Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce the cast for Chicago Sings Broadway Pop II, its annual fundraising concert, Monday, April 15, at the House of Blues Chicago, 329 N Dearborn St, co-directed by Porchlight’s Artistic Director Michael Weber and Producing Artistic Associate Frankie Leo Bennett, choreographed by Clayton Cross with David Fiorello as music director. This concert, with a new program of music, includes live performances by Chicago music theatre’s best loved artists, the presentation of the 2024 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago to Roberta Duchak by last year’s recipient Rick Boynton and more.
Chicago Sings Broadway Pop II offers attendees two ways to participate in this unforgettable night: a Main Floor ticket, $200 per person, includes reserved table seating on the main floor and access to the VIP cocktail hour with complimentary drinks and appetizer buffet before the performance and a Balcony ticket, $75 per person, hosted by the Porchlight Young Professionals, includes a standing-room spot on the first balcony and two drink tickets. In addition, a limited number of box seats are available for sponsors. Tickets and sponsorships are now on sale at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org.
Back by popular demand with an all-new program, this year’s Chicago Sings Broadway Pop II dives into more Broadway songs that have found their way onto the popular music charts and popular songs that have been heard on Broadway including All Shook Up, The Bodyguard, Chess, Back to the Future, On Your Feet, The Wiz and others.
The cast includes performers, in alphabetical order: Neala Barron (she/her); Darilyn Burtley (she/her); Devin DeSantis (he/him); Tafadzwa Diener (she/her); Kelly Felthous (she/her); Desiree Gonzalez (she/her); Becky Keeshin (she/her); Nik Kmiecik (he/him); Eric Lewis (he/him); Evan Tyrone Martin(he/him); David Moreland (he/him); Juwon Tyrel Perry (any with respect); Billy Rude (he/him); Bethany Thomas (she/her); Aeriel Williams (she/her) and Missy Wise Vanderzee (she/her) with dancers Emily Ling Mei (she/her); Nataki Rennie (she/her) and Jerod Turner (any with respect).
The band includes David Fiorello (he/him, conductor/keys); Ellie Kahn (she/her, keys 2); Matthew Beck (he/him, reeds); Greg Strauss (he/him, trumpet); Kelan M. Smith (he/him, guitar); Kara Olander (she/her, bass) and Justin Akira Kono (he/him, drums).
Creative team includes Michael Weber (he/him, director); Frankie Leo Bennett (he/him, director); Clayton Cross (he/him, choreographer); David Fiorello (he/him, music director); Andrew “Drew” Donnelly (he/him, production stage manager); Jack Zanger (he/him, asst. stage manager); Mia Maccarella (she/her, asst. stage manager); John McTaggart (he/him, technical director); Danny Carraher (he/him, asst. technical director); Matt Reich (he/him, audio/video director); Ali Westendorf (she/they, wardrobe supervisor); Heather Lynn Gervasi (she/her, production manager) and Majel Cuza (she/her, director of production).
Cast and production numbers may change without notice.
ABOUT THE GUY ADKINS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE ADVANCEMENT OF MUSIC THEATRE IN CHICAGO
For more than 10 years, Porchlight Music Theatre celebrates an individual who has made an exceptional and lasting contribution to the state of the art of Chicago music theatre, with the prestigious Guy Adkins Award. Guy Adkins was an award-winning Chicago actor who passed away in 2010. Among his significant stage credits were Oklahoma! Windy City and A Funny Thing Happened… at Marriott Theatre; The Taming of the Shrew at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; Pericles, Twelfth Night, The Invention of Love and the title role in Hamlet at Court Theatre; The Time of Your Life at Steppenwolf and the world premieres of the musicals The Return of Martin Guerre and The Visit, both at The Goodman Theatre. The Chicago Sun-Times called Adkins, “…a smart and invariably graceful actor” and The New York Times called him “outrageously talented” for his turn at “Puck” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the McCarter Theatre in New Jersey. Porchlight commemorates Adkins’ spirit and life with this annual award and celebrates the many gifts he shared with our theatre community and the world.
Past recipients include:
- Rick Boynton+, 2023
- Jim Corti+, 2022
- Felicia P. Fields*, 2021
- Gary Griffin+, 2019
- Brenda Didier*, 2018
- Rachel Rockwell*, 2017
- E. Faye Butler*, 2016
- Dominic Missimi+, 2015
- Paula Scrofano*, 2014
- Douglas Peck+, 2013
- Hollis Resnik*, 2012 and
- L. Walter Stearns+, 2011.
ABOUT ROBERTA DUCHAK, 2024 Guy Adkins Award Recipient
Roberta Duchak is an award-winning music director, Broadway actress and vocal coach/teacher, with bases in both Chicago and New York. Growing up in Darien, Illinois, she was captivated by the vibrant theater scene of Chicago, fostering a dream of performing on its illustrious stages. She performed in countless productions at esteemed venues such as Drury Lane Oakbrook, Marriott Lincolnshire, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and many others, including the no longer-standing Candlelight Theatre and Drury Lane Evergreen Park theatres. Her Broadway/Tour credits include playing “Mother” in Ragtime (Broadway); “The Ghost of Christmas Past” in Scrooge opposite Richard Chamberlain (US tour), “Magnolia” and “Ellie” in Hal Prince's Show Boat (US and Canadian tours) and “Rona Lisa Peretti” in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Broadway Playhouse/US tour/Marriott Lincolnshire). Duchak is currently the North American music supervisor for SIX(Broadway, US Tour, Toronto). She is also the vocal coach for The Notebook (Broadway) and Hell's Kitchen (Public Theatre). Her musical direction credits include: At Chicago Shakespeare: SIX (Jeff Award), Emma, The Little Mermaid, Murder for Two, Hamlet, Taming of the Shrew. At Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre: Matilda, Mamma Mia, Little Shop of Horrors, South Pacific, 42nd Street, Rock of Ages, Chicago, Saturday Night Fever, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Crazy for You, Hazel, Billy Elliot, Les Misérables, West Side Story, White Christmas, Young Frankenstein, Hello, Dolly!, Oliver, The Sound of Music, Sweeney Todd, Ragtime (Jeff Award), Spamalot, Gypsy, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Miss Saigon, Brigadoon. At Goodman Theatre: The Story of My Life directed by Richard Maltby Jr.; at Biograph Theater: The Original Grease (American Theatre Company); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Mercury Theater Chicago); musical supervisor for A Little Night Music (Writers Theatre). She was also the vocal coach for Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman in the “Les Misérables” feature film in 2012. Additionally, she was on the adjunct faculty at Columbia College for eight years. Her talents extend beyond the stage, as she can be heard on her solo CD "Intersections" as well as Second City Divas: Women of Chicago theatre CDs and American Girls Revue CDs. Beyond her professional accomplishments, she is deeply proud of her company, Vocal Boot Camp America, which is currently in its eighth year of teaching young singers.
ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
Porchlight Music Theatre, now in its 29th season, 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.”
Porchlight's history over nearly three decades includes more than 70 mainstage works with 15 Chicago premieres and five world premieres..
Porchlight's education and outreach programs serve schools, youth of all ages and skill levels and community organizations. 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 49 Jeff awards, as well as 44 Black Theatre Alliance (BTA) nominations and 15 BTA awards. In 2019, Porchlight graduated to the Large Theatre tier of the Equity Jeff Awards and has been honored with seven awards in this tier to date including Best Ensemble for Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies (2019) and Best Production-Revue for Blues in the Night (2022).
Through the global pandemic, Porchlight 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. In 2021, Porchlight launched its annual summer series, Broadway in your Backyard, performing at parks and venues throughout the city.
Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from Allstate; Comcast/Xfinity; Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation; Glimpse Vision; James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation; Hearty Boys; A.L. and Jennie L. Luria Foundation; 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; Baxter; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Peoples Gas; Pepsico; Polk Bros Foundation and The Saints.
The 2024 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago recipient Roberta Duchak. Photo by Brett Beiner