Porchlight Music Theatre announces the departure of its first executive director Jeannie Lukow at the end of the 2023-2024 season this August. Lukow assumed the position of executive director in 2014. Before she accepted the role she had been a member of Porchlight Music Theatre’s Board of Directors since its inception and served as its president for six years. Lukow informed the company and its Board of Directors of her resignation earlier this year.
The Board of Directors has created a Search & Transition Committee that plans to bring in an interim executive director for a period of time before conducting a national search for a full-time hire.
During her tenure as executive director, some of Lukow’s accomplishments include growing Porchlight’s annual budget from under $500,000 to roughly $2.5 million, expanding programming and outreach, guiding the company through the COVID pandemic, broadening youth education offerings including work with Chicago Public Schools and bolstering the ranks of the staff, board, volunteers and supporters.
“For three decades, Porchlight has been a big part of my life, and it has been an honor and joy to lead it over the past 10 years. Now that we are increasingly back on track to recovery after the pandemic, I feel it is the time for me to take on a new challenge for the next act of my career,” said Lukow. “And, with the 30th anniversary, it’s an opportune time for Porchlight to welcome a new leader who will bring fresh perspectives, innovative strategies and different experiences to the table for the company's next phase. Porchlight is such a unique gem in Chicago’s theatre landscape, and I look forward to being an advisor, supporter and fan of this company’s incredible work.”
“I first met Jeannie when she was a Board member and I came to Porchlight to interview for the artistic director position. During that conversation I could sense her great dedication and incredible insight into the organization,” said Artistic Director Michael Weber. “Porchlight hired me and then Jeannie joined as executive director a few years later. During this time working together, both through good times and challenging times, my respect and admiration for her have only grown. I will miss collaborating with her, almost daily for more than 10 years, but know that while she is leaving this role, she is not leaving Porchlight.”
“When Jeannie first asked me to join the Board, she talked about Porchlight being a family and I felt that immediately. Her role in building and maintaining that family is unquantifiable, and there will be a huge gap when she leaves,” said Board Chair Gretchen Upholt. “I’m excited for Jeannie, to see what amazing things she does next. And I’m eager to help lead Porchlight through this transition as we move forward to celebrate a milestone anniversary and welcome a new leader to continue building on our success and reputation as a legacy theatre in Chicago.”
ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
Porchlight Music Theatre, now in its 29th season, is the award-winning center for music theatre in Chicago. Through live performance, youth education and community outreach, we impact thousands of lives each season, bringing the magic of musicals to our theatre home at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in the Gold Coast and to neighborhoods across the city. Porchlight has built a national reputation for boldly reimagining classic musicals, supporting new works and young performers, and showcasing Chicago’s most notable music theatre artists, all through the intimate and powerful theatrical lens of the “Chicago Style.”
Porchlight's history over nearly three decades includes more than 70 mainstage works with 15 Chicago premieres and five world premieres.
Porchlight's education and outreach programs serve schools, youth of all ages and skill levels and community organizations. Porchlight annually awards dozens of full scholarships and hundreds of free tickets to ensure accessibility and real engagement with this uniquely American art form.
The company’s many honors include 178 Joseph Jefferson Award (Jeff) nominations and 49 Jeff awards, as well as 44 Black Theatre Alliance (BTA) nominations and 15 BTA awards. In 2019, Porchlight graduated to the Large Theatre tier of the Equity Jeff Awards and has been honored with seven awards in this tier to date including Best Ensemble for Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies (2019) and Best Production-Revue for Blues in the Night (2022).
Through the global pandemic, Porchlight emerged as one of Chicago’s leaders in virtual programming, quickly launching a host of free offerings like Sondheim @ 90 Roundtables, Movie Musical Mondays, Porchlight by Request: Command Performances and WPMT: Classic Musicals from the Golden Age of Radio. In 2021, Porchlight launched its annual summer series, Broadway in your Backyard, performing at parks and venues throughout the city.
Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from Allstate; Comcast/Xfinity; Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation; Glimpse Vision; James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation; Hearty Boys; A.L. and Jennie L. Luria Foundation; the Pritzker Traubert Foundation; Ryan and Spaeth, Inc.; Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation; The Saints and Dr. Scholl Foundation.
The season program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency, and by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
Porchlight Music Theatre wishes to thank members of the Matching Gift Corporate Program including Abbvie; Allstate; Baxter; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Peoples Gas; Pepsico; Polk Bros Foundation and The Saints.
Porchlight Music Theatre's first executive director, Jeannie Lukow. Photo by Brandon Dahlquist