“Porchlight Music Theatre, an Equity-affiliated, nonprofit Chicago company founded in 1994, will stage its full upcoming 2026-27 season at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre, a historic venue in Lincoln Park that has been mostly dark since the pandemic.
“‘Working at the Biograph will allow us to produce all of our shows in one venue instead of all over town,’ said Porchlight artistic director Michael Weber, noting that Porchlight has been working everywhere from the Studebaker Theatre (where it will stage a concert version of Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Follies’ next weekend) to the Rhapsody Theatre to the House of Blues.
“He also emphasized that the capacity of the Biograph mainstage is close to that of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, where Porchlight has worked most often, but where a long-lived commitment to dance has limited the company’s ability to secure prime dates for its shows or build in potential extensions for its hits.
“‘We will invest in being in the Biograph,’ Weber said, noting that this was a one-season deal at this point but also potentially a long-term residency. ‘We are going to discover whether we are a good fit for the venue and whether the venue is a good fit for us.’
“Victory Gardens, the nonprofit company that owns the Biograph, has mostly retreated from production after a dispute with some of its prior staffers and resident artists that played out on social media. It has regrouped with a new interim artistic director, Eddie Torres, and is also expected to produce at the Biograph next season, albeit on a smaller scale.
“The new deal with Porchlight likely will be especially well received by the restaurants and other businesses on Lincoln Avenue, many of which suffered as the Biograph became less busy, notwithstanding the Chicago International Puppet Festival, which drew capacity crowds to the venerable venue over several nights last January. (Jones, Chicago Tribune, 4/20/26)
“Perhaps best known for its historical connection to the infamous gangster John Dillinger, the Biograph Theater is also one of Chicago’s oldest remaining neighborhood movie houses.
“Designed in 1914 by Samuel N. Crowen, an architect known for his classically detailed designs, the Biograph Theater possesses many of the distinguishing characteristics of the earliest movie houses, including a simple storefront-width lobby, recessed entrance, free-standing ticket booth, and canopy marquee.
“The building is finished with red pressed brick and white-glazed terra cotta, and its construction typifies the first-generation movie houses whose architectural style gave legitimacy and respectability to the fledgling motion picture industry. Dillinger’s death here in 1934, after being named “Public Enemy No. 1″ by the FBI, guarantees the Biograph’s place in Chicago crime history. It was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2001.” (Chicago DPD)