This March the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park will present its inaugural Broadway Luminaries series as part of the Harris Theater Presents 2009-2010 season of world-renowned national and International Artists and ensembles. Featuring Broadway legends of script and song, the series features an "A Life in the Theater" dialogue with composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, Thursday, March 4 at 7:30 pm and an evening with Winnetka native and two-time Tony Award-winning actress and songstress Christine Ebersole, Thursday, March 25 at 7:30 pm.
Marking the first-ever Harris Theater Presents dialogue and what promises to be an important moment of the 2010 theater season in Chicago, composer and lyricist
Stephen Sondheim will offer a personal and engaging view of his life in the theater and present a rare look into the mind of the most important artist to work in American musical theater over the past half century. During the live, unscripted conversation at the Harris,
Stephen Sondheim and moderator
Gary Griffin, Associate Artistic Director at
Chicago Shakespeare Theater, will reminisce about his career, including his collaborations with
Leonard Bernstein,
Jerome Robbins and
Tim Burton; and his predecessors, including his mentor
Oscar Hammerstein II. The intimate exchange will also include Mr. Sondheim's reflections on the state of American musical theater; the differences between film and theater; and, in a very personal series of reflections, his own creative process, speaking specifically on works ranging from his early shows Gypsy and West Side Story, considered to be twin pinnacles of the post-war Broadway musical, to such later classics as Company, Follies and Sweeney Todd.
Mr. Sondheim, whom TIME Magazine hails as the "Master of the Musical," will celebrate his 80th birthday on March 22, 2010. Throughout his career he has collaborated on more than a dozen landmark shows, including Sunday in the Park with George, Passion and A Little Night Music, which received its Broadway revival in December 2009. For his contributions to musical theater, Mr. Sondheim has received countless awards, among them the Pulitzer Prize; an Oscar; eight Tony Awards, including an award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater in 2008; two Grammy Awards; and the Kennedy Center Honors. He is considered the single most influential force in bringing the Broadway musical into the modern age. As he enters his 81st year, numerous birthday celebrations across the country have been planned in his honor, including the Roundabout Theater Company's production of Sondheim on Sondheim, conceived and directed by
James Lapine with music and lyrics by Mr. Sondheim; and a benefit gala at
City Center, featuring performances by
Angela Lansbury,
Barbara Cook and
Patti LuPone, among others.
A frequent interpreter of
Stephen Sondheim,
Gary Griffin has directed productions of Mr. Sondheim's Passion, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, and Pacific Overtures at
Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Pacific Overtures was subsequently reproduced at London's
Donmar Warehouse where it received the Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production. He directed the American Premiere of Saturday Night and Company at
Pegasus Players and Assassins at Apple Tree Theatre. Mr. Griffin recently directed West Side Story for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada. He directed the Broadway and National Tour productions of The Color Purple and the Broadway and Encores productions of The Apple Tree starring
Kristin Chenoweth. Additionally, in Chicago he has directed at Court, Marriott, Drury Lane, Northlight, Writer's Theatre, Famous Door and
About Face Theatre and has received eight
Joseph Jefferson Awards for Directing.
Following the conversation, Sondheim will conduct a Q&A with audience members.
Winnetka native
Christine Ebersole returns to her Illinois roots in order to make her Harris Theater debut with Musical Director and pianist
John Oddo in a special evening of songs from The Great American Songbook and Broadway classics, among them a few
Stephen Sondheim numbers in honor of his 80th birthday a few days earlier.
Noted by The New York Times as having "the voice of a nightingale,"
Christine Ebersole has enchanted audiences throughout her performing career, from the Broadway stage to cabaret performances, television series and specials, films, concert appearances, and recordings. She has received virtually every Off-Broadway award and is the recipient of two Tony Awards for Leading Actress in a Musical for her performances in 42nd Street and Grey Gardens, considered her "dual role of a lifetime." This past summer she co-starred in the hit Broadway comedy Blithe Spirit opposite
Angela Lansbury and in November she performed to critical acclaim at The Kennedy Center as part of the
Barbara Cook Spotlight series. Additionally, Ms. Ebersole was recently featured in the film "Confessions of a Shopaholic" as well as 2009 episodes of "Samantha Who?," "Boston Legal," "Ugly Betty," "Law and Order," and many other hit television shows. This February, Ms. Ebersole and
John Oddo return to The Café Carlyle for their second four-week engagement this year; it follows a critically acclaimed performance at the Carlyle which earned her the 2010 Nightlife Award for "Outstanding Cabaret Vocalist in a Major Engagement." In concert, Ms. Ebersole has appeared in numerous halls throughout the country; as a recording artist she has released such albums including: "
Christine Ebersole: Live at the Cinegrill," "In Your Dreams," and "Sunday in New York."
Tickets for
Stephen Sondheim A Life In The Theater on Thursday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. range from $35 - $65; tickets for An Evening with
Christine Ebersole on Thursday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. range from $45 - $75. Tickets for these and all Harris Theater engagements are available at the Harris Theater box office located in Millennium Park at 205 E. Randolph Dr., by calling 312-334-7777 or by visiting
www.HarrisTheaterChicago.org.
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