Alumni of the Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department are in the cast and creative team of the professional Chicago-area regional premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Illinois. With a book by Harvey Fierstein and songs by Cyndi Lauper, Kinky Boots — the fun-filled story of a small-town shoemaker whose encounter with a drag queen unexpectedly changes his business and his life — runs August 18 through October 17, 2021. The production marks Paramount’s return to live performances for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. For tickets, click here.
Terrell Armstrong
De’Jah Jervai
Dakota Hughes
The show’s cast includes Columbia College alums Terrell Armstrong ’19 and De’Jah Jervai ’18, both graduates of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Musical Theatre, and Dakota Hughes ’15, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BFA Program in Musical Theatre Performance.
Darren Patin
Michael George
Isaiah Silvia-Chandley
Ben Barnes
Columbia alumni on the production’s creative/production team include associate director Darren Patin ’17, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BFA Program in Musical Theatre Performance, and co-choreographers Michael George ’16, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting, and Isaiah Silvia-Chandley ’18, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BFA Program in Musical Theatre Performance. And the production’s COVID safety officer is Columbia College alum Ben Barnes ’20, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Theatre with a Directing Concentration.
Kory Danielson
Jim Corti
Former Theatre Department student and staff accompanist Kory Danielson is the show’s music director and conductor. Theatre Department faculty member Susan Gosdick is the dialect coach. And Paramount’s artistic director, Jim Corti, is a former Musical Theatre Dance teacher in the Theatre Department’s Musical Theatre Program.
