By Seth Rogovoy
Photo by Clay Singer; Resident Lightweight: Ali Louis Bourzgui and Joey D’Amore

Last time we checked in with Ali Louis Bourzgui, the Broadway performer and graduate of Pittsfield High School (class of 2017) was starring in The Who’s Tommy. He also played Orpheus in Hadestown earlier this year and is headed back to Broadway in spring 2026 for The Lost Boys musical, based on the 1987 horror film.

Now there’s a new way to enjoy his virtuosic voice. Bourzgui recently made his debut as a recording artist with the release of Becomes a Home, on which he appears as half of the folk duo Resident Lightweight. The album is a mélange of gorgeous melodies, vocal harmonies, acoustic instrumentation, found sounds, and organic textures—very much reflecting Bourzgui’s Berkshires upbringing.

Up until now, most of your work has been in stage musicals. Was doing acoustic singer-songwriter folk always part of your plan?
I’ve always been writing music since I was a kid. I just didn’t take it very seriously. When I did start taking it seriously, it became my means of journaling, which is sort of why a lot of the songs end up being used for healing—healing myself and then healing other people that listen.

How did you and Joey D’Amore—the other half of Resident Lightweight—meet?
We met at Ithaca College. We were roommates, and we both used to write songs separately in our own corners. Then we started jamming together, just playing guitar together. That’s where it started.

Is there a story behind the name Resident Lightweight?
It was just something that Joey said on a whim. Joey was like, “Yeah, I’m like the resident lightweight.” I think it’s a double meaning. The music we write is very soft and very sensitive, and the resident person in the group has a sensitive soul.

You have described this as a “concept album.” Can you explain the concept?
The concept is that you’re showing up in the driveway of an old childhood home. It’s both a literal and figurative version of that, and it’s completely continuous, so you walk up the driveway, and you open the front door, and you walk into the living room, and then walk into the kitchen, make a cup of tea, and then explore the radio that’s there, and then you walk in the backyard, and walk along the river, and each of these places are home.

How did the location of the recording impact the vibe of the album?
We recorded this album in a cabin on a lake in Mahopac, New York, and every single time there was wind blowing, or if a door creaked, we would just record that. People try to record songs in recording studios that shut out all that extra noise, but we invited it in.

Can you point to a song with specific Berkshire references?
The opening track, “To the Places I Used to Know.” That entire song is about where I grew up in the Berkshires, which is the Allengate area of Pittsfield. I talk about my grandparents’ house on Elberon Avenue, and I talk about the school I used to go to, and little references to my childhood neighborhood.

What’s your next theater project?
In the spring of 2026, I’m doing The Lost Boys musical, based on the 1987 horror film. The cool concept in the stage version is that the Lost Boys aren’t only a gang of vampires, but they’re also a rock band. So I get to play guitar, and we’re playing live on stage. We’re an actual band.

When will local audiences get to hear Becomes a Home performed live?
The hope is next summer to do a little Berkshires tour. I have quite a few favorite venues there for this intimate sort of thing.

Becomes a Home, album cover art by Eva Henderson