HMS Media’s musical PBS special and other Friday fare

Musical stars Julia Murney and Heidi Blickenstaff

HMS MEDIA’S LATEST PBS SPECIAL, First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb,” the award-winning Broadway legends whose work includes “Cabaret” “Chicago,” “New York, New York,” and many more, airs nationally Friday, Nov. 20 as part of PBS Arts Fall Festival. 

 “I love this show — not only are the cast and production team amazing, but we get to honor the legacy of John Kander, one of the most brilliant songwriters and loveliest people around,” says Silberstein, HSM Media’s executive producer and HMS co-founded with Matt Hoffman, who directed and edited the hourlong special. 

“He’s been a mentor and friend since I was a sophomore in college, and guided me and taught me in ‘the ways of the Force,’ so to speak. Everyone should be so lucky to have their Yoda, and I got one in John Kander.” 

The musical was staged and filmed last summer at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie.  The cast includes Kate Baldwin, Heidi Blickenstaff, James Clow and Norm Lewis

John Ford was director of videography and led a six camera crew; production and lighting design, Eric Schaeffer; stage director, Eric Shaeffer; music direction, David Loud; associate music director, Paul Masse; musical staging, Karma Camp.

Arts Festival host is Grammy winner Gloria Estefan for whom HMS produced footage for her Broadway musical, “On Your Feet.” See the trailer here.

IFP CHICAGO MEMBER MEETUP Friday is when new members can join or present members renew their memberships. The venue is 2112 Arts Incubator, located within Fort Knox Studios, 4245 N. Knox, 6-9 p.m.

Food and wine courtesy of ChicagoMusic.org, beer from Lagunitas.

AUTHOR NELSON ALGREN, famous for his prose poem, “Chicago: City on the Make,” comes alive in the documentary, “Nelson Algren: the End is Nothing, the Road is All,” presented by the University of Chicago Film Studies Center at the Logan Center for the Arts, Friday at 7 p.m. 

Distinguished filmmaker Judy Hoffman, of the U of C’s Dept. of Cinema and Media Studies, leads the panel discussion with doc specialist co-directors Mark Bottner and Warren Leming.

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