Porchlight Announces Cast of CHICAGO SINGS STEPHEN SONDHEIM, May 23

Porchlight Music Theatre has announced the current roster of music theatre and cabaret talent performing in this year's annual Chicago Sings fundraising concert, Chicago Sings Stephen Sondheim, Monday, May 23, at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), 220 E. Chicago Ave.

This year's Chicago Sings concert offered two opportunities to experience Chicago's music theatre and cabaret performers saluting Stephen Sondheim. The first, which is now sold out, is the "It's a Hit" Live Experience. Tickets for the "Color & Light" Lounge Experience, hosted by the Porchlight Young Professionals, are still available for $50 per ticket, and includes a live stream of the performance in a lounge created on the second floor of the MCA. Tickets may be purchased now at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org.

Chicago Sings Stephen Sondheim will be a fundraising celebration of the life and art of the great composer and lyricist who changed the world of American music theatre with performances co-directed by Porchlight Artistic Director Michael Weber+ and Producing Artistic Associate Frankie Leo Bennett+, music direction by David Fiorello+, choreography by Alejandro Fonseca+ and Laura Savage* and the presentation of the Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago.

The Chicago Sings Stephen Sondheim performers presenting songs featuring both music and lyrics by Sondheim currently scheduled to perform include Larry Adams+, Neala Barron*, Brianna Borger*, Justin Brill+, Christine Bunuan*, Lydia Burke*, Billy Dwyer+, Andres Enriquez+, Nancy Godinez*, Cecilia Iole*, Paul-Jordan Jansen+, Mark David Kaplan+, Parker Guidry^, Clare Kennedy*, Becky Keeshin*, Nik Kmiecik+, Evan Tyrone Martin+, Beckie Menzie*, Juwon Tyrel Perry+, Nolan Robinson+, Lorenzo Rush Jr+, Laura Savage*, Kelan M. Smith+ and Genevieve Thiers*.

Pronoun Key: + (he/him/his); * (she/her/hers); ^ (they, them, theirs); = (any with respect)

In addition to the performances, a Chicago Sings tradition continues with the presentation of the Guy Adkins Award for exceptional and lasting contributions to the state of the art of Chicago music theatre to Paramount Theatre Artistic Director Jim Corti.

Past Guy Adkins Award recipients include Felicia P. Fields, who recently starred in Porchlight's Blues in the Night, director/choreographers Brenda Didier, currently at the helm in Porchlight's Spring Awakening as well as Rachel Rockwell, actors E. Faye Butler, Paula Scrofano and Hollis Resnik, music director/conductor Doug Peck and directors Gary Griffin, Dominic Missimi and L. Walter Stearns. The committee that chooses the annual award winner is composed of past recipients and other leaders in Chicago's music theatre industry.

"It's a Hit!" Live Experience is now SOLD OUT and included

"Color & Light" Lounge Experience includes

Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for Saturday Night (1954), A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (1962), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Follies (1972), A Little Night Music (1973), The Frogs (1974), Pacific Overtures (1976), Sweeney Todd (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Into The Woods (1987), Assassins (1991), Passion (1994) and Road Show (2008), as well as lyrics for West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), Do I Hear A Waltz? (1965) and additional lyrics for Candide (1973). Side By Side By Sondheim (1976), Marry Me A Little (1981), You're Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983), Putting It Together (1993/99), Moving On (2001), and Sondheim On Sondheim (2010) are anthologies of his work as composer and lyricist. For film, he composed the score of "Stavisky" (1974), co-composed the score for "Reds" (1981), and wrote songs for "Dick Tracy" (1990). He wrote songs for the television production "Evening Primrose" (1966), co-authored the film The Last of Sheila (1973), and the play Getting Away With Murder (1996), and provided incidental music for the plays The Girls Of Summer (1956), Invitation To A March (1961), Twigs (1971), and The Enclave (1973). His collected lyrics with attendant essays have been published in two volumes: "Finishing the Hat" (2010) and "Look, I Made A Hat" (2011). In 2010, the Broadway theater formerly known as Henry Miller's Theatre was renamed The Stephen Sondheim Theatre in his honor. Stephen Sondheim died November 21, 2021.

Porchlight Music Theatre 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."

Now in its 27th season, Porchlight's quarter-century production history 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 45 Jeff awards, as well as 33 Black Theatre Alliance (BTA) nominations and 12 BTA awards. In 2019, Porchlight graduated to the Large Theatre tier of the Equity Jeff Awards, and was honored with eight nominations in both technical and artistic categories and won three awards in its inaugural year in this tier, most notably Best Ensemble for Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies.

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. For the 2020-2021 season, Porchlight's fall schedule included all-new ticketed virtual programs including Broadway by the Decade, New Faces Sing Broadway 1987, Chicago Sings Rock & Roll Broadway, New Faces Sing Broadway 1961 and the return of The Ruffians' Burning Bluebeard as well as collaborations with Hershey Felder and L.A. Theatre Works. Porchlight recently launched its first summer performance schedule in 2021 that included a sold-out performance of New Faces Sing Broadway 1979 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, the premiere of its outdoor music series Broadway in your Backyard, performed throughout Chicagoland this summer and special appearances at Sundays on State and Navy Pier's Chicago Live Again.