Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, concludes its 2022–2023 season with Marie and Rosetta by George Brant, directed by E. Faye Butler. The production runs July 6 – August 6, 2023, at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie. The press opening is Friday, July 14, 2023 at 8pm.
Hailed as the “Godmother of Rock ‘n Roll,” Sister Rosetta Tharpe influenced rock icons from Elvis Presley to Jimi Hendrix. Bringing fierce guitar playing and sizzling swing to gospel music, Rosetta was a trailblazer, a young Black woman singing at church in the morning and the Cotton Club at night. This play with music chronicles Rosetta’s first rehearsal with a young protégée, Marie Knight, as they prepare for a tour that would establish them as one of the great duet teams in musical history.
BJ Jones comments, “Rosetta Tharpe was an important artist who never got her due. Like Nina Simone, she battled bias and music industry discrimination and artistic appropriation. Her work inspired so many artists—Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and Jerry Lee Lewis, just to name a few. We are proud to present Northlight favorites and Jeff Award winner Bethany Thomas, Alexis Roston and director E. Faye Butler to pay tribute to this singular artist.”
The cast of Marie and Rosetta includes award-winning performers Bethany Thomas (Sister Rosetta Tharpe), who recently appeared at Northlight in a tour-de-force performance of Songs for Nobodies and Alexis J. Roston (Marie Knight), who most recently completed a run as Billie Holiday at Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill.
The creative team includes: E. Faye Butler (Director), Morgan E. Stevenson (Music Director / Piano / Conductor), John Culbert (Set Design), McKinley Johnson (Costume Design), Jared Gooding (Light Design), Rick Sims (Sound Design), Lonnae Hickman (Props Design), and Sean Moore (Wig Design). Rita Vreeland is the Stage Manager.
About the Artists
E. Faye Butler (Director) is an accomplished and decorated theater actress and singer who is proud to call Chicago her home. She has performed around the globe to international acclaim. National tours include Mamma Mia!, Dinah Was, Ain’t Misbehavin, and Nunsense. Theatre appearances in Chicago include productions at Northlight (Ella, Dinah Was, Black Pearl Sings!), Goodman, Drury Lane, Court, Marriott, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, and more. Her many awards include 7 Joseph Jefferson Awards, A 2016 Guy Adkins Award Excellence in Advancement of Music Theatre, A 2016 Rosetta Le Noire Award, 2 Helen Hayes Awards, a Barrymore Award, 4 Black Theatre Alliance Awards, an Excellence in the Arts Award, an Ovation Award, a RAMI Award, After Dark Award, Kathryne V. Lampkey Award, Black Excellence Award and the 2011 Sarah Siddons Award. In 2012, she was inducted into the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She is also a recipient of the Lunt-Fontaine Fellowship. She has her own CD called “Circle of Firsts” and performs her own cabaret concerts and theaters across the country and internationally.
George Brant’s (Playwright) plays include Grounded, Marie and Rosetta, Into the Breeches!, Elephant’s Graveyard, The Prince of Providence, Tender Age, The Land of Oz, Dark Room, Grizzly Mama, Good on Paper, The Mourners’ Bench, Salvage, Three Voyages of the Lobotomobile, Any Other Name, Defiant, Miracle: A Tragedy, Ashes, NOK, The Lonesome Hoboes, All Talk, One Hand Clapping, The Royal Historian of Oz, Lovely Letters, Three Men in a Boat, Borglum! The Mount Rushmore Musical, Tights on a Wire and Night of the Mime. Brant's work has been produced internationally by such companies as the Public Theater, The Atlantic Theater Company, Trinity Repertory Company, Cleveland Play House, The Alley Theatre, Studio Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory, City Theatre, Gate Theatre of London, Page 73, Traverse Theatre, Dobama Theatre, and the Disney Channel, among others. His plays have been generously developed by the Metropolitan Opera, The Playwrights' Center, Asolo Rep, McCarter Theatre Center, New Harmony Project, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, WordBRIDGE Playwright’s Lab, InterAct Theatre, Theatre @ Boston Court, Playwright and Director Center of Moscow, Florida Studio Theatre, Contemporary Drama Festival of Hungary, the Hangar Theatre, and Equity Library Theatre, among others. His scripts have been awarded a Lucille Lortel Award, an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, a Scotsman Fringe First Award, an Off-West End Theatre Award for Best Production, an NNPN Rolling World Premiere, the Smith Prize, the Keene Prize for Literature, a Theatre Netto Festival Prize, a Creative Workforce Fellowship, the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center and three Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards. He has received writing fellowships from the James A. Michener Center for Writers, the McCarter Theatre Sallie B. Goodman Artist's Retreat, the MacDowell Colony, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, the Hermitage Artists' Retreat and the Blue Mountain Center as well as commissions from the Metropolitan Opera, Trinity Repertory Company, Dobama Theatre and Theatre 4, and Cleveland Play House. George received his MFA in Writing from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. He is published by Samuel French, Oberon Books, Fisher Verlage and Smith & Kraus.
Alexis J. Roston (Marie Knight) is an actress, director, costumer and playwright who has earned acclaim for her mesmerizing portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, including Chicago's Jeff, Black Theater Alliance and Black Excellence Awards. Other credits nationwide include starring in Sister Act the Musical (Deloris Van Cartier, Jeff nomination), Porgy and Bess (Bess), Mary Poppins (Mrs. Banks), Seven Guitars (Ruby), For Colored Girls... (Lady in Orange), Ain’t Misbehavin' (Charlaine), Shrek the Musical (Dragon), The Wiz (Addaperle), The Piano Lesson (Grace), Ghost the Musical (Oda Mae Brown), What I Learned in Paris (Lena), Company (Sarah), Ragtime (Sarah), Crowns (Jeanette), Sunflowered (Marthie, co-director), Smokey Joe’s Café (Brenda), The Color Purple (Doris), The Old Settler (Lou Bessie), Don't Make Me Over: A Tribute to Dionne Warwick (Ms. Divine, Jeff Award Nomination, Black Theater Alliance Award), She The People (with Second City Chicago) and many others. Concerts include First Lady of Song: Alexis J Roston Sings Ella Fitzgerald. Television credits include Chicago P.D., Chicago Code and The Chi. Mrs. Roston holds a BFA in musical theatre from Howard University. She is a proud member of AEA and Congo Square Theatre Company.
Bethany Thomas (Sister Rosetta Tharpe) was most recently at Northlight Theatre in her Jeff-winning performance as Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Maria Callas in the one-woman tour-de-force, Songs For Nobodies. She has appeared at Writers Theatre in Once, Into The Woods, A Moon For The Misbegotten; Goodman in A Christmas Carol; Chicago Shakespeare in The Tempest; Porchlight Music Theater in Marry Me A Little; Court Theatre in Porgy and Bess; Milwaukee Rep in The Color Purple and Ragtime; Teatro ZinZanni; The Fly Honeys, and A 3Arts awardee in music, BT tours and records with Jon Langford (Mekons, Waco Bros), and recently released two original albums- Material Flats (with Tawny Newsome) and the solo BT/She/Her. Find Bethany's music on iTunes, Bandcamp, Spotify and everywhere else.
FACT SHEET
Title: Marie and Rosetta
Written by: George Brant
Directed by: E. Faye Butler
Dates: Previews: July 6-13, 2023
Press Opening: Friday, July 14, 2023 at 8pm
Regular run: July 14 – August 6, 2023
Featuring: Bethany Thomas (Sister Rosetta Tharpe) and Alexis J. Roston (Marie Knight)
Creative Team: Morgan E. Stevenson (Music Director / Piano / Conductor), John Culbert (Set Design), McKinley Johnson (Costume Design), Jared Gooding (Light Design), Rick Sims (Sound Design), Lonnae Hickman (Props Design), Sean Moore (Wig Design), and Rita Vreeland (Stage Manager)
Schedule:
- Tuesdays: 7:30pm (July 11 only)
- Wednesdays: 1:00pm and 7:30pm
- Thursdays: 7:30pm
- Fridays: 8:00pm
- Saturdays: 2:30pm (except July 8) and 8:00pm
- Sundays: 2:30pm and 7:00pm (July 9 only)
A Relaxed/Sensory Sensitivity performance will be held on July 26 at 7:30pm. An Open Captioned and ASL Interpreted performance will be held on July 28 at 8:00pm. An Open Captioned and Audio Described/Touch Tour performance will be held on July 29 at 2:30pm.
Location: Northlight Theatre is located at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie
Tickets: Previews: $30-$61; Regular run: $30-$89; Student tickets are $15, any performance (subject to availability)
Box Office: The Box Office is located at 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie; 847.673.6300; northlight.org
Notes of Interest:
● Bethany Thomas last appeared at Northlight in Songs for Nobodies. In her recently Jeff-nominated performance, Bethany played five different real-life music legends. She's returning for Marie and Rosette to play yet another real-life legendary figure in music history, the “Godmother of Rock ‘n Roll,” Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
● Alexis J. Roston previously appeared in the Summer Nights with Northlight benefit cabaret series in 2021. This is her first time appearing as part of the mainstage season.
● The production is directed by Chicago performer E. Faye Butler who is also a member of Northlight Theatre’s Board of Trustees. She has appeared on the Northlight stage in Ella, Dinah Was, and Black Pearl Sings!
● Northlight presented playwright George Brant’s Into the Breeches! as part of the 2018-2019 Season.
Subscriptions for the recently announced 2023-2024 Northlight Season are now available at northlight.org/subscribe or 847.673.6300. The 2023-2024 Season includes Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle, directed by Jessica Thebus; the murder mystery made famous by Alfred Hitchcock Dial M for Murder, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the original by Frederick Knott and directed by Georgette Verdin; the suspenseful 2022 Pulitzer Prize Finalist Selling Kabul by Sylvia Khoury, directed by Hamid Dehghani; and the world premiere of John Patrick Shanley’s Brooklyn Laundry, directed by BJ Jones. One title is yet to be announced. Subscriptions range in price from $127 to $289. Flex pass options are $129-$189. With its wide range of ticket prices, discounted subscription packages and complimentary parking, Northlight remains one of the best theatrical values in Chicagoland. Package options include traditional 5-Play Packages and Flex Packages.
Up-to-date Covid-19 related policies can be found at northlight.org/health-safety.
Northlight Theatre aspires to promote change of perspective and encourage compassion by exploring the depth of our humanity across a bold spectrum of theatrical experiences, reflecting our community to the world and the world to our community.
Founded in 1974, the organization has mounted over 230 productions, including 45 world premieres. Northlight has earned 217 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and 37 Awards, as well as 11 Edgerton Foundation for New Play Awards. As one of the area’s premier theatre companies, Northlight is a regional magnet for critical and professional acclaim, as well as talent of the highest quality.
Northlight is supported in part by generous contributions from Allstate Insurance; the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; BMO Harris Bank; Bulley and Andrews; Byline Bank; The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; CoBank; ComEd, An Exelon Company; Eckenhoff Saunders; Evanston Arts Council; Evanston Community Foundation; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Full Circle Foundation; The Gross Foundation; Gruman Butkus Associates; John R. Halligan Fund; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; Illinois Humanities; Katten Muchin Roseman LLP; Kirkland & Ellis Foundation; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Modestus Bauer Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; Niles Township; NorthShore University HealthSystems; Northwestern University; The Offield Family Foundation; The Pauls Foundation; PNC Bank; Polsinelli; Ralla Klepak Trust for the Performing Arts; Room & Board; Sanborn Family Foundation; The Saints Foundation; Dr. Scholl Foundation; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust; The Sullivan Family Foundation; and Tom Stringer Design Partners.