Porchlight Music Theatre’s FREE virtual series Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable with host Michael Weber concludes with two final episodes: Passion, with guests John Doyle, Judy Kuhn and Kathy Voytko, debuting Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. CST and Company, with guests Raúl Esparza, Robert Falls and Lonny Price, debuting Saturday, Feb 6 at 7 p.m. CST. These new and all previously aired episodes are available FREE at Porchlight’s YouTube page (www.youtube.com/c/PorchlightMusicTheatre) and Porchlight’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre).
The popular series, created and hosted by Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic Director Michael Weber, was launched in May of 2020, and has recorded 18 episodes spanning the entire theatrical career of American icon Stephen Sondheim. Weber discussed Sondheim the man, his musicals and more with actors, artistic directors, critics, directors and music directors from Chicago, Broadway and the world of theater. During 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 episode focuses on a specific Sondheim musical with special guests providing a lively discussion of that week’s work and sharing their views on Sondheim’s impact on the performing arts with video clips from the productions.
“I have loved every minute of creating this series and discussing Sondheim and his work with an incredible array of people, including many who have worked with him,” said Weber. “It has been a once in a lifetime experience for me. And the response to our series shows that Sondheim’s amazing career continues to mean so much to so many people. I am sad to see it end, and would like to thank the guests, the fans and of course, Mr. Sondheim.”
Premiere: Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. CST
Passion
with John Doyle, Judy Kuhn, Kathy Voytko and host Michael Weber
Sondheim’s 1994 musical Passion is the focus of the penultimate episode of Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable. Passion tells the story of a love triangle and is adapted from Ettore Scola's 1981 film “Passione d'Amore” and its source material, Iginio Ugo Tarchetti's 1869 novel "Fosca.” Weber’s guests this week, discussing what many consider Sondheim’s most personal work, are John Doyle (Tony Award-winning director; artistic director of Classic Stage Company), Judy Kuhn (multiple Tony, Olivier and Grammy Award nominee; Passion at the Kennedy Center Sondheim Festival) and Kathy Voytko (Broadway's The Frogs and Chicago Shakespeare’s Passion.)
Premiere: Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. CST
Company
with Raúl Esparza, Robert Falls, Lonny Price and host Michael Weber
Company, music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by George Furth, is the final episode in the Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable series. Joining Weber for a lively discussion on the award-winning musical, its development, its popularity and its recent revivals are Raúl Esparza (four-time Tony Award nominee, Broadway’s Company, TV’s “Law & Order: SVU”), Robert Falls (artistic director at Goodman Theatre) and Lonny Price (Porchlight Artistic Advisory board member, Broadway’s original "Charley Kringas,” in Merrily We Roll Along, director of Sweeney Todd,Company and "Sondheim! The Birthday Concert" with the New York Philharmonic.)
THE COMPLETE SONDHEIM @ 90 ROUNDTABLE WITH HOST MICHAEL WEBER INCLUDES:
West Side Story (premiered: April 25, 2020)
Guests: Gary Griffin, Mark Hoebee and Diana Martinez
Available here: https://youtu.be/YTXNuerZsz0
Sunday in the Park with George (premiered: May 2, 2020)
Guests: Nick Bowling, David Cromer and Heidi Kettenring
Available here: https://youtu.be/7rXsT2mB2_g
Follies (premiered: May 9, 2020)
Guests: David H. Bell, Gary Griffin and Hollis Resnik
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yiym_kpnAG4
Gypsy, A Musical Fable (premiered: May 16, 2020)
Guests: Klea Blackhurst, E. Faye Butler and Marc Robin
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEXm1kyi0sw
Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (premiered: May 23, 2020)
Guests: Jim Corti, David Girolmo and James Earl Jones II
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH4FTXSaIaY
Into the Woods (premiered: May 30, 2020)
Guests: David Cromer, Sean Allan Krill and Jessie Mueller
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH3gOtBSyqU&t=535s
Merrily We Roll Along (premiered: June 13, 2020)
Guests: Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Chris Jones and Lonny Price
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pb2rfJKGYQ
Pacific Overtures (premiered: June 20, 2020)
Guests: Amanda Green, Telly Leung and Richard Manera
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dasI9E_0tGU
Anyone Can Whistle (premiered: June 27, 2020)
Guests: Victoria Bussert, Cheryl Coons and Christopher Pazdernik
Available here: https://youtu.be/y4zN1veKVAc
Road Show (premiered: Dec. 5, 2020)
Guests: Chris Jones, Michael Mahler and Deanna Dunagan
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAOmlzoQhIM
A Little Night Music (premiered: Dec. 12, 2020)
Guests: Brianna Borger, Nick Bowling and Christie Chiles Twillie
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eo8jEWLSbE
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Forum (premiered: Dec. 19, 2020)
Guests: Anika Chapin, Ross Lehman and Linda Madonia
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AK6t0cekIw
The Frogs (premiered: Dec. 26, 2020)
Guests: Victoria Bussert, Christie Chiles Twillie and Christopher Pazdernik
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPgXNJLsRTg
Assassins (premiered: Jan. 2)
Guests: Anika Chapin, Jermaine Hill and Stef Tovar
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYhqpPhNAps
Do I Hear A Waltz? (premiered: Jan. 9)
Guests: Cheryl Coons, Anthony Crivello and Kelli Harrington
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_cJiDzhMQI
Saturday Night (premiered: Jan. 16)
Guests: Frankie Leo Bennett, Andréa Burns and Nik Kmiecik
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JnV849VQAI
Passion (premieres: Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. CST)
Guests: John Doyle, Judy Kuhn and Kathy Voytko
Company (premieres: Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. CST)
Guests: Raúl Esparza, Robert Falls and Lonny Price
ABOUT MICHAEL WEBER, host
Michael Weber is Porchlight Music Theatre's artistic director and most recently directed Broadway by the Decade, Sunset Boulevard and Gypsy for Porchlight Music Theatre as well as the Porchlight Revisits production of 1776. His productions of Gypsy, End of the Rainbow, Side Show, ....Forum, Sweeney Todd, Pal Joey and Assassins at Porchlight, Grand Hotel at Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place and She Loves Me at Theatre at the Center were each nominated for the Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Production - Musical. Other directing credits includeLiving the History-125 Years of the Auditorium Theatre (starring Patti Lupone, John Mahoney, and stars of Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and others), Fifth of July and Talley's Folly at the Oak Park Festival Theatre. The Petrified Forest at Theatre at the Center, Beauty and the Beast at Marriott Theatre. Over the River and Through the Woods at Mercury Theater, and Cirque du Symphony at Sears Center Arena. The recipient of two Joseph Jefferson Awards, he has written and directed fifteen Joseph Jefferson Awards ceremonies. Weber's regional acting credits include The Merry Widow and The Sound of Music at Lyric Opera, 42nd Street at Paramount, Annie Get Your Gun and Gypsy (both starring Patti LuPone) at Ravinia, Disney's My Son Pinocchio at First Stage Milwaukee, Around the World in 80 Days at Cleveland Playhouse. The Winter's Tale and Henry V at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Angel Street at First Folio Shakespeare, and The Gifts of the Magi at Indiana Repertory. He served previously as artistic director of Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place (now The Broadway Playhouse) and Theatre at the Center. Weber is proud to serve as a pledge host on WTTW, Channel 11.
ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
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 city’s 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 26th season, our 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, and we love our ongoing collaboration with Chicago Youth Centers. We annually award 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. This past season, Porchlight Music Theatre “graduated” to the Large Theatre tier of the Joseph Jefferson Equity Awards, stiffening our competition for the Jeff committee’s recognition. Porchlight celebrated its eight nominations in both technical and artistic categories and awards for Jermaine Hill, music direction and Lorenzo Rush Jr, solo performance, most notably Best Ensemble for Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies.
Through the global pandemic, Porchlight has 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 and the return of The Ruffians’ Burning Bluebeard as well as collaborations with Hershey Felder and LA Theater Works. Porchlight will continue to announce new premium and free offerings throughout 2021.
Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from
Actors’ Equity Foundation; Allstate; Bayless Family Foundation; Michael Best & Friedrich LLP; Chapman | Spingola, Attorneys at Law; Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation; Gen Ops Plus; EFP Optical; Elegant Event Lighting; James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation; Hearty Boys; A.L. and Jennie L. Luria Foundation; The MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at Prince; the Pritzker Traubert Foundation; Ryan & Spaeth, Inc.; Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation; The Saints; Dr. Scholl Foundation and the Topfer Family Foundation.
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.
Porchlight Music Theatre wishes to thank members of the Matching Gift Corporate Program including abbvie; Allstate; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Peoples Gas; Pepsico; Polk Bros Foundation and The Saints.
