Photos: Music Theater Works' Hosts PRODUCERS GALA ALL THAT JAZZ

Music Theater Works’ annual gala, the Producers Gala, All that Jazz. was held Saturday, May 11 at 6 p.m., at the Kenilworth Club at 410 Kenilworth Avenue.

The 2024 fundraiser broke previous gala records raising $130,000 with more than 160 guests attending. Some highlights from the night included performances, live auctions, a paddle raise, and the presentation of the third annual Joyce Ruth Saxon Award for Excellence to Bridget McDonough.

The Producers Gala began with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres for the guests joining Music Theater Works for its annual celebration. Once the attendees were seated, Producing Artistic Director Kyle Dougan began a night of fun by welcoming guests and thanking them for coming. Following this, board member and Chair of the Development Committee Rachel Pethiyagoda provided attendees an introduction to the live auction taking place including a new musical New York City trip, a walk-on role in a production in the soon to be announced 2025 season, an in-home concert performed by Alicia Berneche and a custom-created garment by designer Justin Dougan-LeBlanc of “Project Runway” fame. 

Following this excitement, guests were treated to dinner and dessert at their table, while at the same time, completing their bid sheets for a chance to win a number of items for the silent auction. Some of the items included in the silent auction were: a North Shore theater package, a downtown theater package, Lyric Opera tickets, Kendra Scott jewelry and a North Shore pizza tour. 

Dougan again returned to the stage to introduce the third annual Joyce Ruth Saxon Award for Excellence Bridget McDonough. Dougan said, “We are so thrilled this evening to be honoring someone who would be the first to tell you that she didn’t set out to create a legacy, she didn’t do it by herself, she doesn’t need an award, she just loves theater.” He also spoke to McDonough’s long list of achievements including co-founding Light Opera Works which later became Music Theater Works with Mary Beth Mikrut and her impact on the art of music theater in the Chicagoland area. McDonough accepted the award and said, "It is an honor to receive an award named after Joyce Ruth Saxon, who was a mentor and role model for me." She continued, "I want to commend Producing Artistic Director Kyle Dougan and Co-board Presidents Electra Kontalonis and Sasha Gerritson for not only seeing the company through the pandemic, but leading it forward into the future."

After presenting the Joyce Ruth Saxon Award for Excellence to McDonough, the night continued with the paddle raise supporting Music Theater Works’ artistic and educational programs. The guests were then presented with performances by Music Theater Works performers including: Alicia Berneche, Anna Marie Abbate, Jimmy Hogan, Sierra White, Taylor Ditola and Wesley Clerge. Our talented performers put on an enthralling program, singing beloved songs such as, All that Jazz, Summertime, and Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend. Dougan concluded the evening by thanking those who attended as well as the evening’s sponsors, hard working staff, including Event Manager Lisa McGowan and the board of directors, advisory board and emeritus board including the development committee and its chair, Rachel Pethiyagoda.

ABOUT BRIDGET McDONOUGH

2024 Joyce Ruth Saxon Award for Excellence Recipient

Bridget McDonough was employed in arts management from 1978, when she graduated from Northwestern University, until her 2019 retirement as general manager of Music Theater Works, which she co-founded (as Light Opera Works) in 1980 with Philip Kraus and others. Prior to founding Light Opera Works she worked for The Organic Theater Company in Chicago, The Troupe in Colorado Springs and Actors Equity Association.

She has served on the boards of many arts and civic organizations both nationally and locally in the Chicago area.  She is past president of the Rotary Club of Evanston and the North Shore International Network, where she still holds memberships. She served on the boards of the Evanston Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, Evanston Chamber of Commerce, Evanston Arts Alliance, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Chicago Music Alliance, Around the Coyote, as well as the School of Communication Alumni Board at Northwestern University and the tourism committee of Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors’ Bureau.

Ms. McDonough was honored by the Evanston YWCA with their “Women on the Move” Award in 1991 and by the Evanston Chamber of Commerce with their 2009 Public Service/Nonprofit Person of the Year Award.

She is currently on the board of the Musicians Club of Women and Season of Concern in Chicago, the Tubac Nature Center in Arizona, and Write 4 Art in Los Angeles. She is a member of the advisory board of the Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre in Montana.Ms. McDonough served as an international judge at the Second Vladimir Kurochkin International Competition of Young Artists of Operetta and Musicals in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and VIBE (Vienna International Ballet Experience) in Missoula, Montana. She currently is serving as an international juror for Ballet Beyond Borders. 

Prior to her career in arts management, she studied dance and theater in Milwaukee and Chicago.

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