Porchlight Music Theatre’s 25th Anniversary season continues with a new free virtual series “Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable” with host Michael Weber, debuting Saturday, April 25 at 7 p.m. CST on Porchlight’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre. The series, created and hosted by Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic DirectorMichael Weber, gathers talents from Chicago, Broadway and the world of theater to discuss Stephen Sondheim as an American icon while celebrating Sondheim’s 90th birthday year. Throughout Sondheim’s storied career he has received an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards (more than any other composer), a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, a Laurence Olivier Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Barack Obama, when presenting Sondheim with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, said Sondheim had “reinvented the American musical.”
Each “Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable” with Michael Weber episode focuses on a specific Sondheim musical with special guests presenting videos of Sondheim inspired performances, providing a lively discussion of that week’s work and sharing their views on Sondheim’s impact on the performing arts.
Saturday, April 25 at 7 p.m. CST
West Side Story
Weber and his guests Gary Griffin (director of Broadway’s The Color Purple, The Apple Tree and Honeymoon in Vegas and London’s Pacific Overtures for which he received the Olivier Award), Mark Hoebee (producing artistic director of Paper Mill Playhouse) and Diana Martinez (director at McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage) discuss West Side Story, the musical retelling of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Sondheim's Broadway debut as a lyricist.
Saturday, May 2 at 7 p.m. CST
Sunday in the Park with George
In the second episode, Weber is joined by Nick Bowling (founding artistic director of TimeLine Theatre Company and director of the Chicago premiere of Porchlight Music Theatre’s Sondheim on Sondheim for which he won the Jeff Award), David Cromer (MacArthur fellow and Tony Award-winning director of The Band’s Visit) and Heidi Kettenring (Jeff Award-winner who has appeared in Sunday in the Park with George at Chicago Shakespeare and Sweeney Todd at Drury Lane). They will discuss Sunday in the Park with George, music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by James Lapine, the production that was inspired by Georges Seurat's painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.”
Saturday, May 9 at 7 p.m. CST
Follies
This week’s episode highlights Follies, music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by James Goldman was motivated by a New York Times article about a gathering of former showgirls from the Ziegfeld Follies. The Follies roundtable includes Weber and guests David H. Bell (multi-award-winning director whose credits include Broadway, Off Broadway, Carnegie Hall, The National Theatre, London's West End and The Kennedy Center) ), Gary Griffin (director of Broadway’s The Color Purple, The Apple Tree and Honeymoon in Vegas and London’s Pacific Overtures for which he received the Olivier Award) and Hollis Resnik (multi-award-winning actor whose appearances include Porchlight’s Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd, Follies, Into the Woods and A Little Night Music).
Future episodes will be announced with updates found at PorchlightMusicTheater.org and its social media outlets. Future guests, scheduled to appear, include in alphabetical order: E. Faye Butler (starred as “Rose” in Porchlight Music Theatre’s Gypsy: A Musical Fable), Curt Dale Clark (artistic director of Maine State Music Theatre), Jim Corti (artistic director of Paramount Theatre), Robert Falls (artistic director of Goodman Theatre), David Girolmo (Broadway credits include War Paint and Candide and, regionally, leading roles in Sweeney Todd, Follies and Forum) James Earl Jones II (Jeff Award-nominee for Porchlight Music Theatre’s Sondheim by Sondheim), Sean Allan Krill (Broadway credits include Jagged Little Pill, Honeymoon in Vegas, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and Mamma Mia) and more.
ABOUT MICHAEL WEBER, host
Michael Weber is the artistic director of Porchlight Music Theatre where, under his leadership, the company has received the Best Production Equity Jeff Award for five consecutive years. He previously served as artistic director for the inaugural season of Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place (now The Broadway Playhouse) and at Theatre at the Center (1998 – 2004). Most recently at Porchlight he directed Sunset Boulevard starring Hollis Resnik and previously directed Gypsy starring E. Faye Butler and the Porchlight Revisits production of 1776 and he appeared on stage in Porchlight Revisits Do Re Mi. His productions of End of the Rainbow, Sweeney Todd, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Pal Joey, Assassins and Side Show at Porchlight Music Theatre, Grand Hotel at Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place and She Loves Me at Theatre at the Center were each nominated for the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Production. Weber is proud to serve as a public television pledge host on WTTW, Channel 11 in Chicago.
ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
As the home for music theatre in Chicago now in its 25th season, Porchlight Music Theatre is nationally recognized for reimagining classic productions, developing new works and showcasing musical theatre’s noted Chicago veterans and rising stars. Porchlight elevates the genre by providing intimate and powerful theatrical experiences of music theatre through the lens of the “Chicago Style.” The 2017–2018 year marked a milestone for Porchlight as the company became an Artist In-Residence at the historic Ruth Page Center for the Arts in Chicago’s Gold Coast. Porchlight’s rich history includes the staging of more than 70 productions with 15 Chicago premieres and five world premieres. Through Porchlight’s “Off the Porch” new works program, the musicals of the next generation are developed and given a first audience. The School at Porchlight is Chicago’s center for music theatre training in the areas of performance, writing and appreciation including the launch of a youth summer “Make Your Own Musical” Camp in 2017. The company’s many accolades include 30 Black Theatre Alliance nominations and 12 awards, as well as a total of 167 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations resulting in 42 Jeff Awards including five consecutive Best Production awards for The Scottsboro Boys (2017), Dreamgirls (2016),Sondheim on Sondheim (2015), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (2014) and A Class Act (2013).
The 2019 – 2020 25th Anniversary Season is dedicated to the memory of long-time Board Member George K. “Kim” Sargent.
The Bayless Family Foundation is a 2019 – 2020 25th Anniversary Season Sponsor.
Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation, Actors’ Equity Foundation, Allstate, Bayless Family Foundation, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Chapman | Spingola, Attorneys at Law, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Elegant Event Lighting, Elevate Energy, James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation, Hearty Boys, Hopsmith, A.L. and Jennie L. Luria Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Prince Foundation, the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation, The Saints, Dr. Scholl Foundation, the Stuart Family Foundation, the Topfer Family Foundation and Walton Street Kitchen. The season program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency, and by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
"Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable" with host Michael Weber debuts this Saturday, April 25 discussing West SIde Story. The panel includes
top row: Host Michael Weber and Gary Griffin
second row: Mark Hoebee and Diana Martinez