Porchlight Music Theatre Presents BEST MUSICAL! 2/29-3/28

Porchlight Music Theatre will present the premiere of BEST MUSICAL! A Completely Improvised Musical Comedy conceived by Matthew Loren Cohen and directed by Amanda Blake Davis, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.

Performances are Wednesdays at 8pm, Feb. 29 through March 28. Press night is Wednesday, March 14 at 8 p.m. Single tickets are $15, student discounts are $12 with group discounts available. All tickets are available at stage773.com, porchlightmusictheatre.org or by phone at 773.327.5252.

Show description: "When Porchlight combines forces with some of Chicago's hottest improv stars, audience participation and a bouncy piano beat, you get BEST MUSICAL! A Completely Improvised Musical Comedy! Created by Second City veteran Matthew Loren Cohen each performance begins at an award ceremony with the cast performing the “Best Song from a Musical” nominees from a grab bag of audience-suggested titles. At the end of Act 1, the audience votes for the best song and comes back after intermission to see and hear the cast create an entire original fully improvised musical comedy including the song from Act 1. Each performance guarantees a completely different musical comedy with completely new songs every week."

The cast includes Matthew Van Colton, Brandon Dahlquist, Cody Dove, Lauren Dowden, Erica Elam and Tim Sniffen.

ABOUT CREATOR Matthew Loren Cohen
Matthew Loren Cohen is a classically trained pianist and a music director for the Second City, with credits including Charmed and Dangerous at Centerstage; It Takes a 'Ville at Actors Theatre of Louisville; The Second City Does Arizona, or Close but No Saguaro at Arizona Theatre Company (music direction, original music); and Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Miracle at 1280 Peachtree Street at the ALLIANCE THEATRE (music direction). Cohen music-directed two improvised musicals in New York City, The Nuclear Family and The Next Big Broadway Musical! and has written two musicals, Jason & Ben and Broads on Boards.

ABOUT DIRECTOR Amanda Blake Davis
Amanda Blake Davis is a graduate of Providence College with a degree in Humanities. She has been acting, writing and performing in Chicago professionally for the last 12 years. Blake Davis is a veteran of The Second City etc stage where she wrote and performed in five revues including Disposable Nation, Campaign Supernova and Studs Terkel’s Not Working, for which she received a Jeff Award for “Best Actress in a Revue.” She has directed The Second City’s House Ensemble’s original revues Right Place, Rahm Time and Singin’ In Refrain. She improvises regularly with Virgin Daiquiri and Baby Wants Candy.

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT THEATRE
Porchlight Music Theatre, American Musicals. Chicago Style., nationally recognized for developing innovative new works, reimagining classic productions and showcasing musical theater’s rising stars, begins its 17th Season as Chicago’s leader of music theatre productions. Porchlight elevates music theatre in Chicago within an intimate, close-up environment. Porchlight provides a thoroughly modern and passionate experience, serving both audiences and artists alike. With the recent addition of new Artistic Director Michael Weber and a 2011-2012 season that includes Sondheim, a Chicago premiere and an international sensation, Porchlight’s status as Chicago’s music theatre will continue and grow. Porchlight’s rich history includes the staging of 50 shows with five world premieres, among them, The Teapot Scandals, its first work developed through “Off the Porch,” Porchlight’s new works program, as well as seven Chicago premieres. The company has received a total of 40 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations resulting in 12 Jeff Awards.

In 2011, Porchlight introduced the first annual Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre, named in honor of the beloved actor, and presented it to L. Walter Stearns in recognition of his 14 years as artistic director of the company.

FUTURE PORCHLIGHT PRODUCTIONS
A Catered Affair
Music and Lyrics by John Bucchino
Book by Harvey Fierstein
February 18 – April 1, 2012
Nick Bowling, director
Doug Peck, music director
Press Opening: Tuesday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Stage773, 1225 W Belmont Ave
Go to porchlightmusictheatre.org for a complete list of special events concurring with the run of A Catered Affair including a John Bucchino master class, cabarets, Porchlight’s Scholar Series and more.

tick, tick...BOOM!
Music, Lyrics and Book by Jonathan Larson
April 28 - June 10, 2012
Adam Pelty, director
Diana Lawrence, music director
Press Opening: Tuesday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Stage773, 1225 W Belmont Ave

Porchlight Music Theatre, American Musicals. Chicago Style, presents the premiere of BEST MUSICAL! A Completely Improvised Musical Comedy at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Performances are Wednesdays at 8pm, Feb. 29 through Mar 28. Press night is Wednesday, March 14 at 8 p.m. Single tickets are $15, student discounts are $12 with group discounts available. All tickets are available at stage773.com, porchlightmusictheatre.org or by phone at 773.327.5252.