Stay ConnectedEach week, Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic Director Michael Weber joins 3 special guests to discuss the many works of Stephen Sondheim. "West Side Story," "Into The Woods," "Sweeney Todd" 'and so much more! Join us Saturdays at 7pm CST on YouTube and Facebook for video premieres, or right here on your favorite Podcast platform!
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Porchlight's popular series Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable with Michael Weber is back with an incredible line up and great conversation.
Weber is joined by Deanna Dunagan (Tony Award-winning actor for "August: Osage County," who appeared in the world premiere of "Bounce" at the Goodman, directed by Hal Prince), Chris Jones (Chicago Tribune chief theater critic and culture columnist, New York Daily News Broadway and WBBM-TV critic) and Michael Mahler (Jeff Award-winning actor, music director, composer/lyricist whose credits include creating additional lyrics for the Broadway revival of "Miss Saigon" as well as music direction for "Road Show" at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre) to talk about "Road Show," previously titled "Bounce" and before that "Gold!" and "Wise Guys." With music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by John Weidman, this show has a fascinating history, a complex evolution and has never appeared on the Great White Way but had productions in Chicago, Washington D.C. and off-Broadway.
"Road Show" tells the story of brothers Addison and Wilson Mizner and their adventures across America at the start of the 20th century for the Klondike Gold Rush to the Florida real estate boom in the 1920s. Join Weber and the panel which is sure to be another fascinating Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable!
Edited by Remington Cleve
New episodes every Saturday at 7pm CT! Video premieres available on YouTube and Facebook.
YouTube.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre
Facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre
Learn more at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org
"Anyone Can Whistle," music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents, tells the story of a small town mayor, who, in an attempt to draw tourists, creates a “fake” miracle. Weber’s guests include Victoria Bussert (director, Music Theatre Program; professor of theatre, Baldwin Wallace University), Cheryl Coons (director, Music Theater Program, Chicago Dramatists) and Porchlight’s Casting & Company Manager Christopher Pazdernik (Director of the inaugural production of the Porchlight Revisits series, "Anyone Can Whistle") discussing this Sondheim show that has rarely been produced since its opening but its score has endured, becoming a much performed part of Sondheim's canon including the title song, "Everybody Says Don't" and "There Won't Be Trumpets."
Edited by Austin Packard
Originally premiered Saturday, July 2, 2020 at Facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre.
New episodes every Saturday at 7pm CT! Watch with video at YouTube.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre
Telly Leung, (Roundabout Theatre’s "Pacific Overtures," Chicago’s "Wicked," TV’s “Glee"), Richard Manera (Lyric Opera’s "Das Rheingold," Marriott Theatre’s "The King & I," Chicago Shakespeare and London's Donmar Warehouse productions of "Pacific Overtures") and Amanda Green (Tony Award, Two Drama Desk Awards (music, lyrics) and an Outer Critics Circle Award nominee, "Hands on a Hardbody" and co-lyricist "Bring It On!") join Weber for this edition of Sondheim @ 90 to talk about "Pacific Overtures," music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman. Considered by many to be the artistic pinnacle of the legendary Sondheim/Hal Prince collaborations, this exploration of culture and imperialism pushed the boundaries of musical theatre further than ever before.
Edited by Austin Packard
Originally premiered Saturday, June 20, 2020 at Facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre.
New episodes every Saturday at 7pm CT! Watch with video at YouTube.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre
Michael Weber discusses "Merrily We Roll Along," lyrics and music by Sondheim and book by George Furth based on the 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. "Merrily" is a legendary production that is told backwards in time and ran for 44 previews and only 16 performances in 1981 telling the story of three friends and the ups and downs of their 19 year relationship. Weber is joined by Marcia Milgrom Dodge (director and choreographer, Helen Hayes Award-winner for "Ragtime" at the Kennedy Center and on Broadway), Chris Jones (Chicago Tribune chief theater critic and culture columnist, New York Daily News Broadway and WBBM-TV critic) and Lonny Price (Porchlight Artistic Advisory board member, Broadway’s original "Charley Kringas,” "Merrily We Roll Along," director of Broadway’s "Sunset Boulevard," "Sweeney Todd," "Company" and "Sondheim! The Birthday Concert").
Edited by Austin Packard
Originally premiered Saturday, June 13, 2020 at Facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre.
New episodes every Saturday at 7pm CT! Watch with video at YouTube.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre
This week’s episode is about Sondheim’s modern twist on the Grimm fairy tales, "Into the Woods," music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by James Lapine. David Cromer (MacArthur fellow and Tony Award-winning director of "The Band’s Visit"), Sean Allan Krill (currently in the cast of "Jagged Little Pill" and whose other Broadway credits include "Honeymoon in Vegas," "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" and "Mamma Mia!") and Jessie Mueller (Jeff Award and Tony Award-winning star of Broadway's "Beautiful: the Carole King Musical," "Waitress," "Carousel," "Mystery of Edwin Drood" and "The Minutes") join Weber for a journey to a far-off kingdom in this week’s “Sondheim @ 90.”
Edited by Austin Packard
Originally premiered Saturday, May 30, 2020 at Facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre.
New episodes every Saturday at 7pm CT! Watch with video at YouTube.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre
The man behind the demon barber of Fleet Street is the focus of this week’s episode, "Sweeney Todd," music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler. This week's guests include Jim Corti, (Artistic Director of Paramount Theatre and recipient of the Jeff Award for his direction of "Sweeney Todd" whose Broadway credits include "Candide," "A Chorus Line," "Music Is" and "Ragtime"), David Girolmo (Jeff Award-winning actor whose work on Broadway includes "War Paint" and "Candide" and who appeared as the title character in Porchlight's "Sweeney Todd") and James Earl Jones II (Currently in the national tour of "Come From Away" and Jeff Award-nominee for Porchlight’s "Sondheim by Sondheim").
Edited by Austin Packard
Originally premiered Saturday, May 23, 2020 at Facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre.
New episodes every Saturday at 7pm CT! Watch with video at YouTube.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre
Here she is, world! This week’s episode delves into Gypsy, for which Sondheim wrote lyrics with music by Jule Styne and a book by Arthur Laurents. Weber’s guests include Klea Blackhurst (Gypsy and Hazel at Drury Lane Theatre and known for her award- winning tribute to Ethel Merman: Everything The Traffic Will Allow), E. Faye Butler (Porchlight’s own Jeff Award-winning "Madame Rose") and Marc Robin (Artistic Director of Pennsylvania's historic Fulton Theatre and recipient of 16 Joseph Jefferson Awards with 42 nominations).
Edited by Austin Packard
Originally premiered Saturday, May 16, 2020 at Facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre.
New episodes every Saturday at 7pm CT! Watch with video at YouTube.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre
This episode highlights "Follies," music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by James Goldman, which was inspired 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").
Edited by Austin Packard
Originally premiered Saturday, May 9, 2020 at Facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre.
New episodes every Saturday at 7pm CT! Watch with video at YouTube.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre
In the second episode of "Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable," Artistic Director Michael 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 Theater 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.”
Edited by Austin Packard
Originally premiered Saturday, May 2, 2020 at Facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre.
New episodes every Saturday at 7pm CT! Watch with video at YouTube.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre
The debut episode of Sondheim at 90 Roundtable! Artistic Director Michael 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.
Edited by Austin Packard
Originally premiered Saturday, April 25, 2020 at Facebook.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre.
New episodes every Saturday at 7pm CT! Watch with video at YouTube.com/PorchlightMusicTheatre
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