Theatre News Wire

Porchlight Music Theatre, nationally recognized for presenting grand stories in intimate settings, showcasing the brightest, up-and-coming talent and developing new music theatre work announces its 2010-2011 season.  The theater is expanding its offerings this season to include four highly anticipated musical events.  The season opener is Stephen Sondheim's innovative Sunday in the Park with George (from September 10 to October 31, 2010.) For the holidays, Porchlight will reprise its festive family classic Miracle on 34th Street (from November 19, 2010 to January 2, 2011) followed by the Midwest premiere of Meet John Doe (from March 4 to April 17, 2011), a musical based on the iconic film by Frank Capra.  The season finale will be the beloved Tony Award-winning Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I (from April 22 to June 5, 2011).  All shows will be presented at Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont, Chicago.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Sunday in the Park with George is the moving study of the enigmatic painter Georges Seurat.  The inarticulate Seurat fights a losing battle to maintain a relationship with his mistress Dot as he creates his painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" amid the scorn of the artistic community.  Almost 100 years later, his American descendant, also an artist, is burned out and uncertain of the path he must take.  The show will run from September 10 to October 31, 2010.

Porchlight is pleased to present the Midwest premiere of Meet John Doe, a production that has become the rising star on the musical theatre scene, from March 4 to April 17, 2011.  Based on the classic movie by Frank Capra, Meet John Doe follows a plucky journalist who fabricates a letter written by "John Doe," threatening suicide over unemployment and slimy politics. Reaction to the letter prompts the paper to hire a public face for the crusade, an out-of-work baseball player who quickly becomes an icon for the oppressed.  This new work received seven Helen Hayes nominations in its original production.

Porchlight will present its first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I, from April 22 to June 5, 2011.  This ambitious project will feature grand storytelling in an intimate setting.  As America fights its civil war, Anna, an English widow, sails to Bangkok with her young son to tutor the wives and children of the King of Siam.  The King wishes Siam to have a larger role on the world stage while simultaneously maintaining its traditions, including slavery, and he increasingly turns to Anna for advice.  Featuring such classics as "Shall We Dance" and "Getting to Know You," The King and I is the story of a man and a woman with matching intelligence and strength, but clashing personalities, prejudices and politics.

As an added holiday attraction, Porchlight will revisit the traditional holiday favorite, Miracle on 34th Street from November 19, 2010 to January 2, 2011. This production combines the classic story from the film with traditional holiday music.  When a white-bearded gentleman claims to be the real Santa Claus he brings about a genuine ‘Miracle on 34th Street,' spreading a wave of love throughout New York City.  Families are encouraged to bring the kids to see Miracle on 34th Street as their first theatrical experience.  Following each performance, the audience is invited to visit with Santa Claus and share a Christmas wish. 

Single tickets are $38 with discounts available for students and seniors.   For Single Tickets call Theatre Building Chicago's Box Office 773-327-5252 or visit www.TicketMaster.com. 

Subscriptions are available through the Porchlight Music Theatre Business Office 773-325-9884.