Show Information for 2008-2009 Season

All performances at Theatre Building Chicago (link to map/directions, dining, and more)

Once On This Island

Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens Music by Stephen Flaherty Based on My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy May 9- June 28, 2009 Tickets Playbill (PDF) This theatrical Caribbean adaptation of the popular fairy tale “The Little Mermaid” is the story of Ti Moune, a black peasant girl who rescues, nurses, and falls in love with Daniel, a mulatto from a wealthy family. When Daniel is returned to his people, the island gods guide Ti Moune on a quest to test the strength of her love. See the Cast Perform on ABC News

Reviews

"Melanie Brezill's boundless energy as Ti Moune lights up the stage...and Brenda Didier's exuberant Afro-Caribbean choreography captures a feeling of communal joy."
- The Reader

"Ian Zawicka's marvelous street scene backdrop...sets the mood ideally. And thanks to Eugene Dizon's buoyant musical direction, Brenda Didier's ever-ingenious choreography (the woman is a miracle worker) and an ebullient cast, the whole production...feels...completely fresh."
- Chicago Sun-Times

"Once on This Island is the kind of show that gets you in the mood for summer. It is a relentlessly optimistic musical, one of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's best scores, and that's out of a very distinguished pack. Numbers such as "One Small Girl" and "Mama Will Provide" are just bursting with compassionate energy."
- Chicago Tribune

"Porchlight has triumphed yet again with an unconventionally savvy staging.... an enormously talented cast that energetically swirls through Brenda Didier's calypso-inspired choreography and Gary C. Echelmeyer's colorful lighting design (once again, the orchestra was top-notch under Eugene Dizon's direction.)"
- Windy City Times

Jeff Recommended!

Production Photos

Krystal Metcalfe as Storyteller comforts Austin Moore who plays Little Girl and Little TiMoune.
Photo by Johnny Knight

Melanie Brezill (left) and Porchlight veteran Bethany Thomas lead the cast in a calypso-inspired number.
Photo by Johnny Knight

Cast gathers on the 'hood corner.
Photo by Johnny Knight

Sean Walton, Renardo Johnson, and Melanie Brezill (left to right) lead the cast in spirited dance
Photo by Johnny Knight

Pacific Overtures

Book by John Weidman Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Additional Material by Hugh Wheeler March 15 - May 3 , 2009 Tickets Press Release (PDF) An all Asian American cast is Chicagoland's first for Pacific Overtures. From the creators of Assassins comes this exploration of the painful Westernization of Japan as told through the story of two friends caught in the inevitable winds of change. Mixing elements of Kabuki theatre with conventions of the Broadway musical, this is considered by many to be the artistic pinnacle of the legendary Sondheim/Prince collaborations.

Earlier This Season
Candide

Book by Hugh Wheeler Lyrics by John Latouche, Richard Wilbur and Stephen Sondheim Music by Leonard Bernstein Based on the book by Voltaire September 13 - November 2, 2008 Tickets Program (24-page PDF) Video Preview 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.

"ALTOGETHER EFFERVESCENT, PRODIGIOUSLY GIFTED performers and FORMIDABLE musicians." "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!"
- Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times

"The ZIPPIEST and MOST WHIMSICAL performance on the boards in Chicago this fall. Porchlight is definitely worth seeing, hearing and enjoying. WHAT A SATISFYING WAY TO START OFF THE FALL THEATER SEASON!"
- Broadwayworld.com

"FOUR STARS" "BAWDILY INVENTIVE new staging of Bernstein's Candide.
- TimeOut Chicago (italics)

"You'd have to be made of stone not to laugh at the bawdy hilarity and cleverness of this production or be impressed by the SHEER TALENT AND MUSICALITY found in this streamlined, one-act version. It is sheer MAGIC."
- CenterStage Chicago

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