Porchlight Music Theatre Offers New Faces Sing Broadway 1979

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PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE PRESENTS NEW FACES SING BROADWAY 1979 WITH HOST MULTI-AWARD WINNER ALEXIS J ROSTON AS PART OF THE OUT BACK SUMMER SESSIONS CONCERT SERIES PRESENTED BY THE NORTH SHORE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS IN SKOKIE, SATURDAY, JUNE 12 AT 8 P.M. CDT Tickets are Now on Sale for New Faces Sing Broadway 1979, Directed by Brianna Borger and Music Directed by Linda Madonia, the Popular Series that takes the North Shore Audience on a Musical Trip Celebrating the 1979 Broadway Season with Songs, Sing-Alongs and More

CHICAGO – Porchlight Music Theatre announces its first live, in-person concert this year with the latest New Faces Sing Broadwayseries production, New Faces Sing Broadway 1979, with host multi-award winner Alexis J Roston, directed by Brianna Borger and music directed by Linda Madonia. This concert is part of the Out Back Summer Sessions concert series presented by the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 N. Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The performance is held outdoors in the North Shore Center in Skokie’s 31,000 sq-ft back parking lot. Ticket reservations are general admission and are sold to groups of persons in the same accepted health safety bubble. The performance begins Saturday, June 12 at 8 p.m. CDT. Groups are escorted to designated spots by the North Shore Center in Skokie’s staff beginning at 7 p.m. CDT. Patrons are asked to bring their own chairs with seating location based on date of purchase and at the full discretion of management. Tickets are $35 and $45 per person, with group seating available for two – six people, and are now on sale at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org. Groups who would like to be seated near each other may indicate this on the ticket order form or call the Porchlight box office when ordering tickets at 773.777.9884.

(L to R, top row) Micah Beauvais+, Adia Bell*, Chloe Belongilot*, Wesly Anthony Clergé+, Haley Gustafson*^, (middle row) Drew Mitchell+, Mia Nevarez*, Laura Quiñones*, Christopher Ratliff+ and Nathe Rowbotham^. (bottom row) Director Brianna Borger*, Music Director Linda Madonia* and Host Alexis J Roston* Pronoun key: +(he/him/his); *( she/her/hers); ^(they/them/theirs), =(any with respect)

Porchlight Music Theatre’s New Faces Sing Broadway series returns this June with New Faces Sing Broadway 1979. Join award-winning Porchlight in its North Shore Center in Skokie debut.  Host Alexis J Roston and the New Faces, a cast made up of the next generation of talent, takes the audience on a musical journey from the start to the finish of the 1979 Broadway season in 90 minutes with songs, historic information, trivia and sing alongs. The latest New Faces features songs from the Broadway shows Evita, Sweeney Todd, They’re Playing Our Song and others.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT OUT BACK SESSIONSHEALTH SAFETY GUIDELINES, AS PROVIDED BY THE NORTH SHORE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS IN SKOKIEThe official CDC and State of Illinois guidelines and protocols followed will evolve over the next coming months. The Out Back Summer Sessions will require face coverings and social distancing measures. The requirements at the North Shore Center may be revised or loosened only once public health officials deem it safe. The North Shore Center in Skokie has taken enhanced health safety and cleaning measures to protect artists and patrons, and reduce risk of virus transmission. Patrons should understand their own personal health risks and take proper precautions in exposure decisions. An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending, participants assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19.
AMENITIESThe Out Back Summer Sessions are NOT drive-in style concerts. Patrons should bring their own chairs and blankets. While a concessions area with pre-packaged food, soft drinks, beer and wine will be available, patrons may bring their own food and drink. Outside alcohol is prohibited. Restrooms located inside the North Shore Center in Skokie are available for series concertgoers.

ABOUT ALEXIS J ROSTON, hostTime Out Chicago calls her “phenomenal,” and Showbiz Chicago raves “Roston holds the audience in the palm of her hand.” Alexis J Roston received resounding praise for her mesmerizing portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill at Porchlight Music Theatre, including Chicago’s Jeff Award, a Black Theatre Alliance Award and the Black Excellence Award. Other theatre credits include starring in Don’t Make Me Over— A Tribute to Dionne Warwick (Jeff Award Nomination, Black Theatre Alliance Award Nomination), Porgy and Bess (Bess), Ragtime (Sarah), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Charlaine), Shrek: The Musical (Dragon), The Wiz (Addaperle), The Piano
Lesson (Grace), Crowns (Jeanette), Company (Sarah), Godspell (Joanne), Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, Hairspray, Smokey Joe’s Cafe and additional productions of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. An ensemble member of Congo Square Theatre, Roston served as director and playwright of A Nativity Story: More Than A Miracle. Her television credits include  “Chicago PD” and “Chicago Code.” Roston has starred in the concerts I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues, A Very Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song.

ABOUT BRIANNA BORGER, director Brianna Borger has been a professional singer and actor for over 20 years, with 15 of those spent in Chicago. At Porchlight, Borger has previously directed New Faces Sing Broadway 1961 and 1956. She has appeared in Chicago at a variety of theatres including Writers Theatre, Windy City Playhouse and the Mercury Theatre. Regionally, she has performed at Peninsula Players, The Armory, Northern Stage and Alaska Shakespeare Festival and was part of the Broadway Asia The King & I tour. Borger has been twice nominated for the Jeff Award and teaches musical theatre voice and audition technique for students and professionals. ABOUT LINDA MADONIA, music directorLinda Madonia has been musical directing in the Chicago area for more than 25 years including Porchlight’s recent Chicago Sings Rock & Roll Broadway and the 2019 critically acclaimed production of A Chorus Line. Other credits include Pirates of Penzance and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for Music Theater Works and Forbidden Broadway: SVU at The Royal George Theater. Other credits include Grand Hotel and Nunsensations at Drury Lane Water Tower Place and Gigi, She  Loves Me and Me and My Girl at Theater at the Center. Madonia has also been the music director for Chicago’s Equity and non-union Joseph Jefferson Awards numerous times. She owns American Eagle Productions, an educational theatre that has presented 300 shows and workshops a year in  Chicago area schools for the past 28 years.

ABOUT NORTH SHORE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS IN SKOKIEThe North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie is a dynamic two-theater complex operating as part of the Village of Skokie’s plan to provide cultural, literary and educational programs to benefit Chicago’s North Shore. The facility features an 867-seat mainstage theater and a convertible 318-seat theater. The North Shore Center presents a Feature Series of entertainment spanning numerous genres and styles, and an educational performing arts program, YOUTHEATRE. The Center is home to producing theater company Northlight Theatre, Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra, Music of the Baroque and numerous other cultural organizations and special rental events each year. ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATREPorchlight Music Theatre is the award-winning center for music theatre in Chicago. Through live performance, youth education and community outreach we impact thousands of lives each season, bringing the magic of musicals to our theatre home at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in the Gold Coast and to neighborhoods across the city. Porchlight has built a national reputation for boldly reimagining classic musicals, supporting new works and young performers, and showcasing Chicago’s most notable music theatre artists, all through the intimate and powerful theatrical lens of the “Chicago Style.”

Now in its 26th season, Porchlight’s quarter-century production history includes more than 70 mainstage works with 15 Chicago premieres and five world premieres. Porchlight’s commitment to the past, present and future of music theatre led the company to develop the Porchlight Revisits and New Faces Sing Broadway program series, both quickly becoming audience favorites.

Porchlight’s education and outreach programs serve schools, youth of all ages and skill levels and community organizations, most notably the ongoing collaboration with Chicago Youth Centers. Porchlight annually awards dozens of full scholarships and hundreds of free tickets to ensure accessibility and real engagement with this uniquely American art form.

The company’s many honors include 178 Joseph Jefferson Award (Jeff) nominations and 45 Jeff awards, as well as 33 Black Theatre Alliance (BTA) nominations and 12 BTA awards. In 2019, Porchlight graduated to the Large Theatre tier of the Equity Jeff Awards, and was honored with eight nominations in both technical and artistic categories and won three awards in our inaugural year in this tier, most notably Best Ensemble for Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies.

Through the global pandemic, Porchlight has emerged as one of Chicago’s leaders in virtual programming, quickly launching a host of free offerings like Sondheim @ 90 Roundtables, Movie Musical Mondays, Porchlight by Request: Command Performances and WPMT: Classic Musicals from the Golden Age of Radio. For the 2020-2021 season, Porchlight’s fall schedule included all-new ticketed virtual programs including Broadway by the Decade, New Faces Sing Broadway 1987, Chicago Sings Rock & Roll Broadway, New Faces Sing Broadway 1961 and the return of The Ruffians’ Burning Bluebeard as well as collaborations with Hershey Felder and L.A. Theatre Works. Porchlight continues to announce new premium and free offerings in 2021.

Porchlight Music Theatre announces its first live, in-person concert this year with the latest New Faces Sing Broadway series production, New Faces Sing Broadway 1979. This concert is part of the Out Back Summer Sessions concert series presented by the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 N. Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The performance is held outdoors in the North Shore Center in Skokie’s 31,000 sq-ft back parking lot. Ticket reservations are general admission and are sold to groups of persons in the same accepted health safety bubble. The performance begins Saturday, June 12 at 8 p.m. CDT. Groups are escorted to designated spots by the North Shore Center in Skokie’s staff beginning at 7 p.m. CDT. Patrons are asked to bring their own chairs with seating location based on date of purchase and at the full discretion of management. Tickets are $35 and $45 per person, with group seating available for two – six people, and are now on sale at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org.  Groups who would like to be seated near each other may indicate this on the ticket order form or call the Porchlight box office when ordering tickets at 773.777.9884.
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Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from Actors’ Equity Foundation; Allstate; Bayless Family Foundation; Michael Best & Friedrich LLP; Chapman | Spingola, LLP; Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation; Gen Ops Plus; Elegant Event Lighting; Glimpse Vision; James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation; Hearty Boys; A.L. and Jennie L. Luria Foundation; The MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at Prince; the Pritzker Traubert Foundation; Ryan and Spaeth, Inc.; Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation; The Saints and Dr. Scholl Foundation.

The season program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency, and by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
Porchlight Music Theatre wishes to thank members of the Matching Gift Corporate Program including abbvie; Allstate; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Peoples Gas; Pepsico; Polk Bros Foundation and The Saints.