Saluting the Sun premiered as a musical November 24, 2023 and feature 14 talented performers for seven well-attended shows, closing December 3. Written and directed by Donna Steele (Donna Steele Productions) and with music by Amy Steele, the show delighted audiences with its ability to deliver a serious message in an often humorous and always entertaining manner. The theme, highlighting the difference between “Starting Over” and the wiser “Starting Again” resonated with the audience, many of whom commented that they’d not thought of the concept that way before.
The production was generously funded by a number of gifts to a GoFundMe page and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, for which Donna and Amy have expressed much gratitude. And I was thrilled to see how cleverly STS was presented on stage, including Neveah’s treehouse! It is so instructive for a writer like me to see my work come alive through someone else’s eyes, and for it to be so true to my intentions in such an image-driven, nuanced way.
For a snippet of “Feast,” which closes the first act, click here.
Donna Steele is the founder and retired Executive and Artistic Director of Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles, IL, and is a Northwestern Drama grad with an MFA from SMU. She has appeared in numerous Chicago stage productions, independent films and television and radio commercials. Amy Steele is a vocal performance graduate of Indiana and a Chicago musical actress and drama teacher with Chicago Kids Company.
If you are involved in a theater that would consider producing Saluting the Sun, please email me through this site so that I can arrange for you to see a script/score.
Here are some pictures from opening night.
