Eugene Dizon News

Porchlight Music Theatre will present the exotic musical Pacific Overtures at Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 West Belmont. This touching and witty musical tells the story of the painful westernization of Japan through the eyes of two friends. Pacific Overtures begins previews on March 15 with a Press Opening on March 18 at 7:30pm and runs through May 2, 2009. A ground-breaking musical, Pacific Overtures examines the transformation of Japan beginning when U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry brought four black ships into 'a land of changeless order.' Many of the events and characters portrayed in the show- Japan's self-imposed isolation from the world, the fisherman Manjiro, the Tokugawa shogunate, the Meiji revolution and its consequences - are as familiar to an Japanese schoolchild as George Washington and the Revolutionary war are to Americans. This rarely produced show mixes elements of traditional Japanese theatre with the Broadway musical. The original 1976 production was nominated for a whopping ten Tony Awards including best musical, book and score. With a book by John Weidman (Assassins), Pacific Overtures features music and lyrics by Broadway legend, Stephen Sondheim. Many of the songs in the show rank among the most admired compositions in Broadway history. Sondheim himself recognizes 'Someone in a Tree' and 'A Bowler Hat' as personal favorites.

Theatergoers will receive $10 off tickets to the Halloween performance of Porchlight Music Theatre's hit musical comedy Candide at 7:45 p.m. on Friday, October 31. The witty operetta, based on the 1759 French masterpiece by Voltaire, is running through November 2 at Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 West Belmont. For reservations call 773.325.9884.

Featuring a legendary score by Leonard Bernstein, Candide has become a beloved musical with a huge cult-like following of admirers. Part sophisticated operetta, part wacky screwball comedy with shades of Monty Python, this funny, irreverent satire is the perfect musical expression of Voltaire's tongue-in-cheek send-up of optimistic philosophies.

For the zippiest and most whimsical performance on the boards in Chicago this fall, look no further that the under-two-hours, no intermission production of the legendary 'Candide,' produced by Porchlight Music Theatre at Lakeview's Theatre Building Chicago.

Porchlight Music Theatre will present the beloved musical satire Candide at Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 West Belmont. The witty operetta based on the 1759 French masterpiece by Voltaire previews September 13, opens Sunday, September 14 at 2:30 p.m. and runs through November 2, 2008.

Today, the Jefferson Awards announced the 150 nominations in 35 categories for Chicago Equity theatrical productions which opened between August 1, 2007 and July 31, 2008. Beginning with this season, the Jeff Awards is acknowledging the work of Large and Midsize theatres in separate categories for productions and technical elements.

Soon to be a feature film, see it first at Porchlight Music Theatre!

Porchlight Music Theatre, Chicago presents the season finale, the sexy and sophisticated Broadway musical, Nine. This Tony-Award Winning Best Musical is now in development with Rob Marshall to become a major motion picture. Chicago audiences can catch this musical live at Theatre Building Chicago from April 4 to May 18, 2007. The Press Opening is Sunday, April 6 at 2:30PM.

Phantom, with Book by Arthur Kopit and Music & Lyrics by Maury Yeston is the latest undertaking of Porchlight Music Theatre. Based on the novel 'The Phantom of the Opera' by Gaston Leroux, Phantom's lead actor's Lara Filip and Peter Oyloe with Director L. Walter Stearns speak to Michael Roberts about the production.

The Marriott Theatre, the Porchlight Music Theatre's Sweeney Todd, Congo Square Theatre Company's Seven Guitars and Jefferson Mays were among the winners in the 2005 Jefferson Awards

The Marriott Theatre and Wicked's Ana Gasteyer and Kate Reinders were some of the nominees for this year's Jefferson Awards, which celebrate the best in Chicago Equity theatre