Time Out Chicago calls her “phenomenal,” and Showbiz Chicago raves “Roston holds the audience in the palm of her hand.” Actress, director and playwright Alexis J. Roston earned acclaim for her mesmerizing portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, including Chicago’s Jeff Award, a Black Theater Alliance Award and the Black Excellence Award. Other credits nationwide include starring in Don’t Make Me Over— A Tribute to Dionne Warwick (Jeff Award Nomination, Black Theater Alliance Award Nomination), Mary Poppins (Mrs. Banks), Porgy and Bess (Bess), Ragtime (Sarah), Sister Act (Delores), For Colored Girls… (Lady in Orange), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Charlaine), Shrek: The Musical (Dragon), The Wiz (Addaperle), The Piano Lesson (Grace), Crowns (Jeanette), Company (Sarah), Godspell (Joanne), Smokey Joe’s Café (Brenda), Jesus Christ Superstar, The Color Purple, Hair, Hairspray, She the People with Second City Chicago and the world premiere of The Secret of My Success. Concerts include First Lady of Song: Alexis J Roston Sings Ella Fitzgerald. An ensemble member of Congo Square Theatre, Roston served as director and playwright of A Nativity Story: More Than A Miracle. Television: Chicago PD, Chicago Code, and The Chi. She holds a BFA in musical theatre from Howard University. She is a proud member of AEA and Congo Square Theatre Company and represented by Paonessa Talent Agency.

Kelvin Roston Jr is an actor/singer/musician/writer. He was last seen on Northlight’s stage as Reggie in Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew and before that as Sky in Detroit ’67 by the same playwright. Pre-pandemic, he was last seen in Day of Absence, Congo Square Theatre, and before that as King in King Headley II and Oedipus in Oedipus Rex, Court Theatre. Kelvin is the playwright and performer of Twisted Melodies, a look at mental illness through the eyes of legendary soul singer and musician, Donny Hathaway, which has toured nationally, including a stop at New York’s Apollo Theater. Chicagoland theaters: Congo Square, Court, Paramount, Marriott-Lincolnshire, Goodman, Eta, Writers, Black Ensemble, Timeline, Northlight, Steppenwolf, Pegasus, Chicago’s Children’s Theatre. Regional: The Black Rep (St. Louis, MO), Fulton (Lancaster, PA), New Theatre (Overland Park, KS), MSMT (Brunswick, ME), BCS (Baltimore, MD), Mosaic (WASHINGTON DC), Apollo (New York, NY). International: Orb (Tokyo, Japan), Festival Hall (Osaka, Japan). Television: Chicago Med, Chicago PD, KFC, Instant Care, Ace Hardware. Film: Get a Job, Princess Cyd, Breathing Room. Awards: Jeff Award, 3 BTA Awards, 2 Black Excellence Awards, NAMI Award, Court Theatre’s 2019/20 Nicholas Rudall Classic Artist Award. Kelvin is a proud member of AEA, a Congo Square Ensemble Member, and represented by Paonessa Talent.

Linda Solotaire is a vocalist, bandleader, curator, poet, and teaching artist dedicated to the democratizaton of the arts. Classically trained in music and theatre, she began her career as an actress in the late 1970s. As a vocal artist, she is most deeply influenced by Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Abbey Lincoln, Sheila Jordan, and Judy Garland. While the Great American Songbook is at the heart of her repertoire, she strives to infuse her straight-ahead jazz sets with more obscure, contemporary and original songs. Linda is currently working with her long-time collaborator Stu Greenspan on a collection of new arrangements of songs by Thelonious Monk, as well as a non-jazz project called Songs of Love & Hate with co-leader Chris Bernhardt. Theatrical and on-camera projects include the roles of Catherine in O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra and Annie in Annie Get Your Gun, commercial industrial videos, multimedia, surreal collaborative films, and most recently the TV series Chicago Med. She frequently works as a voice-over talent and has performed in a variety of performance situations and venues around the world.

Wicked in Chicago (Nessa) as well as work with Northlight, Paramount, Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare, Writers, Marriott Lincolnshire, Court, Drury Lane (Oakbrook and Evergreen Park), Theatre At The Center, Porchlight Music Theatre, Chicago Commercial Collective, and American Theatre Company. Regional: Indiana Repertory, Fulton, Maine State Music Theatre, TheatreWorks Palo Alto, Peninsula Players, Clarence Brown, and Hangar. National Tours: Disney’s Beauty And The Beast. Film and television: Man Of Steel, Chicago Fire, and Cupid. Karen Carpenter concert with Artists’ Lounge Live. Joseph Jefferson Award, 9 Jeff
nominations, the Sarah Siddons’ Chicago Leading Lady Award, an After Dark Award, the Richard M. Kneeland Award, and two Broadway World Awards. BS in Speech from Northwestern University.