News

This year marks the 10^th Annual Grand Marquee Gala at The Paramount Theater. The Gala serves as the main fundraising event for the nonprofit Theater, and supports the dynamic programming, arts education opportunities, and access to the arts for everyone in the community.

“Seas The Paramount” will take place on Saturday, January 25, and will include entertainment, food and cocktails, a silent auction, a raffle, and dancing on the stage. Our silent auction items are donated by generous community members, and include the following:

• Ten days in London in a fully restored 1^st floor Victorian bright and sunny pied-à-terre
• A guitar signed by Ronnie Milsap, Del & Dawg, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Kip Moore
• A watercolor painting of the Rotunda, by Lucy Clare Spooner
• An eight-day Viking River Cruise for two people
• A one-hour family portrait session in Charlottesville
• Two signature epicurean experiences showcasing food and wine pairings from Easton Porter Group’s Charlottesville collection: Red Pump Kitchen and Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards
• A Wilderness Systems Ride 115 kayak
• A basketball signed by legendary Coach Tony Bennett
• A private movie screening on The Paramount’s Big Screen
• Personal training sessions from Elevate Training Studios and yoga classes at FlyDog Yoga
• Especially designed and constructed for the Gala by Lee Angelo Marraccini at Marraccini Designs: sterling silver earrings inlaid with black mother of pearl on sterling silver French hooks
• Several Paramount event ticket packages
• And so much more!

To purchase tickets, learn about sponsorship participation, and peruse the evening’s schedule of events, visit www.theparamount.net/annual-gala. For questions regarding sponsorship opportunities, or to RSVP, please contact Major Gifts Officer Chris Faulkner at chrisfaulkner@theparamount.net or 434-293-1009.

Photography by Rob Garland Photographers

The Paramount Theater’s own Executive Director Chris Eure was recently honored as one of The Daily Progress’s Distinguished Dozen for her commitment to ensuring The Paramount is a place where everyone can gather to celebrate the arts. “Arts are the great equalizer,” Eure says in the article, “and The Paramount was built to be just that.” To read the full article, visit The Daily Progress online.

Gifts and goodies and holiday cheer—it’s that time of year! It’s the season of giving, and wouldn’t it be wonderful to give to charity without stretching your wallet too thin? You can do exactly that with AmazonSmile! This holiday season, when shopping for your friends and family on AmazonSmile, you can donate to your favorite nonprofit organization, such as The Paramount, at no extra cost to you.

It may sound too good to be true, but it’s really that simple. AmazonSmile is operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice.

The Paramount Theater is already registered as a charitable organization on AmazonSmile. In order to donate a percentage of your purchase price to the Theater, go to smile.amazon.com, where you can sign in using your Amazon.com account. On your first visit to AmazonSmile, you can select The Paramount Theater as your organization of choice, and Amazon will remember your selection. Tens of millions of products on AmazonSmile are marked as “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” on their product detail pages.

Using AmazonSmile is just one of many ways you can support The Paramount. To speak with someone about making a gift, please contact Chris Faulkner, Major Gifts Officer, at (434) 293-1009 or email chrisfaulkner@theparamount.net. As always, The Paramount is grateful for its supporters, who make it possible for the Theater to put on free events, subsidize ticket costs and provide financial assistance to students via the Arts Education Program, and so much more!

America’s longest-running touring theatre company, National Players, performed The Diary of Anne Frank at The Paramount on Tuesday, December 3, as part of the Arts Education Program. The afternoon and day after the performance found the National Players conducting a variety of workshops with Drama and English classes at Charlottesville High School (CHS), impacting nearly 200 students, most of whom attended the play.

The National Players offer seven different workshops, three of which they brought to CHS: “Text in Context” and “Word to Action: Playwriting,” conducted in English classes, and “Acting and Improv,” conducted in first-year Drama classes.

Cathy von Storch, The Paramount’s Education & Outreach Manager, said of the workshops conducted in English classes: “Students had a chance to get an inside look at the lives of the Players as actors and educators, discuss themes of the play and historical context, and engage in sharing their own stories through short writing exercises. They created one-act (3 line) plays, and did other activities to help contextualize understanding the events of the play, and draw connections between Anne’s world and their own.”

“Drama students learned some tricks of the trade from the Players,” von Storch added, “and they even had a chance to impress the Players with their own amazing talents!”

CHS theater representatives took to Twitter to thank The Paramount and National Players for “[providing] these amazing young people with both an incredibly powerful production of The Diary of Anne Frank…and two days of workshops with members of the [National Players] ensemble.”

The Diary of Anne Frank was just one of eleven live arts performances scheduled for area students during the 2019-20 school year. The Paramount Arts Education Program is committed to presenting the finest arts education performances for students in Central Virginia. A record-breaking 18,667 students and teachers attended Arts Education performances last year, and over 195,000 have attended since 2004. With the support of Arts Education Partners, The Paramount Theater is able to offer performances at a reduced cost or free of charge, thus ensuring that these programs are accessible to all students.

From the very first “Thank you, Thank you very much” after Matt Lewis, aka Elvis, first stepped on stage to the Theater’s applause, this year’s Christmas with Elvis did not disappoint. The event opened up with Big Ray and the Kool Kats’ set list consisting of funky classics such as James Brown’s “I Feel Good” and The Isley Brothers’ “Shout.” Once “Elvis” joined Big Ray and the Kool Kats, all eyes were glued on the King as he performed all of the fan-favorites such as “Burning Love,” “Always On My Mind,” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Audience members spent the night “shake, rattle, and rolling” in their seats as Matt Lewis worked the stage with all of the famous Elvis dance movements and three costume changes. The show concluded with women running to the stage as Matt Lewis handed out his scarves with a touch of sweat to all of the eager ladies. After the performance, Matt Lewis took to the Lobby for a Meet and Greet with hundreds of fans that made their way to the Theater. If you happened to miss this epic evening of Rock and Roll be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the King’s return to the Theater!

Country music star Chris Janson is a “live legacy in the making” (Rolling Stone). The platinum-selling recording artist of hits like “Buy Me A Boat” and “Fix a Drink” is bringing his Real Friends Tour to The Paramount on Friday, March 20, and tickets are on sale now!

In the four years since the release of his debut album, the three-time CMA nominee has collected prestigious accolades that place him amongst country music greats, including two No. 1 singles. Janson’s new album Real Friends dropped in October, and his Real Friends Tour kicked off the month before that. His newest single, “Done,” was the most-added single on Country Radio with 48 first-week adds. Not only has Janson been busy touring and climbing the charts, but he’s also been making headlines as of late, and we’ve complied them for you here.

On November 26, Janson was one of Dolly Parton’s musical guests on Dolly Parton: 50 Years at the Opry. The two-hour special chronicles Parton’s 50 years as a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and Janson helped celebrate her musical legacy with a performance of “Mule Skinner Blues.”

If you watched the 93^rd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, you may have seen Janson perform his hit song “Good Vibes” on a float with the Jolly Green Giant. On Instagram, the singer wished his fans a day full of turkey and “good vibes.”

Country music fans enjoyed a special treat from Janson on December 3. Following Brad Paisley’s hilarious 1-hour television special, Brad Paisley Thinks He’s Special, the Country Music Association’s (CMA) 10^th Annual Country Christmas brought some of country’s biggest stars to the stage to perform holiday classics. The star-studded lineup included Janson, who gave an energetic performance of “Run, Run Rudolph” that included impressive harmonica solos throughout the song.

On December 5, Janson performed at the inaugural Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards in Nashville. He once again broke out that epic harmonica, and we hope he’ll do it again when he performs live at The Paramount this spring!

Hundreds of middle and high school students from as far away as Culpeper County gathered at The Paramount on Tuesday, December 3, for the National Players live performance of The Diary of Anne Frank, presented by the Arts Education Program.

The Diary of Anne Frank, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and adapted by Wendy Kesselman, is a stage adaptation of the book The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. National Players brings the true story of this incredibly insightful young girl that is often read in school to the stage in hopes of inspiring the next generation to stand up for justice rather than sit back in apathy.

Established in 1949 and based at Olney Theatre Center in Maryland since 1952, National Players is America’s longest-running touring theatre company. Founded on the principle of prioritizing areas with limited access to theatre, National Players company consists of 10 early-career theatre artists who spend 10 months touring the United States. This is the troupe’s 71^st tour.

A Q&A followed the performance, during which the National Players answered questions from the students, ranging from curiosity about the music selections to the actors’ ages.

After the performance, the National Players conducted an improv workshop with a class of drama students at Charlottesville High School (CHS). On Wednesday, they’ll return to CHS to provide 7 more workshops to English and drama classes. Stay tuned to find out what these high school students learned from these ambitious performers!

Hosting the award-winning National Geographic Live series on The Paramount’s stage is a highlight of our year. This annual series welcomes National Geographic photographers to share the stories behind capturing their incredible work, whether in our oceans, forests, or outer space. Our first installment of the season took place on Thursday, October 10, when we welcomed in more than 1,000 students and teachers for the opening of the 2019-20 Arts Education Season. The daytime performance was followed that evening with a presentation to a public audience of 500 patrons. Mark your calendars to join us this February when photographer Shannon Wild joins us to share her work in Pursuit of the Black Panther, and in May when Kevin Hand takes us out of this world with The Search for Life Beyond Earth.

Paramount Presents: National Geographic Live – Shannon Wild, Pursuit of the Black Panther, FEBRUARY 7 AT 7PM

Q: What drew you to photograph the black panther?

A: “My husband and I came across of photo of the panther on Instagram and knew immediately we wanted to pitch a documentary about it, since one hasn’t been professionally documented in the wild before.”

Q: How do you handle frightening situations such as being charged by elephants or bitten by snakes?

A: “The positive far outweighs any negatives given that I love animals and being around them.  It’s part of the job, and every job has its risks—mine are just a little more unique than most.”

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the trials you’ve faced during the making of your documentary?

A: “Oh, so many, which I’ll detail in my talk and certainly too many to list here—but without giving too much away, apart from the day to day challenges of filming wildlife in general, I also managed to break my back. You’ll have to come along to hear all about it!”

Paramount Presents: National Geographic Live – Kevin Hand, The Search for Life Beyond Earth,
MAY 8 AT 7PM

Astrobiologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Kevin Hand searches for life beyond Earth. He is currently helping plan a NASA mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa to investigate evidence of a vast subsurface ocean—a body of water that could sustain primitive forms of life on this alien world nearly 600 million miles from our planet.

Based at Pasadena’s world-famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Hand designs instruments for the probe that will travel to Europa. To gain perspective on the conditions these instruments will have to endure, and to see how microbes eke out a living in our world’s harshest climes, Hand has traveled to the most forbidding environments on Earth. He has conducted studies on the glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro, the valleys of Antarctica, and the depths of our oceans.

Aside from his compelling scientific work, Hand founded Cosmos Education, a nonprofit organization that empowers some of Africa’s poorest children through science, health, and environmental education. In 2005, Hand appeared alongside director James Cameron in Aliens of the Deep, applying his knowledge about extraterrestrial environments to Earth’s own unexplored territories. And in the summer of 2012, Hand joined Cameron’s team on his historic Challenger Deep dive into the Marianas Trench, the deepest place on the planet. Join Hand at The Paramount on May 8 for a firsthand report on the search for real extraterrestrials.