Lin-Manuel Miranda's IN THE HEIGHTS, SCOTTSBORO BOYS & More Set for Porchlight's 2016-17 Season

Michael Weber, artistic director of Porchlight Music Theatre, has announced Porchlight Music Theatre's 2016 - 2017 mainstage season which includes In The Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda's first big hit and winner of four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score, September 9 - October 16, 2016; End of the Rainbow, the Chicago premiere of the Judy Garland bio musical play, a recent smash hit in London and New York, November 4 - December 4, 2016; The Scottsboro Boys, the long-awaited Chicago premiere of the final collaboration of Kander and Ebb concerning one of the most infamous events in American history, February 3 - March 12, 2017; Marry Me a Little, Jeff Award-winning Porchlight Artistic Associate Austin Cook stars in this rarely seen Stephen Sondheim production, April 14 - May 21, 2017.

Porchlight Music Theatre will also continue Porchlight Revisits in 2016 - 17. This hugely popular "lost musicals" in staged concert series celebrates classic productions that have been rarely seen in Chicago. The fourth season of Porchlight Revisits includes:

• The Rink (1984), October 4-6, 2016
• Little Me (1962), February 28-March 2, 2017 and
• On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965), May 9-11, 2017

Detailed information for each production is available starting on page two of this release. Full production artistic leadership and actors will be released at a future date.

All 2016-2017 Porchlight mainstage and Porchlight Revisits productions will take place at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. A variety of discounted subscriptions are on sale now at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by phone at 773.777.9884. Single tickets for all performances go on sale May 1 and will be available online at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by calling the Stage 773 box office at 773.327.5252.

Porchlight Artistic Director Michael Weber commented, "Next season Porchlight continues to be Chicago's urban oasis to experience sophisticated and significant works of music theatre told through the lens of our intensely intimate style. Coinciding with the Chicago arrival of Hamilton, Porchlight is honored to offer audiences an opportunity to revisit the production that made author Lin-Manuel Miranda one of the great new voices in music theatre with In the Heights. At Porchlight, for the first time Chicago audiences will get to experience the power in the story of the final days of the legendary Judy Garland with End of the Rainbow, after its recent smash hit productions in London and New York, as well as a fascinating take on a notorious miscarriage of American justice in the final collaboration of one of music theatre's greatest composer-lyricist teams with the long awaited Chicago Premiere of Kander and Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys. Porchlight is honored to be the first theatre in Chicago granted the rights to these two highly coveted titles. To close out the mainstage season one of our city's most lauded actor/musicians, Austin Cook, returns to his Porchlight artistic home as star of the rarely seen Stephen Sondheim gem, Marry Me a Little. This, with our season-launch Chicago Sings concert, our fast growing Porchlight Revisits "lost musicals" series and the return of our New Faces Sing Broadway revue series reinforces why Porchlight is the center for music theatre in the city of Chicago."

Porchlight Music Theatre's 2016 - 17 season includes:

In The Heights
September 9 - October 16
Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes

From the creator of the current Broadway smash Hamilton, and winner of Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Score, In the Heights tells the universal story of a tight knit community in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood - a place where the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It's a community on the brink of change, full of hopes and dreams, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind.

Previews: Friday, Sept. 9 at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 10 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Sept 11 at 2 p.m., Monday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Opening Night: Friday, Sept. 16 at 8 p.m.
Regular Run: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and, Sundays at 2 p.m.
Weekday Matinee: Thursday, Oct. 6 at 1:30 p.m.
No 7:30 p.m. performances Thursday Sept. 15 and Oct. 6

Porchlight Revisits
The Rink (1984)
October 4 - 6
Book by Terrence McNally
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Originally a starring vehicle for divas Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli, this innovative musical set in a Coney Island of the mind on the ragged fringe of the New York show-biz world tells the story of Anna Antonelli. Her family-run roller rink is about to be demolished, and with it Anna's memories of her lothario of a husband and her painfully shy daughter, Angel. The rink becomes an arena in which mother and daughter examine their past and present and make a new resolution for a better future. Featuring the hits: Colored Lights, Blue Crystal and All the Children in a Row.

Performances: Tuesday, Oct. 4 - Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7:15 p.m.

All Porchlight Revisits, performances include "Behind the Show Backstory," a multimedia presentation, hosted by Artistic Director Michael Weber, setting the stage on the creation of the featured Porchlight Revisits production, sharing all the juicy backstage stories and the state of the art on Broadway that season.

End of the Rainbow
November 4 - December 4
By Peter Quilter
Featuring music of the Judy Garland songbook

CHICAGO PREMIERE

It's December 1968 and Judy Garland is about to make her comeback... again. In a London hotel room, with both her new young fiancé and her adoring accompanist, Garland struggles to get 'beyond the rainbow' with her signature cocktail of talent, tenacity and razor-sharp wit. Featuring many of Garland's most memorable songs, this savagely funny play with music offers unique insight into the inner conflict that inspired and consumed one of the most beloved figures in American popular culture.

Previews: Friday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. and Monday, Nov 7 at 1:30pm.
Opening Night: Monday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Regular Run: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and
8 p.m. and, Sundays at 2 p.m.
Weekday Matinees: Friday, Nov. 25 at 4 p.m.
No 7:30 p.m. performance Thursday, Nov 10 and Nov. 24

The Scottsboro Boys
February 3 - March 12, 2017
Music and Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb
Book by David Thompson

CHICAGO PREMIERE

The thrilling, final collaboration by the creators of Cabaret and Chicago, The Scottsboro Boys has been hailed as one of the most visionary and controversial musicals to grace the stages of Broadway and London. Nominated for 12 Tony Awards, and presented in the style of the notorious "minstrel show," this true-life story of nine African American teenagers accused and put on trial in Memphis for a crime they did not commit is one of the most infamous events in our country's history, igniting the start of the modern civil rights movement.

Previews: Friday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m., Sat, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m., Sun, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m., Mon, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Opening Night: Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Regular Run: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and, Sundays at 2 p.m.
Weekday Matinee: Thursday, March 2 at 1:30 p.m.
No 7:30 p.m. performance Thursday, Feb. 9 and March 2

Porchlight Revisits
Little Me (1962)
February 28 - March 2, 2017
Book by Neil Simon
Music by Cy ColemanLyrics by Carolyn Leigh

Originally created for the gargantuan comic talents of Sid Caesar and inspired by an imaginary autobiography by Patrick Dennis (Auntie Mame), Little Me is a brash, fast and furiously funny musical comedy about the glamorous and big hearted Belle Poitrine and her six husbands and lovers-an assortment of oddballs ranging from an innocent college boy to a lecherous octogenarian to the king of a non-existent country and how they got her from the "wrong side" to the "right side" of the tracks. Featuring the hits: I've Got Your Number, Real Live Girl and The Rich Kid Rag.

Performances: Tuesday, Feb. 28 - Thursday, March 2 at 7:15 p.m.

All Porchlight Revisits, performances include "Behind the Show Backstory," a multimedia presentation, hosted by Artistic Director Michael Weber, setting the stage on the creation of the featured Porchlight Revisits production, sharing all the juicy backstage stories and the state of the art on Broadway that season.

Marry Me a Little
April 14 - May 21, 2017
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Conceived by Craig Lucas and Norman René
Starring and Music Directed by Porchlight Artistic Associate Austin Cook

Two urban singles, each alone in their apartment, share a Saturday night of sweet fantasies and deep yearning never knowing that they're only a floor away from each other and the end of their lonely dreams. Following in the tradition of Porchlight's hit Sondheim on Sondheim, and re-conceived especially for this production, the rarely seen Marry Me a Little breathes new theatrical life and meaning into a collection of trunk songs that were culled from the final productions of Anyone Can Whistle, Follies, Company, Forum, A Little Night Music and more.

Previews: Friday, April 14 at 8 p.m., Sat, April 15 at 8 p.m., Sunday, April 16 at 2 p.m., Monday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Opening Night: Tuesday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Regular Run: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.
Weekday Matinee: Thursday, May 11, 1:30 p.m.
No performance Thursday, 7:30 p.m. on April 20 and May 11

Porchlight Revisits
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965)
May 9 - 11, 2017
Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Burton LaneBased on "Berkeley Square" by John L. Balderston

It's the story of a scatter-brained young woman named Daisy Gamble who is desperate to quit smoking and visits a noted hypnotist, Mark Bruckner. But Daisy, for all her goofiness, is unexpectedly gifted: she can find lost items, she knows when the telephone will ring and, once under hypnosis, she transforms via reincarnation into Melinda, a woman who lived, loved, and died more than a century before, and with whom Dr. Bruckner falls immediately in love. Featuring the hits "Melinda," "What Did I Have That I Don't Have?" and "Come Back to Me."

Performances: Tuesday, May 9 - Thursday, May 11 at 7:15 p.m.

All Porchlight Revisits, performances include "Behind the Show Backstory," a multimedia presentation, hosted by Artistic Director Michael Weber, setting the stage on the creation of the featured Porchlight Revisits production, sharing all the juicy backstage stories and the state of the art on Broadway that season.

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