The Marcus Performing Arts Center's Broadway Bash presented by Johnson Financial Group is one of the hottest tickets in Milwaukee. This year we celebrate our 50th Anniversary season with the annual fundraiser on Friday, August 28, and will feature a private Motown Revue with Broadway's Chester Gregory (CHΞSS). Also, the 2020 Bash will showcase a few surprises including "Music and Movies."
The Marcus Center's new "Music & Movies" drive-in series invites supporters to preview the Bash and allow the community to gather safely with social distancing. The Marcus Center will host a Bash Preview Night in June or some time after with a sneak-peek of music from
Chester Gregory followed by the movie, Dreamgirls. Gregory starred in the Dreamgirls Broadway tour that delighted audiences at the Marcus Center in 2010.
The "Music & Movies" drive-in series will be held on the roof of the Marcus Center parking structure, with passes for 40 cars available to reserve in advance of each event. Additional dates and "Music & Movies" titles will be announced in the near future.
Marcus Center President & CEO, Kendra Whitlock Ingram looks forward to expanding this year's Broadway Bash. "The Marcus Center's 50th Anniversary Season reminds us how the arts can bring our community together. Through our Broadway Bash, we will raise important funds to continue to serve our eight local resident partners that depend on the Marcus Center, as our community has for the last 50 years. As we manage through this unprecedented time - we are so looking forward to celebrating safely together when this extended "intermission" is over."
Funds raised through the Broadway Bash support the Center's nonprofit mission. Through community engagement and inclusion programming, the Marcus Center provides arts education, arts access, job training, and mentorship to 20,000 underserved youth in Milwaukee annually as well as free arts access to thousands more. Gregory will support Marcus Center community engagement and inclusion programs by providing arts education workshops and mentorship to underserved youth in Milwaukee through the Broadway Bash.
More information and sponsorships are available by contacting Kelly Candotti, Director of Development, at
KCandotti@MarcusCenter.org.
The Broadway Bash main event is scheduled for Friday, August 28. Serving as the Marcus Center's annual fundraising appeal, the Broadway Bash is always a fun evening of gourmet dining, entertainment, desserts, dancing, unique auctions, and even a few surprises. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Marcus Center has made unique accommodations for the Broadway Bash to ensure the safety of our guests. For more information, please visit MarcusCenter.org.
Broadway showstopper
Chester Gregory (CHΞSS) had his breakthrough performance of
Jackie Wilson in The
Jackie Wilson Story, which led to his Broadway debut in Hairspray, and he has since been featured in principal roles in Motown: The Musical, Tarzan, Cry-Baby, Sister Act, and Dreamgirls. On August 28, CHΞSS will treat Broadway Bash attendees to a full Motown Revue, highlighting songs from Motown: The Musical as well as other music from throughout his career.
