Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce the return of its free summer concert series Broadway in your Backyard, now in its third year, June 27 - August 8, as part of Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series, supported by the Mayor’s Office and Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and Comcast and Xfinity. Broadway in your Backyard is co-directed by Frankie Leo Bennett+ and Michael Weber+ with music direction by Linda Madonia*. This 60-minute concert includes Chicago performers singing favorite songs and hidden gems from the Broadway canon. Broadway in your Backyard is suitable for all ages and audiences are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets to enjoy the outdoor concerts. For more information go to PorchlightMusicTheatre.org.
Broadway in your Backyard 2023, as part of Night Out in the Parks, is FREE and open to the public. The summer schedule includes:
Unity Park, 2636 N. Kimball Ave.
Tuesday, June 27 at 6 p.m.
Wicker Park, 1425 N. Damen Ave.
Thursday, June 29 at 6 p.m.
Portage Park, 4100 N. Long Ave.
Thursday, July 6 at 6 p.m.
Seneca Playlot Park, 220 E. Chicago Ave.
Tuesday, July 11 at 6 p.m.
Gill Park, 825 W. Sheridan Rd.
Thursday, July 13 at 6 p.m.
South Shore Cultural Center/Fieldhouse, 7059 S. Shore Dr.
Tuesday, July 18 at 6 p.m.
Riis Park, 6100 W. Fullerton Ave.
Thursday, July 20 at 6 p.m.
Washington Park, 5531 S. King Dr.
Tuesday, July 25 at 6 p.m.
Munroe Park, 2617 W. 105th St.
Thursday, July 27 at 6 p.m.
Stout Park, 5446 S. Greenwood Ave.
Tuesday, Aug. 1 at 6 p.m.
Schreiber Playground Park, 1552 W. Schreiber Ave.
Thursday, Aug. 3 at 6 p.m.
Washington Square Park, 901 N. Clark St.
Tuesday, Aug. 8 at 6 p.m.
Note: Performances, performers and dates subject to change.
Pronoun key: +(he/him/his); *(she/her/hers); ^(they/them/theirs), =(any with respect)
ABOUT NIGHT OUT IN THE PARKS
Porchlight Music Theatre’s Broadway in your Backyard is presented as part of the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series, supported by the Mayor’s Office and Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. For more than 10 years, the Night Out in the Parks program has presented cultural events year-round in neighborhood parks throughout the city. The Chicago Park District in partnership with over 100 local artists and organizations, present engaging events and performances that enhance quality of life across Chicago and amplify the artistic and cultural vibrancy in every neighborhood. Through multiple disciplines, which include theater, music, movies, dance, site-specific work, nature programs, and community festivals, the series aims to support Chicago-based artists, facilitate community-based partnerships and programs, cultivate civic engagement and ensure equity in access to the arts for all Chicagoans.
ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
Porchlight Music Theatre 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 the last 27 years, includes more than 70 mainstage works with 15 Chicago premieres and five world premieres. Porchlight’s commitment to the past, present and future of music theatre led the company to develop the Porchlight Revisits and New Faces Sing Broadway program series, both quickly becoming audience favorites.
Porchlight's education and outreach programs serve schools, youth of all ages and skill levels and community organizations, most notably the ongoing collaboration with Chicago Youth Centers. 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 184 Joseph Jefferson Award (Jeff) nominations and 45 Jeff awards, as well as 44 Black Theatre Alliance (BTA) nominations and 12 BTA awards. In 2019, Porchlight graduated to the Large Theatre tier of the Equity Jeff Awards, and was honored with eight nominations in both technical and artistic categories and won three awards in its inaugural year in this tier, most notably Best Ensemble for Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies.
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. Porchlight launched its popular, annual summer series in 2021, Broadway in your Backyard, performing at parks and venues throughout the city.
Broadway in your Backyard is part of Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series, supported by the Mayor’s Office and Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events with lead sponsors Comcast and Xfinity and sponsored, in part, by ComEd, the League of Chicago Theatres, Byline Bank, Unity Park Advisory Council and Trader Joe's.
Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from Allstate; Michael Best & Friedrich LLP; Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation; Comcast; James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation; Hearty Boys; A.L. and Jennie L. Luria Foundation; The MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity and the Arts at Prince; 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; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Peoples Gas; Pepsico; Polk Bros Foundation and The Saints.
Photo courtesy of Porchlight Music Theatre
Lorenzo Rush Jr performs at BROADWAY IN YOUR BACKYARD in 2022
The audience at BROADWAY IN YOUR BACKYARD at Wicker Park in 2022
(L to R) Caitlin Dobbins and Jennifer Ledesma perform at BROADWAY IN YOUR BACKYARD in 2022
(L to R) Nik Kmicek, Lydia Burke and Jennifer Ledesma perform at Portage Park for BROADWAY IN YOUR BACKYARD in 2022
(L to R) ) Nik Kmicek, Caitlin Dobbins, Jennifer Ledesma and Lorenzo Rush Jr perform at Portage Park for BROADWAY IN YOUR BACKYARD in 2022
