THE PORCH ON WINDY HILL Begins Performances Tonight at Urban Stages
Performances will run through October 11.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Sep. 12, 2025
Urban Stages will present the New York premiere of a heartwarming and melodically rich new musical play, THE PORCH ON WINDY HILL: a new play with old music, written by Sherry Stregack Lutken, Lisa Helmi Johanson, Morgan Morse, and David M. Lutken. Performances begin September 12 at Urban Stages Theater, with an official opening on September 18 and will run through October 11.
Conceived and Directed by Sherry Stregack Lutken, The Porch on Windy Hill blends Appalachian, Old Time and Bluegrass songs with a deeply personal, contemporary story of discovery and reconciliation. The show follows Mira, a biracial Korean American classical violinist, and her folk-song-collector boyfriend Beckett as they escape pandemic isolation in Brooklyn and journey to the mountains of western North Carolina. When they unexpectedly reconnect with Mira’s estranged grandfather, Edgar, they uncover a tangled legacy of love, loss, and music—and discover the unforeseen harmony that can arise when generations and genres collide.
Set against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge and its timeless American melodies, the Urban Stages production features a dynamic cast of actor-musicians: Tora Nogami Alexander (NBC’s “Rise”), David M. Lutken (IRT’s Woody Sez: The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie; Broadway’s Inherit the Wind, The Civil War, Ring of Fire, The Will Rogers Follies), and Morgan Morse (The Public’s Southern Comfort).
The creative team includes scenic design by Andrew Robinson, lighting design by John Salutz, sound design by Sun Hee Kil, costume design by Grace Jeon, and the production stage manager is Leigh Selting.
Developed during the pandemic by its director and original team of actor-musicians: Sherry Stregack Lutken, Lisa Helmi Johanson, Morgan Morse and David Lutken, The Porch on Windy Hill premiered at Ivoryton Playhouse in Connecticut in 2021, where it received four CT Critics’ Circle Nominations, including Outstanding Director (Sherry Lutken), Outstanding Actor in a musical (David M. Lutken), Outstanding Actress in a musical (Lisa Helmi Johanson), and Best Ensemble. The show has since traveled across the country, with acclaimed productions at Northlight Theatre in Chicago, Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Massachusetts, Weston Theater Company in Vermont, and People’s Light in Pennsylvania. Each production has deepened the play’s unique blend of Appalachian music and the multi-generational tale of a family broken by intolerance and ignorance, uncovering the hope of redemption and understanding.
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