Extra Performance of DIVE! DIVA! DIVAS! Added to Summer Festival At Northwestern University

A third evening of song by three of Chicago's top female music theatre performers has been added to the Theatre and Interpretation Center of Northwestern University's 2009 Music Theatre Festival calendar.

Tickets are now available for an 8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 17 performance of "Diva! Diva! Divas!" In addition to the new Aug. 17 production, a limited number of seats are still available for the Monday, Aug. 3 show. The Tuesday, Aug. 4 cabaret performance is sold out.

All three performances will be held at the Ethel M. Barber Theater, 30 Arts Circle Drive, on the University's Evanston campus.

Under the direction of Northwestern's Music Theatre Program director and Joseph Jefferson Award-winning Dominic Missimi, the three evening shows will feature renowned music theatre divas -- Hollis Resnik, Alene Robertson and Paula Scrofano -- and Joseph Jefferson Award-winning Northwestern alumnus and music director Doug Peck.

"This will be an exceptional evening of cabaret, with three of Chicago's most beloved leading ladies performing audience favorites from the music theatre canon," said Missimi. "The reunion of Hollis, Alene and Paula together on stage is a real treat for theatergoers who have enjoyed their combined talents in past Chicago-area productions. The ticket demand has been so great that we've already added a third performance."

Missimi has worked professionally with all three performers at various venues throughout Chicago. He has done at least a dozen shows with Robertson and Scrofano, as well as several with Resnik. He worked with all three music theater stars when they appeared together in a 2001 production of "Mame" that Missimi directed for the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre.

"I selected Hollis, Paula and Alene because, together, they represent 20 Joseph Jefferson (Jeff) awards," said Missimi. "They are constantly being nominated for their superior work and have been hailed by critics during their entire careers."

Hollis Resnik is the recipient of nine Joseph Jefferson awards, three After Dark awards, and two Sarah Siddons Chicago's Leading Lady awards. She recently appeared as big and little Edie in the Northlight production of "Grey Gardens." Her Goodman Theatre credits include: "Wings," A Little Night Music," "House of Martin Guerre" and "The Beard of Avon." She has toured nationally with "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "Les Misérables." Resnick also starred in the American Music Theatre Project of Northwestern University's Summer 2008 production of "Dangerous Beauty." She has sung with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and at Ravinia. Resnik also has recorded a compact disc titled "Make Someone Happy." For each of the three "Divas!" performances, Resnik will sing selections from the musicals "Les Misérables," "Piaf," based on Edith Piaf's life;" "Mame" and "Tell Me On A Sunday."

Vocalist and nine-time Joseph Jefferson Award-winning actress Alene Robertson is a mainstay performer at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire and the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbook Terrace. She has starred in past productions of "Hello, Dolly!," "Gypsy," "Kismet," "The Full Monty" and "Annie." She also has worked throughout the country, both on and off Broadway. Robertson plans to sing selections from "Hello, Dolly!," "Gypsy" and "Annie" during "Divas!"

Paula Scrofano is an award-winning performer who has performed at Chicago's premiere venues. Credits at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire include: "Sunset Boulevard," the title role in "Victor/Victoria" and Eva Peron in "Evita," for which she received a Sarah Siddons Award. At Chicago's Goodman Theatre, Scrofano was featured in "A Little Night Music" and "Sunday in the Park with George," for which she also received a Sarah Siddons Award). She received Jeff awards for her roles as Lily Garland in "On the Twentieth Century" at the Drury Lane Oakbook Theatre, and as the wife in "Putting It Together" at the Court Theatre. She earned another Sarah Siddons Award for the title role in "Mame" at the Candlelight Playhouse. Scrofano's performance in "Divas!" will feature songs from "Sunset Boulevard," "Hello, Dolly!" and "A My Name is Alice," as well as "Return to Sorrento," an Italian song that she performed as a child.

Missimi selected one of Chicago's premiere music directors, Doug Peck, to be the music director for "Diva! Diva! Divas!" Rob Lindley, a prominent music theater performer in Chicago, is the show's associate director.

Single tickets for each "Divas!" performance are $35 for the general public; $27 for seniors 65 and older and Northwestern faculty and staff and area educators and administrators; and $10 for full-time students.

The 2009 Summer Music Theatre Festival, which runs through Aug. 17, is featuring new works and old favorites performed by both Broadway stars and Northwestern music theatre students. Subscriptions and single tickets for the season are on sale now. Subscription pricing is $68 for the general public; $61 for seniors 65 and older, Northwestern faculty and staff and area educators and administrators; and $24 for full-time students.

For more information, call (847) 491-7282 or visit http://www.tic.northwestern.edu.

 

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