Alumni of the Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department are in the cast and production team of West Side Story at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Illinois.

Allyson Graves (BFA ’12), a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Musical Theatre Performance BFA program, is playing Graziella and is also the production’s dance captain. Graves has previously appeared at the Paramount in Hairspray, Oklahoma!, and Mary Poppins.

Jesse Klug (BFA ’05), a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Theatre Design BFA program, is the show’s lighting designer. He has designed many shows at Paramount, including the theatre’s 2015 production of Les Miserables, for which Klug was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award. Kory Danielson, a former student in the Theatre Department’s Musical Theatre Performance BFA program, is the assistant music director and associate conductor.

Also appearing in the show are Columbia College Chicago Dance Department alums Erin Kilmurray (BA ’08) and Tiffany Krause (BA ’12), graduates of Columbia’s Dance BA program, making their Paramount Theatre debuts in the roles of Velma and Clarice respectively. Kilmurray is also the assistant choreographer.

The production is directed by Broadway veteran Jim Corti, a former Columbia College Chicago musical theatre dance teacher.

West Side Story opens Saturday, March 19, at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, where it runs through April 24. For tickets, call 630-896-6666 or click here.