Porchlight Music Theatre presents “New Faces Sing Broadway 1951”

[rating=5]Discovery of new talent has been Chicago theater community’s strength. Smaller venues like TheoUbique, BoHo Theatre company and of note, Porchlight Music Theatre seem to find the talent, year after year. As I attend each production, I find myself “floored” time and again by the amazing talent that graces their stage. Each season, or so it seems, they present to the public a showcase for these talented performers. They call it “New Faces Sing Broadway 1951  and then pick a year to work with, thus it becomes “New faces of 1951 ( this year’s version). They present these people doing songs from Broadway shows of that year and behind them, there are the stories and photos of the original performers. We also get to hear more about these amazing productions from the Artistic Director, Michael Weber.

The show is hosted by a local celeb or actor. This year, our host was David Girolmo, who many have seen on stages all over the city as well as New York and other parts of the world. New Faces is not a new concept- the original took place in 1952 and was a show filled with new talent and songs as well as skits and comic bits. Here is a bit of info:

New Faces of 1952 is a musical revue with songs and comedy skits. It ran on Broadway for nearly a year in 1952 and was then made into a motion picture in 1954. It helped launch the careers of several young performers including Paul Lynde, Alice Ghostley, Eartha Kitt, Robert Clary, Carol Lawrence, Ronny Graham, performer/writer Mel Brooks (as Melvin Brooks), and lyricist Sheldon Harnick.

Broadway production

The revue opened on Broadway at the Royale Theatre on May 16, 1952, and ran for 365 performances. It was produced by Leonard Sillman, directed by John Murray Anderson and John Beal with choreography by Richard Barstow. The sketches were written by Graham and Brooks. The songs were composed by, among others, Harnick, Graham, Murray Grand and Arthur Siegel. The cast featured Graham, Kitt, Clary, Virginia Bosler, June Carroll, Virginia De Luce, Ghostley, Patricia Hammerlee, Lawrence, Lynde and Bill Milliken. De Luce and Graham won the 1952 Theatre World Award. The revue marked Kitt’s Broadway debut, singing a “sultry rendition” of “Monotonous”, about how boring a life of luxury was.^[1]

The Equity Library Theater, New York City, presented an Off-Broadway revival in 1982, directed by Joseph Patton and featuring comedic performances by Lillian Graff, Philip Wm. Mckinley, Alan Safier, and Randy Brenner in the roles originated by Ghostley, Lynde, Graham, and Clary, respectively.^[2] Kitt joined the cast late in the run to re-create her original role.

Another New Faces, the New Faces of 1956 ran on Broadway from June 14, 1956 through December 22, 1956. It was also conceived and produced by Sillman, with direction by David Tihmar and Paul Lynde (sketches).^[3] There were five other “New Faces” in all: 1934, 1936, 1943, 1962, and 1968. According to Kay Green, of the seven “New Faces” revues, the 1952 revue was the “most admired, both for the talent of the performers and the cleverness.

While Porchlight concentrates on music, this year we even bore witness to a dance number as Jerod Turner did “Once In Love With Amy” from “Where’s Charley” ( this is the musical version of “Charley’s Aunt”.

We had music from hits such as “Guys and Dolls”, “Top Banana” a show that one doesn’t see on a regular basis, “South Pacific”, “The King and I”, “Lost In The Stars” ( this is the last show by Kurt Weill who gave us “Threepenny Opera” and even an older “Peter Pan” written by Leonard Bernstein.

Directed by David Fiorello and done in Evanston at a wonderful spot called Space on Chicago Avenue, the packed house had 90 minutes of pure enjoyment from the cast of  ten talented performers:

Daryn Alexus, Daniels De Cranie-Pierre, Nick Johnson, Abby Loria, Caroline Lyell, Luke Nowakowski, Ziare Paul-Emile, Alix Rhode, Nolan Robinson and the aforementioned Jerod Turner. They were terrific.

The second performance is in Chicago, at The Arts Club locate at 201 East Ontario on Tuesday the 24th at 6:30 for cocktails and appetizers followed by the show at around 7:30. Tickets are $70.00 including appetizers, wine and soda.

Tickets can be ordered by calling 773-777-9884.

If you miss this one, I am suggesting you get yourself on their mailing list as they will be doing more of these and other little side performances as an addition to the musical productions they do at The Ruth Page Center.

Their website www.porchlightMusicTheatre.org