Porchlight Music Theatre 2017 ICONS Gala

Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce the 2017 ICONS Gala celebrating the career of Broadway legend Hal Prince, Sunday, April 30 from 11:00 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Atlantic Ballroom at the Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago, 221 N. Columbus Drive. The Gala, with honorary chair Paul Lisnek, includes performances from Chicago’s leading talents celebrating the career of Hal Prince, the presentation of the 2017 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago to Rachel Rockwell and silent and live auctions. Proceeds from the event and its accompanying auctions benefit Porchlight’s educational programs and productions. Tickets are on sale now and require advance purchase, $125 before March 31, $150 beginning April 1, $50 for children ages 18 years old and younger are available at 773.777.9884 or at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org.

The ICONS Gala is Porchlight’s signature benefit event, paying tribute to a person who has forever changed the landscape of American music theatre. The 2017 icon is Hal Prince, recipient of twenty-one Tony Awards, more than any other individual, including eight for directing, eight for producing the year's Best Musical, two as Best Producer of a Musical and three special awards. His career began as an assistant director to theatre producer and director George Abbott and over the next fifty years his achievements as producer and director are nothing short of legendary. His productions represent some of the best of Broadway over the past five decades including West Side Story, Cabaret, Company, Follies, Evita, Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof and others. Chicago’s leading performers, including Adrian Aguilar, Austin Cook, Angela Ingersoll, James Earl Jones II and Bethany Thomas, entertain the crowd with selections from Prince’s career at the ICONS Gala.

Another highlight of the ICONS Gala is the presentation of the 2017 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago to Rachel Rockwell. Past recipients include director Dominic Missimi, actors E. Faye Butler, Paula Scrofano and Hollis Resnik, music director/conductor Doug Peck and director/artistic director L. Walter Stearns. A committee consisting of past winners and an executive committee created by Porchlight of Chicago’s leading music theatre aficionados and professionals chooses the award-winner.

ABOUT PAUL LISNEK, HONORARY GALA CHAIR

Paul Lisnek is a multi-Emmy Award winning television host and anchor. Lisnek has been the political analyst for WGN-TV since 2008 appearing on all the station’s newscasts discussing the political issues of the day. He is the host of "Politics Tonight" on CLTV on which he interviews the leading political figures in the city, state and country and also serves as a fill-in anchor. He has interviewed presidents, governors, senators, congressmen, local representatives and mayors too numerous to count over the last 25 years.

Lisnek also hosts the podcast “Paul Lisnek Behind the Curtain” for WGNRadio.com and WGNPlus which highlights theatres, theatrical productions and the arts in addition to politics. In addition, He also anchors “Newsmakers" and hosts "Broadway in Chicago Backstage,” which is taped in front of a live studio audience on the Comcast Network with an in-depth look at Chicago’s hottest theatrical productions. “Backstage" has featured shows from Hamilton to Billy Elliott, and Aladdin to Book of Mormon and Wicked.

Other award-winning specials include “Site of Remembrance” on the Holocaust Museum and Education Center, “Footsteps of Lincoln” and “Day of Honor,” a special on the Honor Flite Chicago program for World War II veterans. He is the author of thirteen books including “The Hidden Jury,” “Winning the Mind Game,” “Quality Mind, Quality Life” and is completing his first fiction book. The Museum of Broadcast Communication in Chicago opened the Paul M. Lisnek Gallery, which features a permanent exhibit detailing and honoring Lisnek’s long career in television.

ABOUT RACHEL ROCKWELL, 2017 GUY ADKINS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE ADVANCEMENT OF MUSIC THEATRE RECIPIENT

Rachel Rockwell recently directed Mamma Mia! at The Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre. In 2016, she directed and choreographed Ride the Cyclone Chicago Shakespeare and in New York City for MCC Theatre this past December. Other credits at Chicago Shakespeare include The Little Mermaid, Shrek the Musical, Beauty and the Beast, The Adventures of Pinocchio, The Emperor’s New Clothes and the Short Shakespeare! productions of Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew. Additional Chicago directing/choreography credits include: Brigadoon (Jeff Award - Best Musical and Best Choreography) at Goodman Theatre and Billy Elliot (Jeff Award nomination – Best Musical, Direction and Choreography), West Side Story (Jeff Award nomination – Best Director), Oliver! (Jeff Award nomination - Best Musical and Best Director), Sweeney Todd (Jeff Award nomination - Best Musical and Best Director), The Sound of Music (Jeff Award nomination - Best Musical and Best Director), Ragtime (Jeff Award - Best Musical and Best Director), Miss Saigon (Jeff Award nomination - Best Musical and Best Director), all at Drury Lane Theatre; Shout! (Jeff Award nomination - Best Revue), 42nd Street (Jeff Award nomination - Best Director and Best Musical), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Jeff Award PROFILES nomination - Best Musical), also at Marriott Theatre; Mary Poppins, In the Heights, The Music Man, Annie, Hair at Paramount Theatre; Enron (Jeff Award nomination - Best Play, mid-size) at TimeLine Theatre Company. In 2012 Ms. Rockwell was named Chicagoan of the Year in Theatre by the Chicago Tribune.

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE

Porchlight Music Theatre, now in its 22nd 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 theatrical experiences for its growing and diverse audiences. With the vision of Artistic Director Michael Weber, Porchlight builds on its role as Chicago’s only Equity not-for-profit company exclusively specializing in music theatre. Porchlight’s rich history includes the staging of more than 60 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 new center for music theatre training in the areas of performance, writing and appreciation. The company’s many accolades include 17 Black Theatre Alliance nominations and three awards, as well as a total of 126 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations resulting in 39 Jeff Awards including four consecutive Best Production awards for Dreamgirls (2016), Sondheim on Sondheim (2015), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (2014) and A Class Act (2013).

Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce the 2017 ICONS Gala celebrating the career of Broadway legend Hal Prince, Sunday, April 30 from 11:00 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Atlantic Ballroom at the Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago, 221 N. Columbus Drive. The Gala, with honorary chair Paul Lisnek, includes performances from Chicago’s leading talents celebrating the career of Hal Prince, the presentation of the 2017 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago to Rachel Rockwell and silent and live auctions. Proceeds from the event and its accompanying auctions benefit Porchlight’s educational programs and productions. Tickets are on sale now and require advance purchase, $125 before March 31, $150 beginning April 1, $50 for children ages 18 years old and younger are available at 773.777.9884 or at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org.