CITY OF ANGELS (PORCHLIGHT REVISITS...)

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber are proud to announce the next production in the second season of Chicago’s hit “lost” musicals in staged concert series, Porchlight Revisits… City of Angels, featuring book by Larry Gelbart (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, M*A*S*H), music by Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, Barnum) and lyrics by David Zippel (The Goodbye Girl, Disney’s Mulan) with direction by Christopher Pazdernik and music direction by Aaron Benham. City of Angels is presented for two-nights-only Tuesday, March 3 and Wednesday, March 4 at 8:00 p.m. and is performed on the set of Porchlight’s Sondheim on Sondheim (February 6 – March 15) on nights when there are no performances at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets for City of Angels are $25 and include access to the popular pre-performance event, Behind the Show Backstory at 7:15 p.m. Created and hosted by Weber, this multi-media presentation sets the stage on the development of the original 1989 production of City of Angels, reveling in all the juicy backstage stories and revealing the state of the art on Broadway that season. Single tickets to City of Angels are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by calling the Stage 773 box office, 773.327.5252.

City of Angels is an ingenious spoof of 1940s Hollywood and whodunit films with side-by-side stories about the real world of a detective fiction writer and the “reel” world of his fictional gumshoe hero. One balances romance and rewrites, while the other slinks through a film noir netherworld of thugs and femmes fatales in this winner of the Best Musical Tony Award featuring the songs “What You Don’t Know About Women,” “With Every Breath I Take” and “You’re Nothing Without Me.”
Porchlight Revisits…City of Angels stars Porchlight Artistic Associate Brandon Dahlquist as film noir detective “Stone” and Matt Edmonds as aspiring screenplay writer “Stine” with Brian Zane (Buddy/Irving), Nathan Mittleman (Jimmy Powers), Molly Kral (Oolie/Donna), Anthony Apodaca (Munoz/Vargas), Allison Sill (Bobbi/Gabby), Jennifer Grubb (Alaura, Carla), Kim Green (Mallory/Avril) and the “Angel City 4” quartet: Emily Goldberg, Andrew Lund, Andrew Sickel and Stephanie Souza.

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT REVISITS…
Continuing to forge its role as “Chicago’s Music Theatre,” Porchlight launched the exciting new series, Porchlight Revisits… in 2013 especially created for the die-hard music theatre aficionado. Each season, Porchlight Music Theatre shares with audiences the rare opportunity to visit three musicals that opened on the Great White Way but have since gone “unsung.” The finest music theatre artists in Chicago dust off these neglected treasures and, with script in hand and minimal staging, escort audiences to a world of Broadway long past. The 2014/15 Porchlight Revisits… series concludes with Mack and Mabel (May 12 and 13, 2015).

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
Porchlight Music Theatre, currently celebrating its 20th season, is nationally recognized for developing innovative new works, reimagining classic productions and showcasing musical theatre’s noted veterans and rising stars. Porchlight elevates the genre in Chicago by providing intimate and powerful experiences and opportunities for growing diverse audiences. With the vision of Artistic Director Michael Weber, Porchlight builds on its role as Chicago’s leading music theatre producer. Porchlight’s rich history includes the staging of more than 50 productions with 12 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 including BEST MUSICAL! A Completely Improvised Musical Comedy! which enjoyed a smash engagement at The Second City. The School at Porchlight is Chicago’s new center for music theatre training in the areas of performance, writing and appreciation. The company has received a total of 73 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations resulting in 30 Jeff Awards, most recently garnering the 2014 Jeff Award for Production – Revue, Director - Revue, Porchlight Artistic Associate Brenda Didier and Artistic Specialization, Porchlight Artistic Associate Austin Cook and Costume Design - Midsize, Porchlight Artistic Associate Bill Morey, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Porchlight Music Theatre’ Porchlight Revisits… City of Angels, featuring book by Larry Gelbart (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, M*A*S*H), music by Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, Barnum) and lyrics by David Zippel (The Goodbye Girl, Disney’s Mulan) with direction by Chris Pazdernik and music direction by Aaron Benham. City of Angels is presented for two-nights-only Tuesday, March 3 and Wednesday, March 4 at 8:00 p.m. and is performed on the set of Porchlight’s Sondheim on Sondheim (February 6 – March 15) on nights when there are no performances at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets for City of Angels are $25 and include access to the pre-performance Behind the Show Backstory multi-media presentation beginning at 7:15 p.m., created and hosted by Weber, setting the stage on the development of the original 1989 production of City of Angels, reveling in all the juicy backstage stories and revealing the state of the art on Broadway that season. Single tickets to City of Angels are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by calling the Stage 773 box office, 773.327.5252.
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Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from the A.R.T League, the Arts Work Fund at the Chicago Community Trust, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Lester & Hope Abelson Fund, the MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the National Association of Realtors, Peoples Gas, and The Saints. The season program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.