Award-winning Porchlight Music Theatre’s Education Department is proud to announce two new hobbyist programs beginning this spring and running through the fall at 4200 W. Diversey Ave. Broadway Choir Popup with Dr. Michael McBride and Movie Musical Dance Popup with Britta Schlicht are offered for all ages and registration is now available at www.PorchlightMusicTheatre.org.
“We have received numerous requests for programming where people can celebrate music theatre and socialize as well,” said Director of Education Rebeccah Singer. “Our two new programs do just this, encouraging all to come together to sing and dance with two of Chicago’s favorite professional artists.”
The new programs offered include:
Broadway Choir Popup
With Dr. Michael McBride, music director of TITANIQUE
April 14 - October 11
4200 W. Diversey Ave. South Studio
$50 per 90-minute session
PorchlightMusicTheatre.org/hobbyist-programs/
Attendees will join Porchlight and other music theatre-loving singers for an evening or weekend day of singing Broadway’s best ensemble and choral numbers in a welcoming and fun social atmosphere. No experience required.
Broadway Choir Popup’s season includes:
“Song of Purple Summer” from Spring Awakening
Monday, April 14 from 7 – 8:30 p.m.
“Sunday” from Sunday in the Park with George
Saturday, May 10 from 10 – 11:30 a.m.
“Seize the Day” from Newsies
Monday, Sept. 15 – 7 – 8:30 p.m.
“Seasons of Love” from Rent
Saturday, Oct. 11 – 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Movie Musical Dance Popup
With Britta Schlicht
May 22 - October 25
4200 W. Diversey Ave. South Studio
$50 per 90-minute session
PorchlightMusicTheatre.org/hobbyist-programs/
Grab a friend or just your dancing shoes and get ready to join the chorus line. All those at Movie Musical Dance Popup will be learning choreography from iconic movie musical numbers and spending 90 minutes centerstage. No experience or special dancewear required.
Movie Musical Dance Popup’s season includes:
Hairspray
Thursday, May 2 from 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Mamma Mia!
Saturday, June 21 from 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m
Chicago
Thursday, Sept. 25 from 7 - 8:30 p.m.
Mary Poppins
Saturday, Oct. 25 from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
ABOUT DR. MICHAEL McBRIDE, instructor, Broadway Choir Popup
Dr. Michael McBride (he/him) is a Chicago-based Jeff Award-winning music director, internationally-performed composer, performer, and educator. The common thread in all his work is empowering those around him to shine. INTERNATIONAL: The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale (GWB Productions, New Zealand) NEW YORK: The Scarlet Pimpernel (John W. EngemanTheater). CHICAGO: Titanique, Rent (Porchlight Music Theatre), The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale, Sinister, Grace (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Revolution(s) (Goodman Theatre), Grease (Drury Lane Theatre), Big Fish (Boho Theater, Jeff Award — Best Music Direction), The Choir of Man (Apollo Theater Chicago), Passing Strange (Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre), Fiddler on the Roof, Billy Elliot, Brigadoon, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Carousel (Music Theater Works). REGIONAL: We Will Rock You, Legally Blonde, Escape to Margaritaville, Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Robber Bridegroom, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, Man of La Mancha, Mamma Mia!, Into the Woods, The Little Mermaid (Timber Lake Playhouse). ACADEMIC: Ride the Cyclone (DePaul University), Yeast Nation (North Park University), The Old Man and the Old Moon, Fun Home, Violet, Cabaret, Tintypes, She Loves Me, Spring Awakening, Hot Mikado, Urinetown (Loyola University Chicago). COMPOSER: The Boys and The Nuns. FACULTY: Northwestern University, Loyola University Chicago, North Park University. EDUCATION: DM Composition, Northwestern University.
ABOUT BRITTA SCHLICHT, instructor, Movie Musical Dance Popup
Britta Lynn Schlicht (she/her) is delighted to share her love of dance with fellow music theatre enthusiasts through this course offering. A Chicago-based choreographer and director, Schlicht’s most recent choreographic credentials include [title of show] and Gay Card (Pride Arts); Disaster (Big Noise Music Theatre); Godspell (BTG); Two Hours In A Bar and Aztec Human Sacrifice (City Lit); The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Spring Awakening (Blank Theatre); Rhinofest: Zoe’s Slumber Party Birthday Show (PropThtr); Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Gypsy, The Little Mermaid and Nevermore (JPAC). In addition to her work in choreography, she is a proud Chicago Public School arts educator and teaching artist who has enjoyed many years of teaching with Porchlight Education.
ABOUT PORCHLIGHT EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS
Porchlight Music Theatre’s Youth Programs serve those ages 4 – 17 years old and are grounded in the power of the American art form of music theatre to tell stories and inspire confidence and a love of the arts. The Engagement Programs deepen audience connection to the art, artists and the community.
ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
Porchlight Music Theatre, entering its 30th 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 50 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.
The 30th Anniversary Season is sponsored by Elaine Cohen & Arlen Rubin and Brenda & Jim Grusecki.
Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from Actors’ Equity Foundation; Allstate; Arlen and Elaine Cohen Rubin Charitable Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City; Comcast/Xfinity; Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation; Free for All; Glimpse Vision; James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation; Hearty Boys; Uvae; the Pritzker Traubert Foundation; Ryan and Spaeth, Inc.; Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation; The Saints; Dr. Scholl Foundation; Service Club of Chicago and The Shubert Foundation.
The season program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency.
Porchlight Music Theatre wishes to thank members of the Matching Gift Corporate Program including Allstate; BDO; Comcast; Google; Jackson National Life Insurance and The Saints.
(L to R) Broadway Choir Popup's Dr. Michael McBride and Movie Musical Dance Popup's Britta Schlicht
PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE 2024 - 2025 EVENTS ...
Chicago Premiere
Presented in association with Broadway In Chicago
Now Extended Through July 13, 2025
Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St.
Co-Written by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue.
All aboard NYC’s must-sea musical comedy! When the music of Céline Dion makes sweet Canadian love with the eleven-time Oscar®-winning blockbuster film “Titanic,” you get Titanique, off-Broadway’s most award-winning splash hit, which turns one of the greatest love stories of all time into a hysterical musical fantasia. Want to find out what really happened to Jack and Rose on that fateful night? Just leave it to Céline Dion to enchant the audience with her totally wild take, recharting the course of Titanic’s beloved moments and characters with her iconic song catalog. Sailing on fierce powerhouse voices in show-stopping performances of such hits as “My Heart Will Go On,” “All By Myself” and “To Love You More” – backed by the unparalleled energy of a full live band – Titanique is a one-of-a-kind theatrical voyage bursting with nostalgia, heart and campy chaos.
CHICAGO SINGS 30 YEARS OF PORCHLIGHT
Monday, May 12, 2025
House of Blues Chicago, 329 N. Dearborn St.
Tickets: $75 – $175
The spring fundraising concert fittingly concludes the season with an unforgettable night of live performances commemorating 30 years of Porchlight with performances by Chicago theatre luminaries, the presentation of the 2025 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago and more.
Please note: Performances, actors and dates are subject to change.