Daily Herald called Route 66 “A rousing and rocking musical revue” featuring “a super-talented cast with plenty of charisma who can sing and play most anything.” Lake County Journal made the show a “Critic’s Choice,” and SpotlightonLake.com added “These guys are soooo talented…and not hard to look at either.”
Exceptions: No shows July 4 through July 8, and no shows Friday and Saturday, June 15 and 16; Saturday, July 14; and Saturday, August 18 due to downtown Aurora’s Blues on the Fox, Retro Rock on the Fox and Jam on the Fox festivals respectively.
Tickets to newly added performances of Route 66 remain only $29. For tickets and information, go to ParamountAurora.com, call the Paramount box office,
(630) 896-6666, or visit the Paramount box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm, and 2 hours prior to evening performances.
Generous group discounts are available. For information call (630) 723-2461 and ask for Melissa Streidl.
Stacey Flaster, Route 66 director and choreographer, has been praised by the Chicago Tribune as “fearless…a young director making her mark on the world of Chicago musicals.” Flaster also staged Paramount’s smash hit Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor© Dreamcoat last season, and has dozens more credits directing and choreographing elsewhere including Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Theatre at the Center, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Light Opera Works, Noble Fool Theatricals, Steppenwolf and Provision Theatre. She also has been nominated for two Jeff Awards for her choreography.