Shake It Away: The Ann Miller Story

Tuesday, March 3, 2026 at 7:30PM
Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St.

Written and performed by Kayla Boye
Directed by Michael Weber
Choreographed by Tammy Mader
Music Directed by Linda Madonia

RESERVE TICKETS

On a soundstage at the infamous 1970 MGM Studios auction, dancer/singer/actress Ann Miller revisits the Golden Age of Hollywood and discovers her second act as a Broadway star while filmdom’s treasures — including the legendary “ruby slippers,” the “Cotton Blossom” show boat, Clark Gable’s “lucky trench coat” and more — are sold for pennies on the dollar. Featuring selections from the Great American Songbook, this love letter to entertainment is written by and stars Kayla Boye, who has appeared at Porchlight Music Theatre in Can-Can, Little Me, Billy Elliot and New Faces Sing Broadway 1969.

Shake It Away: The Ann Miller Story returns to Chicago after a critically acclaimed world premiere tour that included the Hollywood Fringe in Los Angeles (Hudson Theatres, June 10 – 15, 2025), Off-Broadway’s “East to Edinburgh” in New York (59E59 Theaters, July 15 – 19, 2025) and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (theSpace at Surgeons’ Hall, August 1 – 9, 2025).

This March 3 performance will feature new material not seen in the production’s previous performances in Chicago, Hollywood, New York and Edinburgh.

Approximate Runtime: 75min with no intermission

Learn more at ShakeItAwayPlay.com

Author’s Note

“I am so glad to be returning to Porchlight with Shake It Away and grateful to be collaborating with this terrific team. Ann Miller’s life exemplified resilience and optimism, which she shared through her incredible talents and authenticity. From films such as Kiss Me Kate, Easter Parade and On the Town, to productions such as Mame, Hello Dolly and Sugar Babies, she showed us what it meant to shake the blues away. I hope audiences find her story to be one of hope and joy, as I have..”

KAYLA BOYE (WRITER/ANN MILLER)

Previously at Porchlight: Can-Can, Little Me, Billy Elliot and New Faces Sing Broadway 1969

Kayla Boye’s production of Call Me Elizabeth, a critically acclaimed solo show about the life of Elizabeth Taylor, was streamed by BroadwayHD and Porchlight Music Theatre during the pandemic and continues to tour internationally following sold-out runs Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Mexico’s San Miguel Solo Theatre Festival. Additional credits: The Wizard of Oz (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), South Pacific (Drury Lane Theatre), Holiday Inn, Guys & Dolls, Cinderella (Fireside Theatre), On the Town (Capital City Theatre), Pippin (Mercury Theater Chicago), Anything Goes, Gypsy, Mame (Music Theater Works), Not Now Darling (BrightSide Theatre), A Christmas Story (Citadel Theatre), Man of La Mancha, Annie, The Addams Family (Bigfork Summer Playhouse), The Drowsy Chaperone, Bye Bye Birdie, Carousel (The Huron Playhouse), Mary Poppins, Chicago, Curtains (The Youngstown Playhouse), and “Winnie” in Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days (City Lit Theater). Awards: Best Choreography, Chicago Musical Theatre Festival (Wonder Women: The Musical). Her work has been awarded grants from Illinois Arts Council and the Arts Midwest Touring Fund

MICHAEL WEBER (DIRECTOR)

Previously at Porchlight: Sunday in the Park with George, Anything Goes, Cabaret and others

Michael Weber is a nationally recognized, award-winning director, producer, actor and educator. He currently serves as artistic director of Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre where he recently directed Sunday in the Park with George starring Broadway’s Kathy Voytko and Tony Award-nominee Sean Allan Krill and he was resident director of the Chicago premiere of Titanique. He recently directed the Off-Broadway and European premieres of Call Me Elizabeth written by and starring Kayla Boye as “Elizabeth Taylor.” Under his artistic leadership, Porchlight Music Theatre was awarded Chicago’s Jeff Award for “Best Production” six times. He previously served as artistic director for the inaugural season of Chicago’s Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place (now Broadway in Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse) and at Theatre at the Center in Munster, Indiana. The recipient of two Joseph Jefferson Awards, he has been nominated for nine awards and he wrote and directed 14 Joseph Jefferson Awards ceremonies (2006-2018). Weber’s regional acting credits include The Merry Widow (starring Renée Fleming) at Lyric Opera, Annie Get Your Gun and Gypsy (both starring Patti LuPone) at Ravinia Festival, The Winter’s Tale and Henry V at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and more. He is author of the play WAR of the WELLeS (about Orson Welles’ infamous radio broadcast) and he is a longtime pledge host for PBS station WTTW channel 11.

LINDA MADONIA (MUSIC DIRECTOR)

Previously at Porchlight: ICONS Gala, Broadway in Your Backyard, Titanique and others

Linda Madonia is currently the company manager for Porchlight Music Theatre. She also has music directed the ICONS Gala Celebrating Leslie Uggams and previously worked on Broadway in your Backyard, Anything Goes, Cabaret and A Chorus Line, all with Porchlight. Other projects include Annie, Guys and Dolls, Legally Blonde: The Musical, Shrek the Musical, Mamma Mia! and Camelot at Music Theater Works and Jersey Boys, Rock of Ages and Sister Act at Mercury Theater Chicago. Linda is the vocal coach for the master’s degree program in music theatre pedagogy at Carthage College and owns American Eagle Productions, which has been at the forefront of theatre education in the Chicago area for the past 35 years in Chicago.

TAMMY MADER (CHOREOGRAPHER)

Previously at Porchlight: Anything Goes, Mack and Mabel and Assassins

Tammy Mader is a proud member of SDC, the union of professional Stage Directors and Choreographers. Credits include: Bye Bye Birdie, Hairspray (Jeff Award), Next To Normal, Sunset Blvd., Gypsy, Spamalot, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (Jeff Nomination), Buddy; The Buddy Holly Story, Thoroughly Modern Millie (Jeff Award), Meet Me In St. Louis, Kiss Me Kate (Jeff Nomination), Anything Goes (Jeff Nomination), and My One And Only (Jeff Award) at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace; Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Meet Me In St. Louis, Grand Hotel and The Full Monty at Drury Lane Water Tower Place; Guys & Dolls and Invisible Man at Court Theatre; Singin’ In The Rain, My One And Only (Jeff Nomination), 42nd St. (Jeff Award), Beauty and the Beast for Marriott’s Lincolnshire Theatre; Animal Crackers for Baltimore’s Center Stage, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? for Drury Lane Theater in Evergreen Park; She Loves Me, Singin’ In The Rain (Jeff Nomination), Grand Hotel, 42nd St., Meet Me In St. Louis, and Swingin’ On A Star: The Johnny Burke Musical at Theater at the Center, Elizabeth Rex at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Porchlight Music Theatre’s Anything Goes, Mack And Mabel and Assassins.