“CelebRAYtion” (June 13, tickets must be purchased by May 31)

Skylight Announces One Night Only “CelebRAYtion”

Fundraiser to Benefit Skylight Music Theatre

and Honor Artistic Director Ray Jivoff

Thursday, June 13 at Broadway Theatre Center

Milwaukee, Wis. (May 1, 2019) — Skylight Music Theatre will host CelebRAYtion honoring Artistic Director Ray Jivoff on Thursday, June 13, beginning at 5 p.m. in the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward.

The event is a fundraiser for Skylight Music Theatre, Jivoff’s “artistic home.” He began at Skylight as an actor in 1990, joined the staff in 1999 as Skylight’s first education director, became associate artistic director in 2009, interim artistic director in 2016 and artistic director in 2017. Jivoff is directing the final show of Skylight’s current 2018-19 Season, Kiss Me, Kate running May 17 through June 16. He leaves Skylight in June 2019.

“It will be fun to celebrate with my Skylight family and friends at the event, and it is meaningful to me that it will benefit Skylight,” said Jivoff. “I am certain it will be a night to remember, highlighting some of the incredible talent I have had the privilege to work with all these years.

Taste of the Wards and Star-Studded Concert

CelebRAYtion will begin at 5 p.m. with “Taste of the Wards” food stations set up throughout the Broadway Theatre Center, hosted by nearby restaurants from the Third and Fifth Wards and surrounding areas, including Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria, Cubanitas, Hotel Madrid, Hudson Business Lounge, Indulge, Meraki, Onesto, Great Lakes Distillery and Twisted Path Distillery.

A concert performance in celebration of Jivoff begins at 7:30 p.m. in Skylight’s Cabot Theater. The concert features more than 35 performers who have worked with Jivoff throughout his career as a director, actor and in his work leading Skylight’s Education Department.

Among the special announced guests for the concert are Jack Forbes Wilson and Kay Stiefel who performed in numerous productions and cabarets with Jivoff, members of the cast of Hair, which Jivoff directed in 2014, and performances from KidsWrites, a show that creates songs from uncorrected stories and poems written by MPS students. Jivoff recently produced his 20th KidsWrites.

Among the Skylight favorite performers scheduled to appear are (in alphabetical order) Ryan Cappleman, Cynthia Cobb, Karen Estrada, David Flores, Sean Jackson, Diane Lane, Rick Pendzich, Rana Roman, Sheri Williams Pannell, and Andrew & Susan Varela.

Special Surprises and Silent Auction

There will also be special surprises, a wine pull, and both a live and silent auction. Auction items include props, costumes, scenic elements and posters selected by Jivoff and Skylight Properties Director Lisa Schlenker. The night will conclude with an after party at 9 p.m. in the Skylight Bar & Bistro on the 2^nd floor.