New director on stage at the Paramount

Before moving to Charlottesville with her husband, a professional golfer, Julie Montross worked in the non-profit sector and served on Alexandria’s Commission for the Arts.

“You know in my personal life I’ve been advocating and supporting the arts for many, many years and was an artist myself for some time," she says. "That was as a dancer, and you reach an age and that goes away.”

She studied ballet, performed in musicals, mastered hip hop and tap. Now, she’ll turn her attention to marketing – drawing central Virginia back to the theater.

“There’s lots of multi-media distractions," she says, "but I think the real challenge right now is how do we rebound from an obviously very challenging couple of years.”

So far, the Paramount has scheduled a number of musicians who will appeal to an older crowd like Johnny Mathis and Buddy Guy, and communications director Andy Pillifant also touts programs for kids.

“The arts education program, obviously that was on pause with everything happening in school systems," he explains. "We’ll be making an announcement about that this summer. We’ve got Charlottesville opera company coming in July – doing the Sound of Music.”

On the big screen, the theater will feature Disney’s Moana, Back to the Future, Pirates of the Caribbean, and in celebration of the Paramount’s 90^th anniversary, the Blues Brothers for just 25 cents.