Porchlight Music Theatre Announces 25th Anniversary Season
By: A.A. Cristi Mar. 13, 2019
Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce its 25th Anniversary season that includes the 2019 - 2020 Mainstage, Porchlight Revisits and New Faces Sing Broadway productions.. Porchlight's Mainstage and Porchlight Revisits return to the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street.
A variety of subscriptions will go on sale soon at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org or by phone at 773.777.9884. Single tickets for all performances go on sale Monday, June 3 at 10 a.m.
In addition to the performances, Porchlight has planned special activities and events to celebrate the company's 25th Anniversary during the 2019 - 2020 season. These events that will highlight Porchlight's history and offer an opportunity to articulate the vision for the Chicago's home for music theatre's future.
The following is a recap of all three series' series. Detailed information in chronological order including run and opening dates, etc. are located on page 3 of this release.
The 2019 - 2020 Mainstage Season
Sunset Boulevard, starring Hollis Resnik, making her Porchlight Mainstage debut, as "Norma Desmond" in Andrew Lloyd Webber's haunting musical about a fading silent movie star seeking just one more close up, October 11 - November 24;
Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, Porchlight's past revues Putting it Together, Ain't Misbehavin' and Sondheim by Sondheim garnered critics' raves, audiences' applause and Jeff Awards. Don't miss the latest production which celebrates the genius of Duke Ellington, January 24 - March 7, 2020 and
CHICAGO PREMIERE
Disney's Freaky Friday, A New Musical, whether you remember Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris or Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, Porchlight's spin on this family favorite will soon become your favorite. It's a fun trip to the theatre as mother and daughter swap places with hilarious results in this Chicago premiere of a new Disney musical, April 10 - May 24, 2020.
Porchlight Revisits
Porchlight Music Theatre continues Porchlight Revisits in its 2019 - 2020 season. This popular "lost musicals" in fully staged concert series offers classic productions that have been rarely seen in Chicago and includes a fun, fact-filled multimedia "Behind the Scenes Backstory" presentation before each performance created and hosted by Artistic Director Michael Weber.
The seventh season of Porchlight Revisits features:
Call Me Madam (1950)
The musical comedy that spoofs politics and skewers foreign policy from the creative collective of Irving Berlin, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse takes to the stage for three performances, November 20 and November 21.
Michael and Mona Heath are Production Sponsors for Call Me Madam.
The 2019 - 2020 New Faces Sing Broadway Season
New Faces Sing Broadway has been a sold-out sensation, taking audiences in a musical time machine from the start to the finish of one full season on Broadway. A celebrity host introduces audiences to the next generation of music theatre artists while serving as guide to the stars, songs and stories of that season. Peppered with photos and films of the era in an exciting multimedia presentation, trivia games with prizes, sing-alongs and more, the 2019 - 2020 season will be performed at locations to be announced and features:
New Faces Sing Broadway 1956
Fall 2019
Featuring hit songs from the 1956 Broadway shows including My Fair Lady, The Most Happy Fella and Bells Are Ringing
New Faces Sing Broadway 1987
Winter 2020
Featuring hit songs from the 1987 Broadway shows including Les Miserables, Into the Woods, Me and My Girl and others;
New Faces Sing Broadway NOW
Spring 2020
Featuring hit songs from Broadway shows debuting today including Tootsie, Beetlejuice and Hamilton.
Full production artistic leadership, actors, and location will be released at a future date.
Elaine Cohen and Arlen Rubin generously sponsor New Faces Sing Broadway.
Special Holiday Presentation
Porchlight Music Theatre will play host to The Ruffians in its acclaimed production Burning Bluebeard as a holiday presentation during its 25th Anniversary Season. Burning Bluebeard, an annual audience favorite based on a true event in Chicago's history, will have a strictly limited run December 13 - 28.
Porchlight Music Theatre's 2019 - 2020 season includes, in chronological order:
MAINSTAGE
Sunset Boulevard
October 11 - November 24, 2019
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Book and Lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton
Based on the Billy Wilder film
Directed by Michael Weber
Music Directed by Aaron Benham
Choreographed by Shanna VanDerwerker
In her mansion on Sunset Boulevard, faded, silent-screen goddess, Norma Desmond, lives in a fantasy world. When impoverished screenwriter Joe Gillis, on the run from debt collectors, stumbles into her reclusive domain he is persuaded to work on Norma's "masterpiece," a screenplay that she believes will put her back in front of the cameras. Seduced by Norma and her luxurious lifestyle, he finds himself trapped in her clutches until his love for another woman leads him to try and break free with shattering consequences. This Tony Award-winning masterpiece of obsession, romance and the Golden Age of Hollywood stars one of Chicago Theatre's most celebrated leading ladies: Hollis Resnik, making her Porchlight Music Theatre Mainstage debut.
New Faces Sing Broadway 1956
Fall 2019
Featuring hit songs from the 1956 Broadway shows: My Fair Lady, The Most Happy Fella, Bells Are Ringing and others.
PORCHLIGHT REVISITS
Call Me Madam
November 20 and November 21
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
Directed by Christopher Pazdernik
From the combined talents who created Annie Get Your Gun and The Sound of Music and created for the original "The Hostess with the Mostess' on the Ball," Ethel Merman, here is one of the Golden Age of Broadway's biggest musical comedy hits. All the more timely today, it's a satire on politics and foreign policy that spoofs America's penchant for lending billions of dollars to needy countries and centers on Sally Adams, a well-meaning but ill-informed socialite who is appointed United States Ambassador to the fictional European country of Lichtenburg who charms the local gentry and, of course, falls in love.
Featuring the hit songs: "It's a Lovely Day Today," "The Best Thing for You (Would Be Me)" and "You're Just in Love."
SPECIAL HOLIDAY EVENT
The Ruffians' Burning Bluebeard
December 13 - 28
Porchlight Music Theatre plays host to the fast-growing Chicago theatrical phenomenon for a strictly limited engagement! Burning Bluebeard, created and performed by the critically-acclaimed theatre troupe The Ruffians, has been touted as "a show you won't quickly forget and that you could only see in Chicago" by the Chicago Tribune, and Newcity says the production is "filled to the brim with irreverent humor, riveting dance sequences and enough charm to fill a bucket ..." Told with music, clowning, tumbling, acrobatics and dance, Burning Bluebeard is inspired by the true story of Chicago's former Iroquois Theatre and the unforgettable events that resulted in tragedy for 600 theatergoers at Christmastime in 1903. An immediate holiday tradition for many since its debut in 2011, each performance is a vaudevillian delight with a story and music that excavates the poetic and poignant remains of a piece of Chicago's rich history and leaves the audiences with an unforgettable holiday experience.
MAINSTAGE
Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies
January 24 - March 7, 2020
Music by Duke Ellington
Concept by Donald McKayle
Directed and Choreographed by Brenda Didier and Florence Walker Harris
Music Directed by Jermaine Hill
A celebration of the artist many consider "the most important composer in the history of jazz," this stylish salute to "The Duke" will transport audiences on a high-stepping, dynamic journey through the life and times of one of America's greatest showmen. From his early days at Harlem's legendary Cotton Club through growing successes at Carnegie Hall, on Broadway, in Hollywood and around the world, this elegant, Tony Award-nominated entertainment features a treasure trove of Ellington's biggest hits, including "Mood Indigo," "Take the "A" Train," "I'm Beginning to See the Light,", "Hit Me With a Hot Note and Watch Me Bounce," "Perdido," "It Don't Mean a Thing," "In a Sentimental Mood," "Satin Doll" among many others.
New Faces Sing Broadway 1987
Winter 2020
Featuring hit songs from the 1987 Broadway shows: Les Miserables, Into the Woods, Me and My Girl and others.
MAINSTAGE
Chicago Premiere!
Disney's Freaky Friday, A New Musical
April 10 - May 24, 2020
Book by Bridget Carpenter
Music by Tom Kitt
Lyrics by Brian Yorkey
Based on the Novel "Freaky Friday" by Mary Rodgers and the Disney films
Directed by Brenda Didier
Choreographed by Shanna VanDerwerker
Music Directed by Linda Madonia
Porchlight Music Theatre is excited to present the Chicago premiere of Disney's newest musical comedy for the whole family! Based on the hit book and beloved films, and from the combined talents who created Once Upon a Mattress, Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, Next to Normal, American Idiot, High Fidelity, If/Then and Bring it On, this is the modern story of an overworked mother and her teenage daughter who magically swap bodies and, with hilarious results, have only one day to put things right again before Mom's big wedding. Featuring a fresh, fun and high-energy musical score, this NEW Disney musical is a heartfelt, comedic and unexpectedly emotional take on an American classic for the young and young in heart.
New Faces Sing Broadway NOW
Spring 2020
Featuring hit songs from today's Broadway shows: Tootsie, Beetlejuice, Hamilton and others.
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