This past Friday at our special event, Porchlight ICONS: Celebrating Ben Vereen, we shared the exclusive announcement of our 29th Season! The new season launches with The Cole Porter Festival - A Celebration of the Man and his Music. The centerpiece of the Festival is a 90th Anniversary production of Cole Porter's crown jewel musical comedy, Anything Goes, starring internationally renowned powerhouse Meghan Murphy as "Reno Sweeney" and featuring the Chicago debut of a newly commissioned 2022 libretto, January 13 — February 25, 2024 at the Ruth Page Center. In the spring, we will present Chicago Sings Broadway Pop II, April 15, 2024 at The House of Blues and Porchlight in Concert: Sunday in the Park with George, May 11 and 12, 2024 at the Studebaker Theater.
"Porchlight's 29th Season is smaller than those in the past but does not hold back on the spectacle," said Artistic Director Michael Weber. "We look forward to welcoming audiences to a fantastic season celebrating Cole Porter with our Cole Porter Festival and his Anything Goes, the return of last year's sold-out sensation Chicago Sings Broadway Pop II and a new offering featuring one of Stephen Sondheim's groundbreaking works with Porchlight in Concert: Sunday in the Park with George."
Current subscribers will be notified by our staff about renewing with a two-show subscription with Chicago Sings Broadway Pop II as an added event. Subscriptions to the public go on sale Tuesday. Sept. 26 at 12PM. Call our box office at 773.777.9884 with any questions or to renew your subscription TODAY!
Explore Our 29th Season
The Cole Porter Festival - A Celebration of the Man and his Music. Dates TBA. Various Locations throughout Chicago
Culminating in Porchlight's 2024 run of Anything Goes, The Cole Porter Festival will feature a variety of events and activities including a retrospective Cole Porter in Hollywood, a newly curated Behind the Show Backstory multimedia presentation created by Artistic Director Michael Weber, a roundtable discussion focusing on Porter's work as seen through his lens as a gay artist working in the 1920s-50s, a revisit of Cole Porter and the Golden Age of Radio featuring rare broadcasts of Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate and more free and ticketed events to be announced.
Anything Goes - January 13 - February 25, 2024
Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Ave.
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Original Book by P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton
and Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
New Book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman
Directed by Artistic Director Michael Weber+
Choreographed by Tammy Mader*
Music Directed by Nick Sula+
Starring Meghan Murphy* as "Reno Sweeney
Chicago will get a kick out of this 90th anniversary production of Cole Porter's smash-hit musical comedy, Anything Goes starring the Chicago-based international sensation Meghan Murphy as "Reno Sweeney." Launching Porchlight's 29th season, this legendary toe-tapping voyage across the Atlantic is filled with laughs, romance, intrigue and, of course, lots of tap dancing in this farcical and merry musical classic. Porter's iconic score includes a shipload of tunes that built the Great American Songbook including "Anything Goes," "Friendship," "You're the Top" and "I Get a Kick Out of You."
Porchlight in Concert:
Sunday in the Park with George
Saturday, May 11 at 7:30PM and Sunday, May 12 at 2PM
Studebaker Theater, 410 S. Michigan Ave.
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Directed by Artistic Director Michael Weber*
Porchlight celebrates the 40th Anniversary of one of Stephen Sondheim's most celebrated works with a new special event concert staging. Audiences will experience Sondheim and James Lapine's Pulitzer-, Tony- and Oliver-winning musical masterpiece with the original Broadway orchestrations performed by musicians live on stage with an all-star cast at Chicago's historic and beautifully restored Studebaker Theater. Based on Georges Seurat's painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," which is on display just down the street at the Art Institute of Chicago, this limited engagement brings to life the rich score telling the story of the months leading to the completion of Seurat's famous work in 1886 and the effects of the artist and the art on people over the following 100 years.
Chicago Sings Broadway Pop II
Monday, April 15, 2024 at 6PM
House of Blues Chicago, 329 N. Dearborn St.
Directed by Artistic Director Michael Weber+ and Producing Artistic Associate Frankie Leo Bennett+
Music Directed by David Fiorello+
Ticket Prices: $175, assigned main floor seats; $150, general admission and $50, Porchlight Young Professionals
Sponsorships begin at $2500, which includes up to 10 seats at the event, contact Evin@PorchlightMuiscTheatre.org for more information
Back by popular demand with an all-new program! This year's annual fundraising concert will dive into more Broadway songs that have found their way onto the popular music charts and popular songs that have been heard on Broadway. Join Porchlight for a night of unforgettable music with a new set list including songs from the hottest pop musicals and others performed by Porchlight favorite stars on the legendary House of Blues stage.
Performances, dates and participants are subject to change.
Porchlight's 2023-2024 season is dedicated to Jim Jensen in recognition of his outstanding generosity and 12 years of dedicated board service to Porchlight Music Theatre.
