Spotlight Performance Academy
Homewood Science Center, 18022 Dixie Hwy, Homewood, IL 60430
About
Spotlight Performance Academy offers activities including Pop Culture Dance, Musical Theater Dance, Improv for Kids and Teens, 3 Minutes In The Spotlight vocal classes, Theater 360, drama workshops such as Let’s Shine: Fairytales and Fables and Let’s Act: Alice in Wonderland/Happy Birthday, Beatrix Potter, and musical theater opportunities for both children and adults. The program also includes Bel Canto choirs (Bel Canto Children’s Choir, Bel Canto Youth Choir, Bel Canto Concert Choir, Bel Canto Community Choir, and Summer Bel Canto Community Choir), Miss Angie’s Music Makers, Parent/Tot music classes, and Improv Comedy classes.
• Ages: 1–18 years old
• Schedule: Options include multi-week sessions and short camps, such as 9-week drama workshops and programs, weekly evening classes, and a four-day Theater 360 camp.
• Price: $80–$325 per program
Pop Culture Dance uses songs from theatre, TV, movies, TikTok, and YouTube, with dance styles including jazz, modern, hip hop, and ballet, and no dance experience is necessary, with variations given to accommodate different dance abilities and learning styles. Theater 360 includes learning in lighting design, prop making, scenic painting, costume design, stage makeup, stage combat, and improv, and space is limited to the first 60 campers, with tuition assistance available upon request. 3 Minutes In The Spotlight is described as a relaxed, performance-focused vocal class with one-on-one work with a vocal coach. Improv for Kids and Teens is described as fun and exciting improv classes for grades 3–12, with Kidprov classes for grades 3–6 and Teenprov classes for grades 7–12, and research is stated as showing many benefits of improv, including activation of language and creativity centers in the brain, boosting of creativity and confidence, and reduction of social anxiety, stress, and uncertainty intolerance. Let’s Shine: Fairytales and Fables is a 9-week drama workshop described as playful and age-appropriate for Kindergarten through 2nd grade, and Let’s Act: Alice in Wonderland/Happy Birthday, Beatrix Potter is a 9-week drama program designed for 3rd to 6th graders. Summer Bel Canto Community Choir offers an online option that allows participants to sing from home and join in person when they can, and states that absolutely no musical experience is required, no audition is needed, and participants will never be asked to sing alone. Miss Angie’s Music Makers is designed for a child and adult to participate together in singing, chanting, moving, dancing, listening, and playing simple percussion instruments, and Parent/Tot music classes are also offered. For Pop Culture Dance and Musical Theater Dance, dancers can wear socks, jazz or ballet shoes, athletic shoes, or go barefoot, wear clothing they can move in comfortably with layers recommended, and are asked to bring water every week and be ready to sweat. Registration is stated as open for the Summer 2026 session.
The Spotlight Performance Academy is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing high quality performing arts education to children and adults in the south suburbs of Chicago and seeks to strengthen community through the arts for people of all ability levels, confident in the power of music and performance to help people recognize shared humanity. The organization describes its impact on the arts in the community as incredible and states that it feels it is just getting started. The Bel Canto Choir program uses the motto “Create Through Character.” The Spotlight Performance Academy states that Bel Canto students have participated in multiple community service projects that have benefitted many local non-profit organizations, and performances for the Summer Bel Canto Community Choir have included Homewood-Flossmoor Pride Fest and Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra Chamber Night.
The story of the program began in 2015 when Carrie Bonanotte recognized a need in the community for a children’s choir and started the Bel Canto Children’s Choir, which moved from the Bonanotte living room to Flossmoor Community Church in fall 2016, and she later formed the Bel Canto Community Choir in 2022. Instructors mentioned for specific activities include Jennifer O’Keefe for Pop Culture Dance and Musical Theater Dance; Nellsyn Hill, Doug Raffety, Marc Ryser, Shelley Strasser, and Kate Wiersema for Theater 360; Jeff Hamrick for 3 Minutes In The Spotlight; Kate Wiersema for Kidprov classes; Simon Collier for Teenprov classes; Christine Rechsteiner for Let’s Shine: Fairytales and Fables and Let’s Act: Alice in Wonderland/Happy Birthday, Beatrix Potter; Carrie Bonanotte as Director of the Summer Bel Canto Community Choir; and Angie Pope for Miss Angie’s Music Makers.
Last updated May 24, 2026.
• Ages: 1–18 years old
• Schedule: Options include multi-week sessions and short camps, such as 9-week drama workshops and programs, weekly evening classes, and a four-day Theater 360 camp.
• Price: $80–$325 per program
Pop Culture Dance uses songs from theatre, TV, movies, TikTok, and YouTube, with dance styles including jazz, modern, hip hop, and ballet, and no dance experience is necessary, with variations given to accommodate different dance abilities and learning styles. Theater 360 includes learning in lighting design, prop making, scenic painting, costume design, stage makeup, stage combat, and improv, and space is limited to the first 60 campers, with tuition assistance available upon request. 3 Minutes In The Spotlight is described as a relaxed, performance-focused vocal class with one-on-one work with a vocal coach. Improv for Kids and Teens is described as fun and exciting improv classes for grades 3–12, with Kidprov classes for grades 3–6 and Teenprov classes for grades 7–12, and research is stated as showing many benefits of improv, including activation of language and creativity centers in the brain, boosting of creativity and confidence, and reduction of social anxiety, stress, and uncertainty intolerance. Let’s Shine: Fairytales and Fables is a 9-week drama workshop described as playful and age-appropriate for Kindergarten through 2nd grade, and Let’s Act: Alice in Wonderland/Happy Birthday, Beatrix Potter is a 9-week drama program designed for 3rd to 6th graders. Summer Bel Canto Community Choir offers an online option that allows participants to sing from home and join in person when they can, and states that absolutely no musical experience is required, no audition is needed, and participants will never be asked to sing alone. Miss Angie’s Music Makers is designed for a child and adult to participate together in singing, chanting, moving, dancing, listening, and playing simple percussion instruments, and Parent/Tot music classes are also offered. For Pop Culture Dance and Musical Theater Dance, dancers can wear socks, jazz or ballet shoes, athletic shoes, or go barefoot, wear clothing they can move in comfortably with layers recommended, and are asked to bring water every week and be ready to sweat. Registration is stated as open for the Summer 2026 session.
The Spotlight Performance Academy is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing high quality performing arts education to children and adults in the south suburbs of Chicago and seeks to strengthen community through the arts for people of all ability levels, confident in the power of music and performance to help people recognize shared humanity. The organization describes its impact on the arts in the community as incredible and states that it feels it is just getting started. The Bel Canto Choir program uses the motto “Create Through Character.” The Spotlight Performance Academy states that Bel Canto students have participated in multiple community service projects that have benefitted many local non-profit organizations, and performances for the Summer Bel Canto Community Choir have included Homewood-Flossmoor Pride Fest and Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra Chamber Night.
The story of the program began in 2015 when Carrie Bonanotte recognized a need in the community for a children’s choir and started the Bel Canto Children’s Choir, which moved from the Bonanotte living room to Flossmoor Community Church in fall 2016, and she later formed the Bel Canto Community Choir in 2022. Instructors mentioned for specific activities include Jennifer O’Keefe for Pop Culture Dance and Musical Theater Dance; Nellsyn Hill, Doug Raffety, Marc Ryser, Shelley Strasser, and Kate Wiersema for Theater 360; Jeff Hamrick for 3 Minutes In The Spotlight; Kate Wiersema for Kidprov classes; Simon Collier for Teenprov classes; Christine Rechsteiner for Let’s Shine: Fairytales and Fables and Let’s Act: Alice in Wonderland/Happy Birthday, Beatrix Potter; Carrie Bonanotte as Director of the Summer Bel Canto Community Choir; and Angie Pope for Miss Angie’s Music Makers.
Last updated May 24, 2026.
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