Press: Under the Streetlamp at DeVos Hall

Under the Streetlamp

Under the Streetlamp

Imagine a group of guys who like to sing together so much they can’t resist gathering under a streetlamp in their urban neighborhood to give an impromptu concert. That is the kind of image Michael Ingersoll had in mind when he gathered some of his “Jersey Boys” co-stars and formed his quartet, Under the Streetlamp.

“It’s evocative of the era (1950s and ’60s),” Ingersoll said. “People would be sitting on their porches and stoops because there wasn’t any air conditioning. Doo-wop was an emerging art form, a working class medium. I just liked that image.”

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Press: Speaking with Michael Ingersoll of Under the Streetlamp

Michael Ingersoll, Under the Streetlamp
 
 Michael Ingersoll, Under the Streetlamp

No, it’s not the name of the latest Broadway musical.

Under the Streetlamp is a quartet of thirtysomething singer-actors who are making a big splash on the music-theater scene — including the taping of their Aug. 20 concert in Merrillville, Ind., for an upcoming PBS special. Consisting of founder-creator Michael Ingersoll, Michael Cunio, Shonn Wiley and Christopher Kale Jones, the vocal group shares a stage musical history: all have previously starred in “Jersey Boys,” here in Chicago and/or on national tours of the show. You can catch their Rat Pack-style act when they headline the Star Plaza for the aforementioned television special, or via their first DVD/CD release due later this year.

Ingersoll, who cut his acting chops in a slew of Chicago and regional theater productions, spoke to the Sun-Times about the musical group he launched nearly three years ago.

Question: What’s it like to star in your own PBS special?

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