Ragtime June 16, 2007

Porchlight Music Theatres epic, wildly successful version of the musical Ragtime will transfer to the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln, previewing June 9, with a gala re-opening on June 16. The musical will enjoy an open-ended run at the Apollo Theater. Porchlights production of Ragtime broke all box office records at the 150 seat Theatre Building Chicago and was the biggest hit in Porchlights 13 year history, precipitating the need to move to the 461 seat Apollo Theater.

A nostalgic and powerful portrait of life in turn of the century America, Ragtime is based on E.L. Doctorows distinguished novel. The musical intertwines the stories of a Harlem musician, a wealthy New York family and a Latvian Jewish immigrant, and poignantly explores historys timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and love and hate.

Featuring a Tony Award winning book by Terrence McNally, and a Tony Award winning score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens; Ragtime combines diverse fictional characters with several famous figures of the era to create a stirring musical portrayal of turn-of-the 20th century America. With a score as diverse as the Melting Pot of America, it draws upon traditional Jewish folk sounds to color the haunting music and yearning lyrics of the immigrants, Vaudevilles outrageous style, and Joplin and Jazz to evoke the enlivened spirit of Harlem.

Director Walter Stearns said, Ragtime embodies everything America has come to represent and addresses problems and flaws with which we continue to struggle. Its musical style is as rich and diverse as the tapestry of people who make up these United States.

Featuring the largest cast ever assembled at Porchlight, Ragtime stars newcomer Jayson Brooks as Coalhouse Walker with Karla Beard (Jeff Award nominee for Dessa Rose) as Sarah, Charissa Armon (Porchlights Elegies) as Mother, Bill Ingraham (Porchlights Amadeus) as Father and Drew Mikuska (Porchlights The Secret Garden) as The Boy. The cast includes: Anjali Asokan, Jeff Borck, Aaron Graham, Sarah Hayes, David Jiles Jr., Randolph Johnson, Lina Kernan, Adam McNulty, Leah Rose Orleans, Maggie Portman, Gerald Richardson, James Sherman, Scott Sowinski, Jeremy Trager and Vallea Woodbury. Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic Director L. Walter Stearns directs this production. Rounding out the creative team are Eugene Dizon (Jeff Award winning music director), Brenda Didier (Jeff Citation winning choreographer) and Bill Morey (After Dark Award winning costume designer) and Roy Hine (Scenic Designer) with revisions for the Apollo stage by scenic designer Kurt Sharp.

The performance schedule for Ragtime is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $41.50 to $46.50 with discounts available for groups, seniors, students and children.

For tickets or more information, call the Apollo Theaters Box office at 773.935.6100 or visit TicketMaster at 312.559.1212 or order on line at www.ticketmaster.com. For group discounts, call 312.423.6612 or visit grouptheatertix.com.

About Porchlight Music Theatre

Porchlight Music Theatre, originally founded in 1994 as Porchlight Theatre, has made a name for itself by producing engaging musicals with a focus on new works and inventive adaptations. A professional, not-for-profit organization, the company has staged 34 shows including five World Premieres and seven Chicago Premieres. The rapidly growing mid-sized theatre company has received 5 Jeff Awards as well as 13 Jeff Award nominations, 31 Joseph Jefferson Citation nominations, 11 Jeff Citations, and 20 After Dark Awards.

Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from: Alaron, The Arts Work Fund at the Chicago Community Trust, William Blair & Company Foundation, City Arts Program 2 Grant/Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, the Illinois Arts Councila state agency, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, McDonalds, Peoples Energy and The Saints. The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation provided a grant to help underwrite the expenses of enhanced musicianship, Porchlights largest orchestra ever, for Ragtime.


Event submitted by Eventful.com on behalf of ajaniszewski.