Broadway Stars Gather & Perform in Naperville: New West Suburban Arts Academy to Host Feb. 18 Gala & Concert

Naperville, IL, February 14, 2022 --(PR.com)-- Academy of the Arts, a new, west-suburban, non-profit academic and art school projected to open in fall 2025, will host its first fundraiser gala and concert at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, at North Central College’s Wentz Concert Hall in Naperville. Today, the organizers announced that AARP has signed on as presenting sponsor.

“Getting the support of such a far-reaching organization is a real boon for the Academy,” said co-founder Dylan Ladd. “It not only helps us move toward our fundraising goals, but it really legitimizes what we are doing here.”

Other corporate and local business sponsors include Molina Healthcare, Alden Management Services, Naperville Bank & Trust, and La Borra Café. Other local businesses are supporting the Academy and the event through partnerships including Hotel Arista, Sir Speedy Naperville, JAM! Graphics, Naperville Magazine/Tribune Publishing, and The Branch. Food and beverage sponsors include Belgio’s Catering, Le Chocolat du Bouchard, Party Can, Momentum Beverage Team, Celidan Creations Florist and MolsonCoors.

“This effort is big and it’s needed and it’s real,” Ladd added.

Concert performers include Julia Murney who last appeared on Broadway in Wicked; Olympic gymnast turned Broadway’s Peter Pan Cathy Rigby; Karen Mason, an Arlington Heights native who most recently played Mrs. Marsh in Ryan Murphy’s Halston on Netflix; Zonya Love who played Celie in The Color Purple; Chadae Nichol, a Joliet native who made her Broadway debut in Motown the Musical; and Meecah who is currently on tour with Hamilton.

“We are thrilled to see this level of support from the Broadway arts community along with the corporate donors for this event and our mission,” said Academy co-founder Dylan Ladd. “Ticket sales are strong and silent auction donations point to solid community support as well.”

The silent auction is sponsored by Colbert Custom Framing, North Central College, and Catch 35, as well as individual donors.

Ladd’s mission is to build and open the school for grades 6 through 12, offering the core academic areas of math, reading, language arts, social studies and science, along with a range of visual arts and performing arts programs, by the 2025-26 academic year.

“We have a lot of work ahead before we have our state-of-the-art facility and our first class of full-time students,” Ladd said. “And that work moving forward is funding the project.”

The facility is a planned world-class arts center: A 1,200-seat auditorium with a proscenium stage, fly loft and orchestra pit, an outdoor amphitheater, a modular black box theater and dance studios, and academic classrooms.

The non-profit Academy’s year-one fundraising goal is $2 million from which it anticipates building momentum toward the $80 million needed to break ground and build the new facility.

“Community support is critical to meet our goal to fully open in fall 2025,” Ladd said. “It sounds lofty, but we’ve done the research and have the data. This is the right location with the level of community engagement needed to bring this asset to the families of Naperville and surrounding suburbs.”

Tickets to the gala are priced at $100 for the event that includes a cocktail hour, concert, silent auction and a reception, and can be ordered at www.illinoisartsacademy.org/gala. Hotel Arista, Naperville’s only AAA Four Diamond hotel, is offering a special group rate for gala ticketholders. Call 630-579-4100 to request the Academy of the Arts rate.

A press kit including links to performer bios & head shots, facility renderings and plans, celebrity quotations and more, can be found at www.illlinoisartsacdemy.org/gala-press.