Chicago Sings 30 Years of Porchlight

THE YEAR’S MOST ANTICIPATED CONCERT FUNDRAISER RETURNS!

Direction by Michael Weber & Frankie Leo Bennett
Music Direction by David Fiorello

ABOUT CHICAGO SINGS 

Chicago Sings is Porchlight’s signature fundraising concert, featuring live performances by Chicago music theatre’s best-loved artists highlighting three decades of Porchlight productions, the presentation of the 2025 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago to Heidi Kettenring, a deluxe raffle and more! All Chicago Sings proceeds benefit our youth education, artistic and community outreach programs — support that advances Porchlight’s resilience and commitment to illuminating the past, present and future of music theatre.

TICKETS AND SPONSORSHIPS

MAIN FLOOR EXPERIENCE –– $200

Includes reserved main floor banquet table seating and access to the pre-show cocktail and buffet appetizer reception at 5:30PM before the performance.

BACK OF HOUSE EXPERIENCE –– $175

Includes reserved back of house high boy table seating and access to the pre-show cocktail and buffet appetizer reception at 5:30PM before the performance.

Sponsorship opportunities for Chicago Sings 30 Years of Porchlight are also available HERE. For more information or if you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact Kellie Buffington*, Senior Development Associate, at kellie@porchlightmusictheatre.org.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Uvae Kitchen & Wine Bar

Brandon John Harrington

Joe Higgins and Scott Hoesman

Tamara and Jay Sims

MEET THE CAST

2025 GUY ADKINS AWARD RECIPIENT

Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce the 2025 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago recipient Heidi Kettenring.

Heidi Kettenring has been a Chicago based actress and singer for over 25 years. Favorite Chicago credits include “Dolly” in Hello Dolly, “John Dickinson” in 1776, “Anna” in The King and I, (Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre); “Ann” in All My Sons, “Harper” in Angels In America (Court Theatre); “Ilona” in She Loves Me (Writer’s Theatre); “Eulalie Shinn” in The Music Man (Goodman Theatre) as well as countless shows at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Paramount Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre (Oakbrook and Evergreen Park), Theatre At The Center, American Theatre Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Fulton Theatre, Maine State Music Theatre, Clarence Brown Theatre, TheatreWorks Palo Alto and Peninsula Players. Ms Kettenring was “Nessarose” for three years in the Chicago sit down of Wicked. National Tours: Disney’s Beauty And The Beast. Film and television: “Man Of Steel,” “Chicago Fire”  and “Cupid”. Ms. Kettenring has a Karen Carpenter Concert through Artists’ Lounge Live. She has received a Joseph Jefferson Award, 10 Jeff nominations, the Sarah Siddons’ Chicago Leading Lady Award, an After Dark Award, the Richard M. Kneeland Award and two Broadway World Awards. Heidi is a Northwestern University graduate and married to actor David Girolmo.

About The Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago

For more than 10 years, Porchlight Music Theatre celebrates an individual who has made an exceptional and lasting contribution to the state of the art of Chicago music theatre, with the prestigious Guy Adkins Award. Guy Adkins was an award-winning Chicago actor who passed away in 2010. Among his significant stage credits were Oklahoma! Windy City and A Funny Thing Happened… at Marriott Theatre; The Taming of the Shrew at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; Pericles, Twelfth Night, The Invention of Love and the title role in Hamlet at Court Theatre; The Time of Your Life at Steppenwolf and the world premieres of the musicals The Return of Martin Guerre and The Visit, both at The Goodman Theatre. The Chicago Sun-Times called Adkins, “…a smart and invariably graceful actor” and The New York Times called him “outrageously talented” for his turn at “Puck” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at the McCarter Theatre in New Jersey. Porchlight commemorates Adkins’ spirit and life with this annual award and celebrates the many gifts he shared with our theatre community and the world.

Past recipients include:

2024 – Roberta Duchak
2023 – Rick Boynton
2022 – Jim Corti
2021 – Felicia P. Fields
2019 – Gary Griffin
2018 – Brenda Didier
2017 – Rachel Rockwell
2016 – E. Faye Butler
2015 – Dominic Missimi
2014 – Paula Scrofano
2013 – Douglas Peck
2012 – Hollis Resnik>
2011 – L. Walter Stearns

 > (deceased)