How This Michigan LGBTQ+ Chorus Became a Metro Detroit Tradition

At nearly 10 years old, PRISM has become a household name — and a lifeline for the local queer community

Copy of Photo Cred Arcs Studio Productions — PRISM’s Men of Step dazzle the crowd in fabulous Santa attire. Courtesy photo

Published: November 20, 2025 | Last Updated: November 26, 2025

PRISM's holiday concert has become a Metro Detroit tradition — and for many in the LGBTQ+ community, it feels as essential as chosen family. This year proved it. In October, when the organization opened sales for "Holiday Movie Magic" at Motor City Casino's Sound Board, tickets for the Dec. 18 show vanished faster than any performance in the organization's history. A waiting list continues to grow, with hopeful attendees eager to claim their spot at what has become one of Southeast Michigan's most beloved seasonal gatherings.

"This is by far the earliest we've ever sold out a show," says Darin DeWeese, PRISM's artistic director. "To see that hunger and appetite for ticket sales is really exciting. It means that we're putting on quality performances and something that community members are seeking."

As PRISM prepares for its 10th anniversary in 2026, the sold-out show reflects dramatic growth since 2016, when around 20 singers started a gay men's chorus in Metro Detroit.

"I have felt the shift to PRISM really becoming a household name around Detroit and Metro Detroit," DeWeese says. "We're really finally established as one of the premier queer organizations within our local metro, which I think is awesome." PRISM's performance venue has evolved too — from the Macomb County Performing Arts Center to Sound Board at Motor City Casino, a larger downtown Detroit space befitting the chorus's growth.

Even as PRISM gains prestige, the organization maintains its welcoming approach. New members are paired with a "chorus buddy,” an extension of the group’s "no one left behind" philosophy. The approach has proven successful. When DeWeese joined in 2021, the chorus included 45 members, all male. Today, PRISM includes 145 singers ranging in age from 19 to their 80s and promotes gender inclusivity.

Gerald Ashby Jr., the organization's vice chair, has witnessed much of that transformation. A California transplant, he joined PRISM in 2018 as part of a personal quest to find community.

"I needed to find my people and I needed to make sure I didn’t just get off work, go home and watch TV," Ashby recalls. Though initially hesitant when a friend from community theater invited him to audition, he eventually joined during the 2018 holiday show season. Over time, his organizational skills led to roles on the music committee, then secretary in early 2020, and eventually vice chair — a position he's held since 2021.

Like every PRISM member Pride Source talked to, Ashby’s response about why this organization is so special to the community includes a sentiment about family and belonging: "PRISM, for so many people, is their second, chosen family," he says.

That sense of family became particularly crucial when PRISM outgrew its longtime rehearsal space at Spirit of Christ Lutheran Church in Clawson and moved the group to The Hawk in Farmington Hills. The converted high school now serving as a community center offers everything PRISM needed: a modern soundstage, breakout rooms for intensive rehearsals, mirrored dance spaces where performers can perfect choreographed routines, and a location more accessible to the chorus's farflung members.

"We were bursting at the seams in this church in Clawson," DeWeese explains. "But we were held there for so long because they are such an important part of PRISM's story and were really the place that gave us a home when PRISM was in its infancy."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PRISM Men’s Chorus (@prismchorusdetroit)

For many members, PRISM serves as a crucial touchstone — a place where community comes first and music provides the vehicle for connection. Kade McKay, an opera singer and Oakland University professor who joined PRISM in 2023, moved back to Michigan from New York City in 2020 after 12 years and wanted a space where singing could be fun rather than work.

"Having chosen family was really important to me," McKay says. "Everyone was so welcoming. I'm definitely a little bit more of an introvert. It took me a while to open up and warm up to people, but everybody made that process so easy for me, and I'm still eternally grateful for that."

That sense of family extends beyond Tuesday night rehearsals. When one member recently faced a housing challenge, eight chorus members drove to Flint to help them move, with one returning five times in a single week.

"These people will drive you to the airport at 6 a.m.," McKay says. "We just show up for each other. Having that kind of resource, emotionally, for those of us who don't have family is a literal lifeline. This is lifesaving work that PRISM is doing."

Former Spirit of PRISM Award winner Jeffrey Cash presents the award to the next elected, Kade McKay. Photo: Arcs Studio Productions

In July, PRISM seized an opportunity to perform alongside hundreds of esteemed choral ensembles at the 2024 GALA Choruses Festival, the quadrennial gathering of LGBTQ+ choruses from across North America and beyond.

The performance earned the organization an invitation to the Midwest Showcase during GALA's upcoming February Leadership Symposium in Columbus, a gathering of artistic and executive directors from member choruses.

Next spring brings another first — a partnership with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Disney Pride in Concert, which features select gay men's choruses nationwide. The DSO reached out to PRISM to bring this Disney-themed concert to Orchestra Hall.

For classically trained musicians like McKay, who regularly performs with the DSO, the partnership represents validation of PRISM's musical excellence. "To see PRISM come to that kind of space, that kind of level of musicianship and excellence, is a really beautiful thing," they say.

What sets PRISM shows apart, DeWeese explains, is an intentional focus on surprise and delight — unexpected moments woven throughout each performance.

These people will drive you to the airport at 6 a.m. We just show up for each other. Having that kind of resource, emotionally, for those of us who don't have family is a literal lifeline. This is lifesaving work that PRISM is doing.
PRISM member Kade McKay

"I think when people come to their first PRISM show, they think that they're walking into a choir concert," he says. "And when somebody says, 'Hey, do you want to go to this choir concert?' you have a very different vision in your head of what you're walking into."

Audiences instead discover a fully produced, professionally lit and choreographed performance. DeWeese and his programming team plan "surprise and delight elements" throughout — moments designed to make people smile and laugh.

"The music is very nostalgic," McKay notes of this year's "Holiday Movie Magic" setlist. "’Once Upon a December’ and ‘Walking in the Air’ and ‘Somewhere in My Memory’ — they hit those nostalgic feels and just take you back to your childhood instantly."

"I have performed on a lot of stages," McKay says. "I have never had an audience like a PRISM audience. It is an energy that is absolutely electric. As a performer on stage, when you get that kind of feedback from the audience, we have so much more fun up there. It really is such a celebration every single time we get up on stage."

As the organization approaches its 10th anniversary, DeWeese reflects on what makes PRISM resonate so deeply: "At the core of why people choose to join PRISM, it's community first," he says. "Music just happens to be the vehicle that we use to build that community in a very fun way."

While "Holiday Movie Magic" is sold out, PRISM will share performance clips on social media. Learn about January 2026 vocal placements at prism-chorus.org.