Porchlight's 2015 ICONS Gala to Tribute Elaine Stritch This Spring

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber are proud to announce the 2015 ICONS Gala will celebrate the legendary career of Elaine Stritch, Sunday, April 12, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., at the Grand Ballroom, InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, 505 N. Michigan Ave. The Gala will include performances from Chicago's leading divas in a tribute to one of Broadway's leading divas, Ms. Stritch, the presentation of the 2015 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago to director and teacher Dominic Missimi, and silent and live auctions. The fundraising gala will kick off Porchlight's 21st Anniversary of creating "American Musicals. Chicago Style." Proceeds from the event and its accompanying auction benefit Porchlight's educational programs and productions.

Tickets are required and advance purchase is necessary, $100 before April 6, $125 after April 6, $40 for children ages 18 years and younger and are available at 773.777.9884 or at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org.

The ICONS Gala is Porchlight's signature annual benefit, paying tribute to a person who has forever changed the landscape of American music theatre. This year's icon subject is Elaine Stritch, dubbed by the British press as "Broadway's last first lady." Ms. Stritch, an actress, singer and entertainer was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995. Best known for her big voice, brassy approach to acting and no holds barred attitude, she passed away at the age of 89 in July 2014. Once Ms. Stritch sang a song, it instantly became a "Stritch Standard." Many of these will be performed by an all-female ensemble of Chicago's leading ladies including E. Faye Butler, Beckie Menzie, Meghan Murphy and Hollis Resnick performing the work of Stephen Sondheim, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Noel Coward and more.

Another highlight of the ICONS Gala is the presentation of this year's Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago honoring one of the Chicago community's own music theatre masters to Dominic Missimi. Past recipients include actors Paula Scrofano and Hollis Resnik, music director/conductor Doug Peck and director/artistic director L. Walter Stearns.

ABOUT DOMINIC MISSIMI, 2015 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago recipient - Missimi is currently the executive director of The Sarah Siddons Society in Chicago. He is the founder and former director of Northwestern's Music Theatre Program and recently retired as the executive director of the American Music Theatre Project, which he founded. Also, as the former director of the famed WAA-MU show, he staged seventeen of the original student revues. In his thirty-two years at Northwestern, Missimi directed close to one hundred plays, musicals and operas, and staged thirty-five musicals for the Marriott Theatre at Lincolnshire, where his productions have received many Joseph Jefferson nominations and awards. He has worked for opera companies throughout the United States, including Chicago Opera Theatre and the Michigan Opera and he has directed in regional theatre and for all of Chicago's music theatre houses. He held the Donald Robertson Endowed Chair for Music Theatre and was given a retirement party in the form of an all-star alumni variety show entitled Starry, Starry Night in May of 2010. He received his bachelor of arts from the University of Detroit with a major in Theatre and a master's in theatre from Wayne State University. Missimi is also a recipient of a Kellogg Fellowship that allowed him to pursue a year of studies in London, receiving a licentiate from the Royal Academy of Music in Drama.

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE - Porchlight Music Theatre, currently celebrating its 20th 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 experiences and opportunities for growing, diverseaudiences. With the vision of Artistic Director Michael Weber, Porchlight builds on its role as Chicago's leading music theatre producer. Porchlight's rich history includes the staging of more than 50 productions with 12 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. Most recently premiered through this process,BEST MUSICAL! A Completely Improvised Musical Comedy! enjoyed a smash engagement at The Second City's UP Comedy Club. The School at Porchlight is Chicago's new center for music theatre training in the areas of performance, writing and appreciation. The company has received a total of 85 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations resulting in 26 Jeff Awards, most recently garnering back-to-back Jeff Awards for Best Production for the Chicago Premiere of A Class Act in 2013 and Ain't Misbehavin' in 2014.

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber are proud to announce the 2015 ICONS Gala will celebrate the legendary career of Elaine Stritch, Sunday, April 12, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., at the Grand Ballroom, InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, 505 N. Michigan Ave. The Gala will include performances from Chicago's leading divas in a tribute to one of Broadway's leading divas, Ms. Stritch, the presentation of the 2015 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago to director and teacher Dominic Missimi, and silent and live auctions. The fundraising gala will kick off Porchlight's 21st Anniversary of creating "American Musicals. Chicago Style." Proceeds from the event and its accompanying auction benefit Porchlight's educational programs and productions. Tickets are required and advance purchase is necessary, $100 before April 6, $125 after April 6, $40 for children ages 18 years and younger and are available at 773.777.9884 or at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org.

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