Porchlight Music Theatre begins its ninth season of Chicago’s “lost” musicals series with Porchlight Revisits The Apple Tree, book and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, book and music by Jerry Bock with additional material by James Coopersmith. Each of the three musical stories in The Apple Tree is directed by a different person, Frankie Leo Bennett+ (The Diary of Adam and Eve), Jamal Howard+ (The Lady or the Tiger?), and Laura Savage* (Passionella) with musical direction by David Fiorello+.
Porchlight Revisits The Apple Tree is presented for three performances only Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, Dec. 8 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street. Three-show discounted Porchlight Revisits subscriptions are available and single tickets to Porchlight Revisits The Apple Tree are $52 at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org or by calling the Porchlight Music Theatre box office at 773.777.9884.
Now in its ninth season, Porchlight Revisits celebrates the rarely seen musical gems of Broadway, off-Broadway and beyond and is the ticket to go behind the scenes with an introduction to the luminaries who created the greatest musicals of all time and an opportunity to discover a new ‘old’ favorite all in one big show. Chicago’s finest music theatre talents dust off these treasures and escort audiences into the world of the art of music theatre’s past for a limited run. In addition to productions from days gone by, each Porchlight Revisits includes the Behind the Show Backstory, an entertaining and informative multimedia presentation, created and hosted by Artistic Director Michael Weber+, introducing the evening’s production including the show’s creative history, juicy backstage stories and much more.
The 2022 - 2023 Porchlight Revisits season begins with The Apple Tree from the songwriting team behind Fiddler on the Roof and She Loves Me. This witty, tuneful and charming piece that was Tony nominated for Best Musical is made up of three musical miniatures: The Diary of Adam and Eve, a quirky, touching spin on the tale of the world’s first couple, adapted from Mark Twain’s short stories; The Lady or the Tiger?, a 1960’s rock and roll fable set in a mythical kingdom, which explores the fickleness of love and Passionella based on Jules Feiffer’s offbeat Cinderella story about a chimney sweep who dreams of being a “glamorous movie star.”
Additional Porchlight Revisits in the 2023 - 2023 season includes Porchlight Revisits I am a Camera, Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, Feb. 9 at 1:30 , a complement to Porchlight’s Mainstage Cabaret, this special event production is a rare opportunity to experience the remarkable 1951 play that became the inspiration for the musical Cabaret and Porchlight Revisits Two by Two, Wednesday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, May 25 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Martin Charnin and book by Peter Stone based The Flowering Peach by Clifford Odets. Porchlight Revisits Two by Two tells the story of Noah, the flood and its aftermath with touches of modern themes including the environment and the differences from generation to generation.
The cast of Porchlight Revisits The Apple Tree includes Jonah Cochin+ (Adam/ensemble); Maddison Denault* (Princess Barbara/ensemble); Susan Hofflander* (Snake/ensemble); Shea Hopkins+ (Flip/The Prince/ensemble); Ruchir Khazanchi+ (Captain Sanjar/ensemble); Michael Mejia^ (Balladeer/ensemble); Leah Morrow* (Ella/Passionella/Ensemble); Emma Rosenthal* (Narrator/ensemble) and Ciarra Stroud* (Eve/ensemble).
The Porchlight Revisits The Apple Tree creative team includes Frankie Leo Bennett+ (director, The Diary of Adam and Eve), Jamal Howard+ (director/choreographer, The Lady or the Tiger?), and Laura Savage* (director, choreographer, Passionella); David Fiorello+ (music director), Rachel Sypniewski* (costume designer); Rachel West* (lighting designer), Matthew R. Chase+ (sound designer); Alden Vasquez+ (stage manager); Emily Marrazzo+ (assistant stage manager); Kevin Vilchez* (assistant stage manager); Majel Cuza* (production manager) and Michael Weber+ (artistic director).
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 musicals that opened on the Great White Way but have since gone “unsung.” Previous Porchlight Revisits productions include:
(2021/22) Passing Strange, Nunsense;
(2019/20) Call Me Madam;
(2018/19) 1776, Can-Can, Minnie’s Boys;
(2017/18) Do Re Mi, They’re Playing Our Song, Woman of the Year;
(2016/17) The Rink, Little Me, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever;
(2015/16) Chess, Applause, Babes in Arms;
(2014/15) Bells Are Ringing, City of Angels, Mack & Mabel;
(2013/14) Anyone Can Whistle, Golden Boy, Fade Out-Fade In.
ABOUT FRANKIE LEO BENNETT+, director, The Diary of Adam and Eve
Frankie Leo Bennett is Porchlight Music Theatre’s producing artistic associate. He recently assistant directed Porchlight Music Theatre’s RENT and Chicago Sings Stephen Sondheim, directed Porchlight’s free summer series, Broadway in your Backyard, in 2022; New Faces Sing Broadway 1971 and has appeared in its productions of In The Heights, New Faces Sing Broadway 1985 and Porchlight Revisits 1776. Bennett is also a teaching artist for The School at Porchlight and was a guest contributor to Porchlight’s free virtual offerings including Movie Musical Mondays on several occasions and Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable. He serves as the chair of Porchlight’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. His regional credits include Punkass Pastry (Independent Workshop/director), The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes (Hell in a Handbag Productions, assoc. director) and performing with Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, Kokandy Productions and Hell in a Handbag Productions. He is also the playwright/composer of the recent Resident Services: A Crossed-Up Animal Musical.
ABOUT JAMAL HOWARD+, director and choreographer, The Lady or the Tiger?
Jamal Howard is a Chicago-based theatre artist, director and choreographer, the co-artistic director of New American Folk Theatre, and served as associate artistic director for Emerald City Theatre. Recent credits include 8-Track and Songs for A New World (Theo Ubique); Bachelor: The Musical (Right Angle Entertainment); Corduroy, The Wiz and Magic Tree House (Emerald City Theatre); Dirty Girl, Scraps and Dark of the Moon (New American Folk Theatre). Howard is the writer for the current Aretha Franklin nation tour of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Right Angle Entertainment) and will direct The Great Kahn at Redtwist Theatre in February 2023.
ABOUT LAURA SAVAGE*, director and choreographer, Passionella
Laura Savage recently choreographed Porchlight’s current Mainstage production of RENT and choreographed and starred in Porchlight’s Chicago Sings Stephen Sondheim and its 2021 ICONS Gala honoring Chita Rivera. She also appeared in Porchlight productions A Chorus Line, Porchlight Revisits Call Me Madam and Pal Joey. Savage is a Jeff-nominated actress and has appeared in more than 35 Chicago productions. She has choreographed Cruel Intentions at Kokandy Productions and Zorro at Music Theatre Works and has associate choreographed and dance captained at such venues as Marriott Theatre, Paramount Theatre and Drury Lane Theatre. Savage also appeared on and choreographed for Fox’s hit show “Empire.”
ABOUT DAVID FIORELLO*, music director
David Fiorello is a music director, performer, director, composer and arranger who’s no stranger to Porchlight. He has served as music director for Porchlight’s Blues in the Night (Jeff Award - Musical Direction), Gypsy, Porchlight Revisits Do Re Mi, Porchlight Revisits Woman of the Year, several seasons of New Faces Sing Broadway as well as several Chicago Sings and ICONS Gala benefits. He also appeared onstage as “Joe” in Merrily We Roll Along. David currently serves as founder and artistic director of “The Beautiful City Project,” a theatre company committed to raising funds for local Chicago charities and nonprofits, using some of the city’s finest musical theatre talents. He’s music directed national and international tours, including John Doyle’s re-imagining of Sweeney Todd. He also served as music director for the Off-Broadway hit Danny & Sylvia: The Danny Kaye Musical. His orchestrations and arrangements have been heard across the nation, and on several albums. He’s taught and directed/music directed as part of the International Lyric Academy in Italy and is adjunct faculty at Columbia College Chicago. An in-demand vocal coach, Fiorello Studios has also provided unique cabaret programming featuring the music of The Indigo Girls, Jason Mraz, Kelly Clarkson, Eva Cassidy, Sara Bareilles and Colbie Caillat.
ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE AS RUTH PAGE IN-RESIDENCE ORGANIZATION
Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to be a member of the vibrant Ruth Page Center for the Arts community and an In-Residence Organization. Central to the Ruth Page Center for the Arts’ programming is this program, which is designed to serve organizations looking for a home base while they grow or expand their artistic and organizational capabilities. The Center is committed to nurturing and assisting dance and other performing artists, allowing for exchange and collaborative relationships to develop within the artistic community. The Ruth Page Center for the Arts is a destination for quality performing arts, accessible to a wide community regardless of race, gender, age, education or disability. An incubator of artistic energy and excellence, the Ruth Page Center for the Arts carries forward the vision of its founder, legendary dance icon Ruth Page, to be a platform for developing great artists and connecting them with audiences and community.
ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
Porchlight Music Theatre, now in its 28th season, is the award-winning center for music theatre in Chicago. Through live performance, youth education and community outreach, we impact thousands of lives each season, bringing the magic of musicals to our theatre home at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in the Gold Coast and to neighborhoods across the city. Porchlight has built a national reputation for boldly reimagining classic musicals, supporting new works and young performers, and showcasing Chicago’s most notable music theatre artists, all through the intimate and powerful theatrical lens of the “Chicago Style.”
Porchlight's history over the last 27 years includes more than 70 mainstage works with 15 Chicago premieres and five world premieres. Porchlight’s commitment to the past, present and future of music theatre led the company to develop the Porchlight Revisits and New Faces Sing Broadway program series, both quickly becoming audience favorites.
Porchlight's education and outreach programs serve schools, youth of all ages and skill levels and community organizations, most notably the ongoing collaboration with Chicago Youth Centers. Porchlight annually awards dozens of full scholarships and hundreds of free tickets to ensure accessibility and real engagement with this uniquely American art form.
The company’s many honors include 178 Joseph Jefferson Award (Jeff) nominations and 49 Jeff awards, as well as 44 Black Theatre Alliance (BTA) nominations and 15 BTA awards. In 2019, Porchlight graduated to the Large Theatre tier of the Equity Jeff Awards and has been honored with seven awards in this tier to date including Best Ensemble for Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies (2019) and Best Production-Revue for Blues in the Night (2022).
Through the global pandemic, Porchlight emerged as one of Chicago’s leaders in virtual programming, quickly launching a host of free offerings like Sondheim @ 90 Roundtables, Movie Musical Mondays, Porchlight by Request: Command Performances and WPMT: Classic Musicals from the Golden Age of Radio. In 2021, Porchlight launched its annual summer series, Broadway in your Backyard, performing at parks and venues throughout the city.
Porchlight Music Theatre begins its ninth season of Chicago’s “lost” musicals series with Porchlight Revisits The Apple Tree, book and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, music by Jerry Bock. Each of the three musical stories in The Apple Tree is directed by a different person Frankie Leo Bennett+ (The Diary of Adam and Eve), Jamal Howard+ (The Lady or the Tiger?), and Laura Savage* (Passionella) with musical direction by David Fiorello+. Porchlight Revisits The Apple Tree is presented for three performances only Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, Dec. 8 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street. Three-show discounted Porchlight Revisits subscriptions are available and single tickets to Porchlight Revisits The Apple Tree are $52 at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org or by calling the Porchlight Music Theatre box office at 773.777.9884.
Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from Allstate; Michael Best & Friedrich LLP; Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation; Elegant Event Lighting; Glimpse Vision; James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation; Hearty Boys; A.L. and Jennie L. Luria Foundation; The MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity and the Arts at Prince; the Pritzker Traubert Foundation; Ryan and Spaeth, Inc.; Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation; The Saints and Dr. Scholl Foundation.
The season program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency, and by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
Porchlight Music Theatre wishes to thank members of the Matching Gift Corporate Program including Abbvie; Allstate; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Peoples Gas; Pepsico; Polk Bros Foundation and The Saints.