The Porchlight Music Theatre Web site states, as part of the theatre’s mission statement, that “Porchlight is Chicago’s Music Theatre.” With tremendous growth in the past year, a new Equity contract and a surplus of awards and nominations from both the After Dark Awards and the Jeff Citations, it’s a little hard to argue the point. But I still asked, “Why such a bold statement?”

L. Walter Stearns, Porchlight Music Theatre’s artistic director gave me a non-negotiable answer: “We pride ourselves on discovering and developing new Chicago talent. Audiences can expect to see the stars of tomorrow on the Porchlight stage today.”

Stearns then adds this major detail, “We are the only theatre in Chicago which produces exclusively musicals. We have made it our specialty.”

A specialty indeed.

Originally the Porchlight Music Theatre was the Porchlight Theatre Ensemble, founded in 1994, by then artistic director Jill Moore. Moore produced a broad spectrum of work from one-woman shows and musicals to Chekhov’s Three Sisters. In 1996 the theatre’s focus began to shift and in 2000 the name changed to reflect the natural transition of that focus and of the theatre’s strength. Moore left to pursue other interests and Stearns eventually took over and worked with the  already established board of directors. It soon became obvious to them what the media was already recognizing, that Porchlight was producing successful musicals.

“I think,” Stearns recalls, “it may have been Hedy Weiss in the Sun Times who said something like, ‘Porchlight…known for inventive musicals’ and suddenly we knew our niche. We recognized our unique place in Chicago and we revamped our mission statement to focus on musicals.”

That mission statement includes uniting the arts of music, drama, dance and design to transform stories into thrilling, passionate and relevant events, which affect the lives of artists and audiences alike.

Success and Growth

The 2004/05 season proved to be one of Porchlight’s best. Sweeny Todd received five After Dark Awards, and was Porchlight’s first production as an Equity theatre. That decision, Stearns says, was made to expand the pool of talent available for productions.

“We found the Equity contract necessary to help us fill a number of key roles.”

The season finale of 2004/05 was also a first, a festival of musicals by composer William Finn, including In Trousers, Falsettos, A New Brain and Elegies: A Song Cycle.

“Porchlight is in a continual state of self evaluation and development,” says Stearns. This is one of the reasons, he says, why the theatre has had significant growth over the last few years.

Porchlight has a reputation for providing intimate, sophisticated, character and story-driven musical theatre. While they do not have their own theatre, all of their productions have a permanent home at the Theatre Building. With only 148 seats, everyone can expect a more personal theatre experience. The intimacy of the Theatre Building space, Stearns believes, is one of the major things that sets Porchlight apart from other musical theatres.

Of course Stearns doesn’t run the theatre all alone. Behind the visible workings of Porchlight is a board of directors, numerous committees, a devoted staff and many artistic associates.

Let the Shows Begins!

In the last three years Porchlight has produced many classics and received numerous awards. In addition to Sweeny Todd from last season, the theatre was recognized for Amadeus (three Jeff nominations and two citations for the 2003/04 season) and Company and A New Brain (a total of 12 Jeff nominations, five citations and one After Dark Award). In total, Porchlight has received 11 Jeff citations, 31 Jeff nominations and 14 After Dark Awards.

Stearns is naturally pleased with the success, and quite excited for its upcoming 2005/06 season, which includes Rebecca Finnegan (who won acclaim for her portrayal of Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd) playing Mama Rose in Gypsy. The company will also be presenting The Secret Garden and resurrecting its original musical Macabaret, which ran seven years ago.

Not Just a Theatre

Aside from its mainstage performances, Porchlight also has numerous outreach programs and educational opportunities. These include its “triple threat training,” boasting a curriculum that includes Dance for Non-Dancers, Audition Strategies, Acting a Song, Cold Reading and the Business of Chicago Theatre. They also have a scholastic outreach program called  “Improv and Improve.” In this program, Porchlight artists will teach students several improvisation and theatre games, and when they become proficient, they go on to teach at neighborhood schools.

One of Porchlight’s newest projects is its Off The Porch program dedicated to the development of new, original musicals in an experimental setting. Off The Porch was created by Porchlight’s artistic associates and consists of the associates developing three new musical works through a series of rehearsals, readings and re-writings, all of which is open to an audience. The goal is to develop projects that can eventually be presented as part of the mainstage, as well as to show the public how the theatre works.

Bil Ingraham (Porchlight board member, artistic associate and associate managing director) has had a major hand in the development of the program, along with Matt Gunnels, Brooke Sherrod and other artistic associates.

“We thought it was important to encourage our artists and audience to pursue the creation of new works to help expand the music theatre genre,” says Ingraham, who has been associated with Porchlight since his first play, Passion, was produced in 2000. “We also wanted to give our subscribers an ‘inside look’ at our creative process to further strengthen that unique Porchlight experience we provide.”

Ingraham adds that play development is important to the growth of the company. “We have a wealth of creativity in our artistic associate team and Off The Porch is meant to be an outlet for that creativity. It’s giving all of us more opportunity to participate in the creative process, as composer, book writer, or in my case, director, and at the same time we are collaborating and creating as a team.”

Gunnels, an artistic associate since 2000 adds, “We wanted to give [artists] a safe, nurturing forum to have their new works heard, using the incredibly talented human resources that Porchlight has in abundance. It was also created to allow Porchlight to take some artistic risks that we couldn’t take on our mainstage.”

All of the Off The Porch events will be held at the Mercury Theatre starting with Teapot Scandals on Monday, Nov. 14.

Oh the Wonderment!

It seems that when the minds of Porchlight come together, they get their jobs done. In 2003 the executive committee hired a consulting firm to aide them in developing a strategic business plan for the company. The plan, according to Stearns, was ambitious and included increased programming, guest directors and Equity contracts.

In the first year of the plan they achieved many of the goals set out for the third and fourth years.

The executive committee and artistic associates are constantly coming up with new ways to improve upon and expand the Porchlight brand. Gunnels, whose first show for the theatre was Merrily We Roll Along in 1999, concurs that it’s hard work, but worth it. The artistic associate role, he says, is vital.

“The associates serve as the ‘artistic cabinet’ to the artistic director,” Gunnels said. “We meet monthly and discuss current creative issues as well as help shape the future of the company. We offer feedback to the directors on casting, rehearsals and creative problems. The AA’s also propose shows for Porchlight’s mainstage season to the artistic director.”

So why are there so many dedicated individuals at the Porchlight Music Theatre? Most agree it’s because of the strong product of Porchlight’s vision and productions.

“Porchlight has filled an artistically important niche in the Chicago music theatre community by focusing on unique, thought-provoking and often very personal storytelling through music,” says Ingraham. “This started with works by Stephen Sondheim and William Finn and continues today in our general approach to any of our productions.”

Porchlight has certainly made a name for itself and, as noted in its mission statement, “As professionals and leaders in this field [they] nurture and develop new artists and works, expanding and redefining the music theatre genre while matching artistic vision with fiscal responsibility.” An important combination in maintaining the success of any theatre.

Porchlight is nominated for 10 Jeff Awards for the 2004/05 season. Go to www.porchlighttheatre.com or www.jeffawards.org.