Articles tagged with: Stage 773
‘Sondheim on Sondheim’ at Porchlight: In song and anecdote, a portrait of the artist as wizard
Review: I came away from “Sondheim on Sondheim,” produced by Porchlight Music Theatre at Stage 773, laughing out loud as I mentally replayed the many video snippets of Stephen Sondheim talking about his life and art, setups for this musical revue of his stage works offered by an immensely talented pianist and an able vocal cast of eight. The live musical component of the show is both ambitious in scope and vocally demanding. Porchlight’s presentation comes off as spirited, engaging and capable, but also uneven. ★★★
Theater 2013-14: Chicago premiere leads off Porchlight’s exploration of musical landscape
Fourth in a series of season previews: Porchlight Music Theatre prides itself on taking a new approach to classic musicals, “as if the script just came across the desk,” says managing artistic director Michael Weber. Opening with the Chicago premiere of the two-hand farce “Double Trouble,” Porchlight’s 2013-14 season reflects that spirit of approaching a show “with an understanding that we can stretch it and explore it in a different way.”
Agony and ecstasy of jazz icon Billie Holiday all in night’s work for ‘Lady Day’ star Rogers
Preview: Singer-actress Alexis Rogers thinks of herself as cut from the same cloth as the great jazz vocalist Billie Holiday – a spunky, lively, laughing spirit, and someone who doesn’t mince words. That’s the briefly resurgent Billie Holiday, heroin-addicted and near the end of her life, embodied by Rogers in Lanie Robertson’s musical bio-drama “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” for Porchlight Music Theatre.
