AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' Returns to Porchlight Tonight
By: BWW News Desk Nov. 14, 2015
Previews are Saturday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m., and Monday, Nov.16 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. There are added matinee performances Friday, Nov. 27 at 2:30 p.m. and Thursday, Dec. 10 at 1:30 p.m. NOTE: *There are no Thursday 7:30 p.m. performances November 19, November 26 and December 10.
Tickets are $35 for preview performances, $50 for the opening night performance and reception, $39 for Thursday performances, $45 for performances through December 6 and $48 for all performances after December 6. Subscriptions to the entire season, including the Chicago premiere of the newly revised version of Side Show, the holiday return of Porchlight's smash hit AIN'T MISBEHAVIN', the Chicago premiere of Far From Heaven starring Summer Naomi Smart and the audience-favorite Dreamgirls are currently on sale as well as single tickets. Subscriptions are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by calling 773.777.9884. Single tickets are available at the Stage773 box office, 773.327.5252.
Winner of the 2014 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for "Best Production - Revue," "Best Direction" for Brenda Didier, "Artistic Specialization" for Austin Cook and one of Porchlight's biggest hits returns with the entire original cast just in time for the holidays. Set on a wintery night in the jazz age when nightspots like the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom were the playgrounds of high society, this tribute to the Harlem Renaissance, an era of exploding creativity and social changes, is an evening of rowdy, raunchy and humorous songs that encapsulate the moods of an era and reflects Fats Waller's view of life as a journey meant for pleasure and play.
Porchlight Music Theatre proudly brings the return of the original 2014 cast: Robin DaSilva, Sharriese Hamilton, Donterrio Johnson, Lorenzo Rush Jr. and Lina Wass. In addition to Cook, on piano, the AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' band includes Michael Weatherspoon on drums, Dan Kristan on bass, Bryant Millet on trumpet and Corbin Andrick on reeds.
The AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' production team includes Aaron Shapiro, production manager; Bill Morey, costume designer; Nick Belley, lighting designer; Jeffrey Kmiec, scenic designer; Robert Hornbostel, sound designer; Kevin Barthel, wig designer; Mealah Heidenreich, properties designer and Jessica Forella, stage manager
ABOUT THOMAS "FATS" WALLER, composer - Thomas "Fats" Waller is one of the most celebrated artists in jazz history. He was a pianist, organist, composer, singer, bandleader and comedic entertainer, whose innovations to music of the early 20th century laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano. Waller, who made hundreds of recordings and toured internationally, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1984 and 1999.
ABOUT MURRAY HORWITZ, book writer - Murray Horwitz was the founding director and CEO of the AFI Silver Theatre and Culture Center from 2002 until 2009. Previously, he created several programs while at National Public Radio including the Chicago-based Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me, Wynton Marsalis: Making the Music and The NPR Basic Jazz Record Library. He also was the assistant director of Opera-Musical Theater at the National Endowment for the Arts and later served in fundraising positions at Washington National Opera and the Washington Performing Arts Society.
ABOUT RICHARD MALTBY, JR., book writer - Richard Maltby, Jr. has conceived and directed the only two musical revues to ever win the Tony Award for Best Musical: AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' and Fosse. He was director/co-lyricist for the American version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song and Dance starring Bernadette Peters. He was also co-lyricist for Miss Saigon and conceived and directed Ring Of Fire, The Johnny Cash Musical Show. Maltby is co-bookwriter/lyricist for The Pirate Queen and was most recently represented on Broadway as the director of the new, original musical The Story of My Life. That musical had a brief run at the Booth Theatre in February 2009 and received a 2009 Drama Desk Award nomination for outstanding production of a musical.
ABOUT ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE BRENDA DIDER, director and choreographer - Brenda Didier is an award-winning choreographer/director based in Chicago and owns and directs the Lincolnshire Academy of Dance, now in its 16th successful season in its 5000 square foot facility. Didier has received Joseph Jefferson Awards for both direction and choreography, After Dark Awards for choreography, the National Youth Theatre Award for choreography and the 2010 Broadway World Chicago Fan Favorite Award for choreography. Didier has collaborated with Porchlight Music Theatre on nine productions, most recently A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, as well as Pal Joey and Putting It Together, both productions for which she received Jeff Award nominations. She has served as a guest instructor and choreographer for Northwestern University, Columbia College, the University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Carthage College. Didier has choreographed musicals, industrials, specialevents as well as productions for Second City's mainstage and five installments of Cirque Shanghai at Navy Pier's Skyline Stage the summers of 2007-2012.
ABOUT ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE AUSTIN COOK, music director - Austin Cook received the 2014 Jeff Award for Artistic Specialization for conducting AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' at Porchlight. His acting credits include the first national tour of Million Dollar Quartet (Jerry Lee Lewis, tour music director), American Blues Theater's Hank Williams: Lost Highway (Hoss) and Porchlight's Putting It Together (music director, man 4). Cook has received a Jeff Award for Some Enchanted Evening (music director/pianist). Some of his favorite music direction credits include:
the first national tour of Million Dollar Quartet and Rooms: A Rock Romance. He has also worked with Second City, Walt Disney Entertainment and produced musicians John Michael Presney, Billy Woodward & The Senders, Yuleberrys & Friends, Cody Slaughter. Cook's work has been heard across the country as a performer, producer, musician and music director. He is a proud ensemble member of American Blues Theater.
ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE - Porchlight Music Theatre, now in its 21st 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 audience. 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 13 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 11 Black Theatre Alliance nominations and two awards, as well as a total of 114 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations resulting in 31 Jeff Awards. Porchlight garnered 2015 Production Jeff Award nominations for the entire last season including Sweeney Todd, Sondheim on Sondheim and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum following back to back Best Production awards for A Class Act (2103) and AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' (2014).
Porchlight Music Theatre announces the return of its award-winning hit AIN'T MISBEHAVIN', November 14 - December 20, music by Thomas "Fats" Waller, book by Murray Horowitz and Richard Maltby Jr., direction and choreography by Jeff-award winner and Artistic Associate Brenda Didier with music direction by Jeff-award winner Porchlight Artistic Associate Austin Cook at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Previews are Saturday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m., and Monday, Nov.16 at 7:30 p.m. Opening night is Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. There are added matinee performances Friday, Nov. 27 at 2:30 p.m. and Thursday, Dec. 10 at 1:30 p.m. NOTE: *There are no Thursday 7:30 p.m. performances November 19, November 26 and December 10. Tickets are $35 for preview performances, $50 for the opening night performance and reception, $39 for Thursday performances, $45 for performances through December 6 and $48 for all performances after December 6. Subscriptions are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by calling 773.777.9884. Single tickets are available at the Stage773 box office, 773.327.5252.
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