Around 14 years ago, Tim Rater, now 50, arrived from another suburban venue to run Aurora’s historic Paramount Theatre, a 1931 art deco movie palace designed by the famous architectural team of C. W. and George L. Rapp. The 1,885-seat theater was held by a non-profit entity overseen by the City of Aurora and, unlike other Rapp & Rapp theaters, had already undergone an extensive and well-conceived renovation in the 1970s. But in its programming, it was offering a traditional mix of non-union touring shows and one-night comics and musical acts. Beyond its doors, its influence was limited. By the 1990s, a troubled downtown Aurora was far more in the thrall of its new riverboat casino, one of the first floating gaming emporia in Illinois. Everything has changed. The Hollywood Casino is now leaving downtown Aurora for a new spot near the interstate, a move that would appear to be bad news for the downtown. And indeed, it would be so, were it not for the Paramount and its CEO, Tim Rater. Thanks to Paramount and Rater, downtown Aurora no longer needs its casino. The Paramount, and by extension the arts, have taken over. On a recent weekend, the Paramount was packed to the gills with a sold-out crowd watching the theater’s production of Disney’s “Frozen,” a critical and popular hit and the latest self-produced Paramount show in Aurora to employ mostly Chicago-area talent, in huge numbers. That’s a consequence of one of Rater’s best ideas, early in his tenure: to replace the often sad-sack non-Equity tours the theater had been booking with the Paramount’s own Broadway Series under the artistic direction of Jim Corti. From “Billy Elliot” to “Rock of Ages” and “Kinky Boots” to “Cats,” the family-friendly hits with full-sized orchestras have kept coming for more than a decade. Even cynics have been won over. “Everything we have been able to achieve has flowed from our Broadway Series,” Rater said in a recent interview. “Success was built on success.” What is that “everything”? Aside from the flagship Paramount itself, Rater has opened a new theater, The Stolp Island Theatre, an immersive venue named for a tiny island in the middle of the Fox River and now reigniting the southern end of downtown with a sold-out production of “Million Dollar Quartet,” which has been running for months. Across the street from the Paramount is the Copley Theatre, where Second City has been playing a holiday show, also to sold-out crowds, and where a 2024 Paramount production of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” made end-of-year lists. That’s hardly the whole story: Rater’s Paramount also programs Aurora’s RiverEdge Park venue, currently home to a Christmas market attracting thousands but, come summer, a busy location for outdoor music and festivals of all kinds. And, if that were not enough, plans emerged in 2024 for an entirely new arts venue in downtown Aurora, a roughly 4,000-seat indoor concert-friendly space that will be built from the ground up and could serve, among others, the growing Latino music and entertainment market in Illinois. Those plans have yet to be fully fleshed out, but Rater said he is “very optimistic” that the new venue will soon be another game-changer for Aurora and the western suburbs. Through all of this growth, Rater has kept his focus on keeping programming populist and prices low. The theater’s classic movie series costs just a few bucks for families to enjoy, and even “Frozen,” which has a level of spectacle fully comparable to (in fact, in excess of) what audiences typically see in downtown Chicago, has a pricing structure that lands far lower than is typical in downtown Chicago. That’s a benefit of the theater’s huge capacity and a lower cost structure than in the Loop, not to mention lower taxes. Parking in Aurora is easy, customer service is at a high level and thus this weekend this once-shabby downtown is humming with arts programming accessible to almost everyone. Without Rater, it’s fair to say almost none of this growth would have happened. No one could reasonably have anticipated that Aurora, which is less affluent than most surrounding suburbs, would turn into an entertainment mecca that content creators like Disney are beginning to notice. Rater says he hopes to remain in his job at least through Paramount’s upcoming 100th anniversary, some seven years away. “I want us to close the downtown to celebrate,” he says, “and pack all our venues with people.” A fabulous idea. “I have always felt there is such opportunity here,” Rater says, “even if it has felt a little bit like a dream that it has all worked out the way it has. But this community has always offered us a lot of support. People love the Paramount.” Indeed they do. But it took the right person to bring this historic people’s palace back to life and spread its influence far beyond its walls. Chris Jones is a Tribune critic. [email protected]