Joel Grey Will Receive ICON Award at Porchlight Music Theatre's 25th Anniversary ICONS Gala

Porchlight Music Theatre has announced that actor, singer, dancer, director and photographer Joel Grey will be honored at the 2020 ICONS Gala celebrating 25 years of Porchlight as the center for music theatre in Chicago, Monday, March 23, at the Ritz-Carlton, 160 E. Pearson St.

The ICONS Gala's 25th Anniversary co-chairs are Rick and Deann Bayless and Bill Kurtis and Donna La Pietra. The co-chairs and Grey will join a limited number of guests at a VIP meet and greet cocktail reception before dinner.

The ICONS Gala begins at 5:30 p.m. and includes a three-course dinner, the presentation of the ICON Award to Grey, an on-stage conversation between Grey and Kurtis and musical performances saluting Grey's nearly 80-year career. Proceeds from this event benefit Porchlight's artistic and youth education programs.

The ICONS Gala will be an unforgettable night for all. In addition to the presentation of the ICON Award to Grey, legendary broadcaster Kurtis will interview him in an intimate on-stage conversation discussing the Academy Award, Tony Award and Golden Globe Award-winner's career including Grey's unforgettable roles in Cabaret, George M!, Chicago and Wicked to his most recent role as director for Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish,

Artistic Director Michael Weber will stage musical numbers from Grey's storied career to be performed by many of Chicago's leading musical theatre artists.

"Porchlight Music Theatre's 25th Anniversary Gala is the perfect way to celebrate this Silver Anniversary. Our Co-chairs Rick, Deann, Bill and Donna with the 25th Anniversary Committee, have been diligently working to make this night unforgettable for all attending," said Executive Director Jeannie Lukow. "This is our first evening gala in ten years and having the legendary Joel Grey in person, Chicago's top talents performing and new and old friends joining us; it will be an incredible way to launch Porchlight into the next 25 years."

The ICONS Gala is Porchlight's annual signature benefit event and this 25th Anniversary party will be even more memorable with the presentation of the ICON Award to Grey. The ICON Award, like the ICONS Gala, honors an individual who has forever changed the landscape of American music theatre. Past ICONS Galas have honored the careers and lives of Hal Prince, Ethel Merman, Elaine Stritch, Frank Loesser, Bob Fosse, Fred Astaire, Jerome Robbins and Michael Bennett.

Joel Grey's career on Broadway includes Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (Roundabout Theatre Company), Anything Goes, Wicked, Chicago, George M! (Tony Award-nominee.) and Cabaret (Tony Award-winner). Grey's Off-Broadway credits include The Normal Heart, in 1986, and co-directing the Tony Award-winning Broadway premiere in 2011. His film credits include "Cabaret" (Academy Award-winner), "Buffalo Bill and the Indians," "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins," "Dancer in the Dark," "The Seven Percent Solution" and "Man on a Swing." Grey is an internationally exhibited photographer with four published books: "Pictures I Had to Take" (2003), "Looking Hard at Unexamined Things" (2006), "1.3-Images From My Phone" (2009) and "The Billboard Papers" (2013). His memoir, "Master of Ceremonies," was released in 2016 (Flatiron Press).

Tickets are available at 773.777.9884 ext. 1005 or at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org/Icons.