Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...Sadness and self-awareness make up the most desirable of things to be felt at a production of "Cabaret," a masterpiece of musical theater penned as a cautionary tale and not at all leavened by the embrace of paradox. This is revival work of the highest level - and a remarkable showcase of what this young Chicago director can do."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...In director Katie Spelman's masterful staging for the Paramount in Aurora, Sally (Kelly Felthous) is easy to love. As such, she makes the audience complicit with the monstrous evil encroaching on Berlin and the world around it. Sally is smart and funny and lights up every room she enters. She also scorns any mention of "politics" as boring. "Cabaret" eventually forces the audience to realize that if you don't care about politics, you don't care about people. You don't care about who is oppressed or who goes to war. Close to eyes to the fray, and you become complicit with the atrocities within it."
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...Sleaze and unease masterfully underscore the best productions of "Cabaret," and Paramount Theatre's version has both in equal measure. Director/choreographer Katie Spelman takes it one step further, framing her dark and uncomfortably prescient take on this groundbreaking musical -- set against the Nazis rise to power -- with horrified hindsight."
Let's Play at ChicagoNow - Recommended
"...We can honestly say, we weren't sure how the audience received Cabaret. Most left the theater in a quiet somber which possibly had to do more with the weather and snow. There was applause, but mostly there was a calm, serene focus in the air; which I believe happens when you mix love and a hateful history of the past. With love, hate abuse, depressed feelings and a gambit of many emotions that beguiled us for 2 hours & 35 minutes production; one can only wonder. Did you clap? Do you even know when to applause or what to applause or praise? Complexity at its finest is when you have to think about why you reply before react."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"... It seems that no matter what play or who directs and /or choreographs it, The Paramount Theatre in Aurora comes out as a HIT!. There are those who say it is the D.U.I. of Jim Corti, the Artistic Director. In this case, DUI means Direction under the influence of the master, Mr. Jim Corti. From day one, this theater has glistened with the creativity of this genius, and it seems all of the staff in this fantastic theater follow his lead ( and that of Tim Rater, CEO & President). Thanks to these fine gentlemen, Aurora has a theater that the entire city can be proud of!"
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Chicagoans will find this Kit Kat Klub ablaze with talented performers and musicians, generating enough heat to counteract the cold February winds blowing outside. Despite the many recent local productions of this musical, in light of our country’s current political climate this one truly deserves a look. It reflects the feeling many share that history’s repeating itself, while demonstrating again the excellence of the Paramount Theatre. This production also reminds audiences of the grit and greatness that Kander and Ebb created in their musical about a city called Berlin, a fictional nightspot called the Kit Kat Klub and a girl named Sally Bowles. She sings that “everybody loves a winner.” Well, Sally must’ve been thinking of this sensational production, because a winner it is!"
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Highly Recommended
"...It is not a reinvention. It’s something more – a reawakening. And its wonderful, wicked and woeful dirge to a vainglorious age gone by (and another time we fear may be all too near) is not to be missed."
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...Cabaret is always a difficult show both to produce and to watch. The 1966 Kander and Ebb musical features several wonderfully comic numbers from “Don’t Tell Mama” to “If You Could See Her Through My Eyes,” but ultimately its message is one of foreboding and impending darkness. It is a difficult balancing act to handle well. The great news is that the new production at Aurora’s Paramount Theatre is able to hold onto the delicate tension between comedy and pathos brilliantly."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...What stands out most in this production is its exploration of the individual characters against the backdrop of greater political themes. This is true even in the second act where the characters perform with the rising tide of fascism (in the form of a Nazi flag) literally hanging over their head. We feel them become unnerved and understand their futile struggles against a great evil. It is this expression of vulnerability that makes the production well-worth the long drive to Aurora."