Broadway's David Girolmo to Host NEW FACES SING BROADWAY 1951 at Porchlight Music Theatre

Porchlight Music Theatre has announced the latest offering in its 2022 - 2023 season, New Faces Sing Broadway 1951, hosted by multi-award winner and Broadway veteran David Girolmo, directed by David Fiorello with music direction and arrangements by Dr. Michael McBride. New Faces Sing Broadway 1951 takes place Monday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Evanston SPACE, 1245 Chicago Ave. in Evanston and Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at The Arts Club of Chicago, 201 E. Ontario St. Single tickets to the performance at Evanston SPACE are $37 and at The Arts Club are $70. The Arts Club performance includes a pre-performance cocktail hour including appetizers, wine and soft drinks starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org or by calling the Porchlight Music Theatre box office, 773.777.9884.

Now in its eighth season, Porchlight Music Theatre's New Faces Sing Broadway series returns, taking audiences on a musical journey from the start to the finish of an entire Broadway season in 90 minutes. Host David Girolmo, will introduce the audience to the next generation of Chicago music theatre artists while serving as the guide to the stars, songs and stories of the past. New Faces Sing Broadway 1951 includes hit songs from the golden age of Broadway musicals including Guys and Dolls, The King & I, Paint Your Wagon and others.

Porchlight's series is inspired by a set of musical revues produced from 1934-1968 entitled "New Faces" which was instrumental in introducing the public emerging talent with names like June Carrol, Robert Clary, Imogene Coca, Jane Connell, Professor Irwin Corey, Henry Fonda, Alice Ghostley, Ronny Graham, Billy Hayes, Tiger Haynes, Van Johnson, Madeline Kahn, Eartha Kitt, Robert Klein, Carol Lawrence, Paul Lynde, Virginia Martin, Bill McCutheon, John Reardon, Maggie Smith, Inga Swenson and many, many more.

Many of the artists who have appeared in Porchlight's New Faces Sing Broadway series have continued their careers on television, and local and national stages including Dawn Bless (Waitress-national tour), Katherine Bourne (School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play at Goodman Theatre), Lydia Burke and Molly Kral (Jeff Award winners [ensemble] Sophisticated Ladies), Darilyn Burtley and Max Cervantes (The Light in the Piazza at Lyric Opera of Chicago), Kyrie Courter (Jeff Award nominee-Next to Normal), Gilbert Domally (Jeff Award nominee-The Total Bent), Andres Enriquez (Jeff Award nominee-Porchlight's A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder), Theo Germaine (Showtime's "Work in Progress"), Lucy Godinez (Jeff Award nominee-Oliver), Emily Goldberg (Jeff Award nominee-Porchlight's A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder), Nicole Michelle Haskins (Jeff Award winner-The Color Purple), Michelle Lauto (Jeff Award winner-Spamilton), Yando Lopez (Jeff Award nominee-Spamilton), Henry McGinniss (Book of Mormon-national tour), Anthony Norman (The Prom on Broadway, Dear Evan Hansen-national tour), Patrick Rooney (Les Miserables-national tour), Aalon Smith (Porchlight's Gypsy), Katherine Thomas (Jeff Award winner-Ragtime), Aeriel Williams (Oedipus Rex at Court Theatre) and Nicole Lambert, Courtney Mack, Mallory Maedke and Samantha Pauly (SIX on Broadway).

The host of New Faces Sing Broadway 1951 is David Girolmo (he/him/his) includes: David Fiorello (he/him/his, director); Dr. Michael McBride+ (he/him/his, music director and arrangements); Majel Cuza* (she/her/hers, production manager); Frankie Leo Bennett+ (he/him/his, producing artistic associate) and Michael Weber+ (he/him/his, artistic director).

Future 2023 performances of New Faces Sing Broadway include New Faces Sing Broadway 1984 this spring and New Faces Sing Broadway NOW (2023) coming this summer.

ABOUT David Girolmo, host

David Girolmo returns to Porchlight, where he previously was in Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd, Candide and numerous editions of Chicago Sings. He has also performed on Broadway in Candide (directed by Hal Prince) and War Paint (directed by Michael Greif). Girolmo is a veteran of 100+ productions in the U.S. and Canada, is a multiple Jeff Award nominee, a Jeff winner, and a multiple Broadway World Award winner. Television and Film appearances include "Chicago P.D." (as Jim Varney); "Chicago Fire" (as Chief Grimes); "Empire" (as Dr. Sirak); "Crisis" (as Congressman Langston Wirth); "E.R." (as Officer Gates) and the feature film, "Death of a President" (as Dr. Peralta). He is married to Heidi Kettenring.

ABOUT David Fiorello, director

David Fiorello is a music director, performer, director, composer and arranger who's no stranger to Porchlight. He has served as music director most recently for Porchlight Revisits The Apple Tree and previously for Porchlight's Blues in the Night, Gypsy, Do Re Mi, Woman of the Year, several seasons of New Faces Sing Broadway as well as several Chicago Sings and ICONS Gala benefits. He also appeared onstage as "Joe" in Merrily We Roll Along. Fiorello currently serves as founder and artistic director of "The Beautiful City Project," a theatre company committed to raising funds for local Chicago charities and nonprofits, using some of the city's finest musical theatre talents. He's music directed national and international tours, including John Doyle's re-imagining of Sweeney Todd. He also served as music director for the Off-Broadway hit Danny & Sylvia: The Danny Kaye Musical. His orchestrations and arrangements have been heard across the nation, and on several albums. He's taught and directed/music directed as part of the International Lyric Academy in Italy and is adjunct faculty at Columbia College Chicago. An in-demand vocal coach, Fiorello Studios has also provided unique cabaret programming featuring the music of The Indigo Girls, Jason Mraz, Kelly Clarkson, Eva Cassidy, Sara Bareilles and Colbie Caillat. For more information on Fiorello's background, visit www.thebeautifulcityproject.com and www.fiorellostudios.com.

ABOUT DR. Michael McBride, music director and arrangements

Dr. Michael McBride is a Jeff Award-winning music director, internationally-performed composer, performer and educator who recently music directed/conducted Porchlight's RENT. Other credits include Big Fish (Boho Theatre, Jeff Award); Billy Elliot (Music Theatre Works); Ain't Misbehavin', The Robber Bridegroom, Jesus Christ Superstar, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Pippin, What a Wonderful World (workshop), Man of La Mancha, Mamma Mia!, Into The Woods, The Little Mermaid (Timber Lake Playhouse); The Boys and the Nuns (composer & MD), Fun Home, Violet, Cabaret, Tintypes, She Loves Me, Spring Awakening, Hot Mikado, Urinetown, Into the Woods (Loyola University Chicago); PorchlightPalooza, Broadway by the Decade (Porchlight Music Theatre); The Christmas Foundling (composer & MD; Pride Arts Center); Footloose (Wallace Bowl); The Drake Hotel holiday programming and The Cabaret Project in Chicago, St. Louis and Lake Geneva. He is proud to be music director at A Church 4 Me MCC in Chicago. He has been a guest artist at Northwestern University and is also the Area Supervisor of Music Theory, Aural Skills and Music History at North Park University.

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE

Porchlight Music Theatre, now in its 28th season, is the award-winning center for music theatre in Chicago. Through live performance, youth education and community outreach, we impact thousands of lives each season, bringing the magic of musicals to our theatre home at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in the Gold Coast and to neighborhoods across the city. Porchlight has built a national reputation for boldly reimagining classic musicals, supporting new works and young performers, and showcasing Chicago's most notable music theatre artists, all through the intimate and powerful theatrical lens of the "Chicago Style."

Porchlight's history over the last 27 years includes more than 70 mainstage works with 15 Chicago premieres and five world premieres. Porchlight's commitment to the past, present and future of music theatre led the company to develop the Porchlight Revisits and New Faces Sing Broadway program series, both quickly becoming audience favorites.

Porchlight's education and outreach programs serve schools, youth of all ages and skill levels and community organizations, most notably the ongoing collaboration with Chicago Youth Centers. Porchlight annually awards dozens of full scholarships and hundreds of free tickets to ensure accessibility and real engagement with this uniquely American art form.

The company's many honors include 178 Joseph Jefferson Award (Jeff) nominations and 49 Jeff awards, as well as 44 Black Theatre Alliance (BTA) nominations and 15 BTA awards. In 2019, Porchlight graduated to the Large Theatre tier of the Equity Jeff Awards and has been honored with seven awards in this tier to date including Best Ensemble for Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies (2019) and Best Production-Revue for Blues in the Night (2022).

Through the global pandemic, Porchlight emerged as one of Chicago's leaders in virtual programming, quickly launching a host of free offerings like Sondheim @ 90 Roundtables, Movie Musical Mondays, Porchlight by Request: Command Performances and WPMT: Classic Musicals from the Golden Age of Radio. In 2021, Porchlight launched its annual summer series, Broadway in your Backyard, performing at parks and venues throughout the city.

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