Marcus Performing Arts Center’s 14th Annual Broadway Bash! with Chita Rivera

The Marcus Performing Arts Center’s Broadway Bash is one of the hottest tickets in Milwaukee. The 14th Annual fundraiser will be held on Friday, June 14 and will feature a concert by Tony® Award winner and Broadway Icon, Chita Rivera, in the Todd Wehr Theater. Individual tickets are $300 including a gift back to support the Marcus Center’s local arts education programming and can be purchased by phone at 414-273-7206 or online at MarcusCenter.org. Sponsorship are available by contacting Kelly Candotti, Director of Development, at kcandotti@marcuscenter.org or 414-273-7121 x221.  

The event will kick off with a cocktail reception and silent auction at 5:00 pm followed by dinner, live auction, performance with Chita Rivera at 8:00 pm, and the night will end with a dessert and dancing reception.  

The Marcus Center’s only annual fundraising appeal, the Broadway Bash is a fun evening of gourmet dining, Broadway’s biggest hits, desserts, dancing, unique auctions and a few surprises.  

Revenue from the Broadway Bash supports the Center’s mission of fostering diversity by connecting communities through the arts, and preserving the Center for generations to come. Through programming, the Marcus Center provides arts education, job training and mentorship to 20,000 underserved youth in Milwaukee annually as well as provides free arts access to thousands more. Chita Rivera will support Marcus Center community engagement and inclusion programs through student outreach while in Milwaukee for the Broadway Bash.  

For more information, please visit MarcusCenter.org.

The Broadway Bash is sponsored by: Sazama’s Fine Catering, C.G. Schmidt, Fields Jaguar Land Rover Waukesha, Associated Bank, Baird, BMO Harris Bank, CBRE/ESI, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, Forest County Potawatomi Foundation, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, HGA, Johnson Controls, Johnson Financial Group, KEI, ManpowerGroup, Marcus Corporation, MillerCoors, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Polsinelli, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c., We Energies Foundation, Wintrust, 2-Story Creative, Broadway Across America, Capitol Husting, Gibb Building Maintenance Company, Inc., JWC Building Specialties, Inc., Spano Pratt Executive Search, The Horton Group, Ticketmaster, Ray & Kelly Wilson, Stamm Technologies and Milwaukee Bucks Foundation.  

A theatrical icon and one of Broadway's greatest triple-threat talents, Chita Rivera is one of the most nominated performers in Tony Award history having earned 10 nominations, won twice and received the 2018 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.  A versatile actress/singer/dancer, she recently starred in The Visit, the final John Kander/Fred Ebb/Terrence McNally musical directed by John Doyle and choreographed by Graciela Daniele on Broadway, the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the Broadway and touring productions of The Dancer’s Life, a dazzling new musical celebrating her spectacular career, written by Terrence McNally and directed by Graciela Daniele and the revival of the Broadway musical Nine with Antonio Banderas. She trained as a ballerina (from age nine) before receiving a scholarship to the School of American Ballet from the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. Chita’s first appearance (age 17) was as a principal dancer in Call Me Madam. Her electric performance as Anita in the original Broadway premiere of West Side Story brought her stardom, which she repeated in London. Her career is highlighted by starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, The Rink (Tony Award), Chicago, Jerry’s Girls, Kiss of the Spider Woman (Tony Award), and the original Broadway casts of Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Seventh Heaven and Mr. Wonderful.  On tour: Born Yesterday, The Rose Tattoo, Call Me Madam, Threepenny Opera, Sweet Charity, Kiss Me Kate, Zorba, Can-Can with The Rockettes. Chita was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009 and received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor in 2002. In 2019, Chita performed her solo concert at London’s Cadogan Hall; in 2018 she was honored as a Living Landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy; in 2016 she headlined at Carnegie Hall and in 2015, Great Performances aired their special Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin’ To Do, a retrospective of her extraordinary life and career nationally on PBS. Her current solo CD is entitled And Now I Swing.  Her most treasured production is her daughter, singer/dancer/choreographer Lisa Mordente.