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Around The BroadwayWorld: Top News, Reviews, Interviews & More from May 2026

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:03:21 PST

Around the BroadwayWorld is our monthly snapshot of the biggest stories making waves across the global theatre community. In this May 2026 edition, we're bringing you a fresh batch of standout reviews from regional stages across the country - from Brigadoon at Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles to The Phantom of the Opera at Seattle's Paramount Theatre and Pippin at Signature Theatre in DC.

Diane Paulus directs an immersive, David Bowie-inspired Life on Mars at American Repertory Theater, the producers of Japan's Gypsy revival walk back a planned title change, and we go behind the scenes with interviews spanning Adam Fields of the Beetlejuice national tour, The Muny's casting director Michael Baxter, Richard Kind on finally taking on Edna in Hairspray, and BWW's Kid Reporters chatting with the touring Von Trapp kids of The Sound of Music. Plus, get a first look at exciting new productions through performance videos and photos, including Anastasia at La Mirada Theatre, Dear Evan Hansen at Arden Theatre, Pippin at Signature Theatre, and the Manila cast of Jesus Christ Superstar - and so much more from across the BroadwayWorld.

Diane Paulus Will Direct Immersive David Bowie Inspired LIFE ON MARS at American Repertory Theater

Joshua Wright | Boston

Diane Paulus will direct Life on Mars, an immersive theatrical production set to David Bowie's music, as the inaugural production at the Goel Center for Creativity & Performance in May.

GYPSY in Japan: Producers Walk Back Title Change Ahead of 2026 Revival

Joshua Wright | Japan

The Japanese revival of GYPSY will retain its original title when it returns to the stage in 2026, reversing an earlier decision to present the production under the name 'Rose.'

Interviews

Interview: Adam Fields of BEETLEJUICE National Tour

Brock Mills | Jacksonville

For Adam Fields, returning to Jacksonville with the national tour of Beetlejuice the Musical isn’t just another stop, it’s a full-circle moment. The production will play in Jacksonville from May 12–17 at the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts.

Interview: BWW’s 'Kid Reporters' Chat With THE SOUND OF MUSIC’s Touring Von Trapp Kids

Melissa Heckscher | Los Angeles

BroadwayWorld Los Angeles' kid reporters talk with the young touring cast of THE SOUND OF MUSIC to find out what it's like to be part of one of Broadway’s most iconic shows and what actually happens behind the curtain.

Interview: Chatting with The Muny's Casting Director Michael Baxter

James Lindhorst | St. Louis

Michael Baxter’s work will shine on The Muny stage during all 50 performances this summer. He led the efforts and had a hand in hiring every one of the 194 actors who will fill the principal and ensemble roles.

Interview: Richard Kind Talks Finally Taking on Edna in The Muny's HAIRSPRAY

James Lindhorst | St. Louis

When The Muny opens their production of Hairspray on June 15, 2026, the legendary Richard Kind will don Edna Turnblad’s housecoat and step into her fuzzy house slippers. Kind, star of stage, screen and film, calls it bucket list moments to get to perform at The Muny and play Edna all at the same time.

Reviews

Review: BRIGADOON at Pasadena Playhouse

Andrew Child | Los Angeles

Brava to Alexandra Silber for capturing all the heart and humor of Lerner’s original book with her thoughtful new adaptation and brava to Katie Spelman for dreaming up a Brigadoon that is as ebullient and spirited as it is deeply human.

Review: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at Paramount Theatre

Shelley Dean | Seattle

It’s almost unbelievable for me to admit that this was my first time seeing The Phantom of the Opera. Of course, I knew the iconic songs and had seen countless clips over the years, but experiencing the production live on stage for the first time was entirely different, haunting, and spine-chilling in the best way possible. From the chandelier drop to the monumental set pieces, the show truly lives up to its legendary reputation. The 2026 tour, directed by Harold Prince, serves as a revitalized version of the original production, featuring Maria Björnson’s iconic designs, musical staging, and choreography by Gillian Lynne. It is absolutely ravishing, and Seattle audiences are lining up hours early to witness the spectacle for themselves.

Review: PIPPIN at Signature Theatre

Aidan O'Connor | Washington, DC

Certain facets of the human condition are foundational to our very existence – change, connection, desire. One such particularly toxic universal truth is a constant need to be something more than we currently are. To search for happiness in external achievement rather than within ourselves, in our simple joys. Pippin at Signature Theatre breathes within that precise virulence, relatively orchestrated by a troupe of impeccably costumed and choreographed players. A feast for the eyes in all senses, Matthew Gardiner’s production surpasses even the highest of expectations.

Videos

Video: Watch La Mirada Theatre's ANASTASIA Star Lena Ceja Perform 'Journey to the Past'

Michael Major | Los Angeles

La Mirada Theatre has released new video footage of Lena Ceja rehearsing 'Journey to the Past' from their upcoming production of Anastasia. The production features Dillon Klena as Dmitry, a role first played on Broadway by his brother Derek Klena.

Photos/Video: DEAR EVAN HANSEN At Arden Theatre

A.A. Cristi | Philadelphia

Arden Theatre Company is now presenting DEAR EVAN HANSEN as the final production of its 2025/26 season, with performances continuing through July 5. New production photos and video have been released from the Philadelphia production, including footage of Evan A. Kaushesh performing “Waving Through a Window.”

Video: Watch 'Corner of the Sky' From Signature Theatre's PIPPIN

Michael Major | Washington, DC

Watch a video of Brayden Bambino performing 'Corner of the Sky' in Signature Theatre's production of Pippin. The in-the-round production is now running through July 26 with tickets available now.

Photos

Photos: Get a First Look at JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR in Manila

Oliver Oliveros | Philippines

The 2017 Olivier Award winner for Best Musical Revival, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' has officially opened at The Theatre at Solaire.

Review: ARBUS & WEST at Triangle Productions

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 16:16:03 PST

Two women enter a room. One holds a camera. The other holds a legend.

At the onset of Australian playwright, Stephen Sewell's Arbus & West, the audience learns Diane Arbus will take her own life seven years after this photoshoot. It is a small piece of framing, and it recolors every scene that follows. What might otherwise read as the cool confidence of an artist at work becomes something far more haunted. Diane is woman discovering the full grip of her talent and quietly coming apart beneath it.

The set does nothing to suggest this darkness. Mae West's Santa Monica penthouse is a vision of unabashed luxury. All white and gold, gleaming and immaculate, the kind of room that insists upon its own magnificence. The chaise longue positioned like a throne. Into this shrine of constructed beauty walks beatnik Diane Arbus with her camera, and the collision is immediate.

Triangle productions! closes its 36th season with this U.S. premiere, and the choice says something about the company's ongoing appetite for work that unsettles as much as it entertains. The premise is deceptively simple: photographer Diane Arbus has been commissioned to shoot the aging movie star. What follows is not a photoshoot so much as a slow, exquisitely painful excavation of image, of age, of the things women carry alone and never name aloud.

Cast:

Emily Sahler, Mae West

Tasha Danner, Diane Arbus

Carolina Selva, Ruby, Mae's assistant

Emily Sahler's Mae West is a performance of precision. A precision that is exactly the point. Every gesture is slightly too deliberate, every quip arrives half a beat too late, like a woman who has rehearsed charm so thoroughly she can no longer tell where the act ends and the person begins. Sahler never lets West tip into caricature, which would be the easy choice. Instead, she holds the audience in a state of suspended tenderness and dread, making us laugh at the wit while watching the effort behind it accumulate into something achingly sad. It is a performance of extraordinary command, and of great, quiet courage.

Tasha Danner's Diane Arbus is something rarer still. She plays the photographer as a woman who has learned, with impressive discipline, to keep her interior life sealed. Arbus moves through the world with a professional attentiveness that functions as armor. With each question she asks of West, she redirects away from herself, every observation about her subject a way of ensuring the lens never turns around. Danner makes this containment completely believable, and completely heartbreaking. Knowing what we know, her composure reads not as strength but as tremendous effort. The darkness is there; she simply will not let it out. It is only when West, with the instincts of a woman long practiced in finding the weak spot in another’s armor, begins to really push, that Arbus allows the mask to slip. What surfaces is brief, raw, and almost gone before you can name it. It is quietly the most devastating part of the production.

Under the direction of Don Horn, Sahler and Danner generate the kind of chemistry that makes an audience lean forward as they are drawn into this story so cleverly crafted by Sewell.

Carolina Selva brings warmth and sharp timing to Ruby, Mae's devoted right-hand assistant. Her presence is more structurally important than it might first appear. Ruby is the audience surrogate; she is the one who watches both women and quietly absorbs what neither of them will say aloud. Selva plays her with a loyalty that reads as its own kind of heartbreak.

What makes the play genuinely uncomfortable is its refusal to assign moral high ground. Mae West's image, with the double entendres, the rhinestones, the performance of sexuality entirely on her own terms, was, in its era, a form of power. She weaponized desire before women were supposed to know they could. And yet by 1964, that weapon is showing its age, and West polishes it furiously in that white-and-gold room, becoming aware that her era of feminism is being replaced by one that has no use for showgirls.

Arbus represents something newer and, the play argues, no less ruthless. Her feminism is the feminism of exposure, of stripping away persona to locate some truer, stranger self beneath. Arbus methodically dismantles every defense West has spent forty years constructing. The implication is quiet and merciless: Arbus has found her next subject, and she is Mae West.

Sewell is writing, ultimately, about beauty as a contract women are forced to sign, and what happens when those terms expire. West has constructed her entire personality around the premise that she is desired. The photographs Arbus takes, and which West famously hated, show something entirely different. They are, by any artistic measure, extraordinary. They are also, by any human measure, violating.

But the play doesn’t make Arbus simply the villain. What West is mourning is not youth exactly, it is the version of herself she chose, so many decades ago, and can no longer maintain.

The play's sharpest insight is into female antagonism, and how women undermine one another with perfect plausible deniability. Arbus’ cruelties arrive as compliments. West's attempts to reclaim control register as vanity rather than self-preservation. Each woman is trying to survive the other, and each is doing so by denying the other the thing she most needs. West wants to be seen as beautiful. Arbus wants to be taken seriously as an artist. Neither gets what she wants. The photographs become the result of two people failing.

That Sahler and Danner make all of this feel genuinely moving is the achievement of the production. These performances draw you in from the first exchange and hold you, off-balance, until the lights go down, and the knowledge you arrived with sits heavier than when you brought it in.

Triangle Productions! closes its 36th season with Arbus & West now on stage through June 20th.

Photos: ARBUS & WEST Opens at Triangle Productions

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 20:14:59 PST

Triangle Productions is now presenting Arbus & West, a new production exploring an imagined encounter between two iconic American women: photographer Diane Arbus and entertainer Mae West. Check out photos from the production.

The production stars Tasha Danner as Diane Arbus and Emily Sahler as Mae West, with Carolina Selva appearing as Ruby. Don Horn directs the production and also serves as costume and set designer.

Arbus & West is currently running through June 20.

Photo Credit: David Kinder/Kinderpics

Emily Sahler

Tasha Danner, Emily Sahler

Tasha Danner, Carolina Selva

Tasha Danner, Emily Sahler, Carolina Selva

Tasha Danner, Emily Sahler

BEETLEJUICE Broadway Tour to Make South Bend Premiere at Morris Center

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:56:51 PST

The American Theatre Guild will present the North American Tour of BEETLEJUICE, the edgy and irreverent Broadway smash hit musical comedy. This production will close out the 25–26 BROADWAY IN SOUTH BEND Series at the Morris Performing Arts Center June 19–21, 2026.

Based on Tim Burton's dearly beloved film, BEETLEJUICE tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager whose whole life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and a demon with a thing for stripes.

The tour cast will feature Ryan Stajmiger as Beetlejuice, Leianna Weaver as Lydia Deetz, Kaitlin Feely as Barbara Maitland, David Wilson as Adam Maitland, Jeff Brooks as Charles, Bailey Frankenberg as Delia, with Alessandra Casanova as Miss Argentina, Adam Fields as Otho, Da'Zaria Harris as Maxine Dean/Juno, Dan Mason as Maxie Dean and Mai Caslowitz as the Girl Scout.

The cast also includes Justin Baret, Neftali Benitez, Ian Dembek, Carly Natania Grossman, Haley Izurieta, Sterling Nelson Jones, Michael P. Korner, Catie Leonard, Clark Anton Rulon, Nick Signor, Jillian Worthing, and Nicole Zelka.

Based on Tim Burton's dearly beloved film, this hilarious musical tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager whose whole life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and a demon with a thing for stripes. With an irreverent book and a score that's out of this Netherworld, BEETLEJUICE is “SCREAMINGLY GOOD FUN!” (Variety). And under its uproarious surface (six feet under, to be exact), it's a remarkably touching show about family, love, and making the most of every Day-O!

The tour is directed by Catie Davis and choreographed by Michael Fatica. BEETLEJUICE was originally directed by Tony Award winner Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge!) with a score by Tony Award nominee Eddie Perfect (King Kong); a book by Tony Award nominee Scott Brown (“Castle Rock”) and Tony and Emmy Award nominee Anthony King (“Broad City”); music supervision, orchestrations and incidental music by Kris Kukul (Joan of Arc: Into the Fire); and original choreography by Connor Gallagher (The Robber Bridegroom).

BEETLEJUICE includes scenic design by three-time Tony Award nominee David Korins (Hamilton); costume design by six-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long (The Producers); lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner (Kinky Boots); sound design by Tony Award winner Peter Hylenski (Moulin Rouge!); projection design by Tony Award nominee and Drama Desk Award winner Peter Nigrini (Dear Evan Hansen); puppet design by Drama Desk Award winner Michael Curry (The Lion King); special effects design by Jeremy Chernick (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), illusions by Michael Weber (“Forrest Gump”), hair and wig design by Drama Desk Award nominee Charles G. LaPointe; make-up design by Joe Dulude II; casting by Geoff Josselson Casting; and the line producer is Jenny Gersten.

The North American tour of BEETLEJUICE is produced by NETworks Presentations.

BEETLEJUICE first opened at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre on Thursday, April 25, 2019, presented by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures (Mark Kaufman) and Langley Park Productions (Kevin McCormick), and won the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for David Korins' scenic design and was nominated for eight Tony Awards including Best New Musical. BEETLEJUICE reopened at the Marquis Theatre in 2022 - following the COVID-19 shutdown - playing 679 combined performances. The first national US tour opened in December 2022, playing 88 cities with a final 3-peat Broadway resurrection at the Palace Theatre, where it played from October 8, 2025, through January 3, 2026. BEETLEJUICE has played internationally in Tokyo, Seoul, Melbourne, Abu Dhabi, and will make its London debut on the West End at the Prince Edward Theatre beginning in May 2026.

GHOSTLIGHT RECORDS and WARNER RECORDS released BEETLEJUICE – ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST RECORDING for digital download, streaming and on CD. The album is produced by Tony Award winner Matt Stine, Tony Award winner Alex Timbers, Tony nominee Eddie Perfect and three-time Grammy Award winner Kurt Deutsch and has surpassed 300 million streams in the United States and 760 million streams globally. These landmark numbers continue the remarkable success of the album, reaching the list of top 10 most streamed OBCRs of the previous decade. The show's songs have placed in Spotify's “Viral 50” charts in 13 different countries. In addition, “Say My Name,” one of the show's breakout showstoppers, was chosen as Amazon's “Alexa Song of the Day” in 2019. The incredible growth is partly a result of user-generated content on TikTok, where songs from the album have been used in over one million videos.

BEETLEJUICE is based on the 1988 Academy Award-winning Geffen Company motion picture presented by Warner Bros. and directed by Tim Burton. The smash hit comedy starred Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara and Winona Ryder with story by Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson.

Portland Center Stage Enters Final Phase of $9 Million 'Save PCS' Campaign

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:50:03 PST

Portland Center Stage (PCS) is entering the final phase of its $9 million “Save PCS” fundraising campaign with $1.2 million left to raise by June 30, 2026.

Following the May 2025 announcement of a critical financial shortfall and the possibility of permanently shutting down operations, the future of PCS has been bolstered by overwhelming support from state and local governments, nearly 7,000 individual donors, and several generous grantmaking organizations. With just over 85% of the campaign goal met, PCS is optimistic that it can raise the remaining funds needed for long-term stability in the next 30 days.

According to Director of Advancement and Special Projects Edwina Kane, “This campaign was structured to do more than sustain us. It was structured to lay the groundwork for the next 20 years and beyond.”

To date, the “Save PCS” campaign has made a significant impact on deficit reduction and season programming. Of the over $7 million already raised, $1.5 million was utilized to complete the 2024/2025 season and launch the 2025/2026 season; $1.5 million helped close the deficit caused by the lag in post-pandemic ticket sales and laid the groundwork for debt-free success; and $4 million ensured the current season—including productions, education programs, and free community programs—continues to reach thousands of people throughout the Portland area.

Completing the $9 million overall goal allows for a $2 million investment in an operating reserve designed to buoy PCS during times of economic hardship. Every dollar PCS raises until June 30 directly supports the essential operating reserve.

“We're thrilled to have the opportunity to grow our first-ever operating reserve. The Jerry Fong Living Trust recently provided us with a generous $1 million matching gift, which means PCS donors have the chance to double their impact with every donation through the end of June. If you've been thinking about giving, there is no better moment to help us secure a sustainable and vibrant future for PCS” says Managing Director, Heather de Michele.

“When you give a gift to PCS,” adds Artistic Director Marissa Wolf, “you're not only supporting the thrilling theater, education, and community programs we offer, but you're also investing in the thousands of kids and hundred thousand more people who come here every season to feel belonging and to dream into the verdant futures we so greatly need.”

As an added benefit, the campaign includes seat naming rights for donors who give $1,000 or more. PCS is reviving the seat naming program for the first time since 2008 to create opportunities for donors to become a permanent part of The Armory Main Stage themselves, or celebrate a loved one with a seat named in their honor.

“A gift at any level, whether it's $10 or $10,000, sends a clear message: live theater in Portland is worth fighting for,” says de Michele.

All gifts to PCS are tax-deductible, and donations in any amount are welcome at give.pcs.org.

Portland Center Stage Enters Final Phase of $9 Million 'Save PCS' Campaign

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:50:03 PST

Portland Center Stage (PCS) is entering the final phase of its $9 million “Save PCS” fundraising campaign with $1.2 million left to raise by June 30, 2026.

“A gift at any level, whether it's $10 or $10,000, sends a clear message: live theater in Portland is worth fighting for,” says de Michele.

All gifts to PCS are tax-deductible, and donations in any amount are welcome at give.pcs.org.

BroadwayWorld Launches Producer Fantasy Game

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:00:05 PST

Ever watched the weekly Broadway grosses roll in and thought you could pick the winners? Now you can put it to the test. BroadwayWorld has launched the Producer Fantasy Game, a free, season-long competition that lets theatre fans build a roster of Broadway shows and earn points based on how those productions actually perform at the box office. The draft window is open now.

How It Works

The setup is simple. During the draft window, you pick any six Broadway productions that opened this season. Drafting is non-exclusive, so there is no need to race a rival for a hot title. Any number of players can roster the same show.

From there, your shows go to work for you. Every week, each production on your roster earns fantasy points based on its reported box office grosses and capacity percentages. When Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle nominations and wins are announced, your shows bank bonus points on top of that. And each week you can answer our Fantasy Forecast prediction questions for up to five bonus points per correct call.

Weekly Scoring

Each week, a show earns one base point for every $50,000 it grosses, so a $1 million week is worth 20 base points. On top of that, shows can earn bonuses: up to five points for filling seats (based on how close to full capacity the house ran), six points for grossing $2 million or more (or three points for grossing between $1 million and $2 million), and eight points if its gross jumped at least 15 percent from the week before. A show loses four points if its gross dropped at least 15 percent. If a show goes dark and reports no gross for a week, it scores zero for that week with no penalty.

The Fantasy Forecast

The Producer Fantasy Game is really two games in one. The first is the box office game: drafting shows and earning points from their weekly grosses and awards. The second is the Fantasy Forecast, a weekly set of prediction questions about what's happening on Broadway, where each correct answer is worth up to five points. You can play one or both.

We track them separately so you can shine at either. Your Producer score covers the box office game, your Forecast score covers your prediction results, and your Combined score adds the two together for the overall championship ranking. The leaderboard lets you toggle between Overall, Producers, and Forecasters, so a sharp predictor can top the Forecasters board even during a rough season for their roster, and a roster powerhouse can lead the Producers board without answering a single question.

Managing Your Roster

Your lineup stays at six shows all season, and you have plenty of room to maneuver. You get one free drop every week, three additional season drops to use anytime before the trade deadline, and free replacements whenever a show on your roster closes. New productions open throughout the season and become available the moment they start reporting grosses, so it pays to keep a transaction in your pocket for that buzzy new opening.

Join the Game

The Producer Fantasy Game is free for all BroadwayWorld users, and you can join any time the draft window is open. Draft within the first two weeks of the season and your roster is scored from opening week, so the earlier you get in, the more weeks you bank. Build your roster, make your predictions, and start climbing the leaderboard today.

Tickets to HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD in Portland on Sale Next Week

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:45:47 PST

Individual tickets for the Portland premiere of the first ever touring production of HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD will go on sale Monday, June 8 at 10 am. The six-time Tony Award-winning production will play Keller Auditorium for a limited engagement from August 1 through August 15.

Based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD is a play by Jack Thorne, directed by John Tiffany.  

From the moment eleven-year-old Harry Potter met Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, his adventures have left an indelible mark on popular culture. Today, over 25 years later, the Harry Potter phenomenon thrives as one of the most successful and best-loved entertainment properties in history.

Review: MAMMA MIA! at Keller Auditorium

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:48:57 PST

A jukebox musical based on the music of ABBA, MAMMA MIA! knows exactly what it is and makes absolutely no apologies for it. It’s fun!

The plot: Sophie is about to get married. She's also just discovered, via her mother Donna's diary, that she has three possible fathers, and she invites them all to the wedding without telling anyone. Improbable? Absolutely. A little weird? For sure. If you look closely, you can find a quiet lesson in the chaos: that love doesn't have to follow any particular mold. There are many ways to love people and be loved in return, and they're all okay.

But let's be honest: the story isn’t the point. You're there for the music, and so is everyone else, judging by the full house of bopping heads (mine very much included) on opening night. It’s essentially the ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits album (minus "Fernando"), plus a few deeper cuts. My theatre companion arrived convinced she didn't know much ABBA. By the final number she'd realized she knew quite a bit. Because how could you not? And if the music weren't enough, there are the costumes. So shiny!

The cast energetically delivers. Jessica Crouch is appropriately fierce and vulnerable as Donna, and Juliette M. Ojeda has a beautiful voice for Sophie, as does Grant Reynolds in the role of Sky, the groom. Among the three possible fathers, Rob Hancock is endearingly awkward as Harry "Headbanger" Bright, Leland Burnett plays Bill Austin with sincerity, and Victor Wallace is all passion as Sam Carmichael. The show's comic heart belongs to Donna's two best friends. Jalynn Steele is fabulous as Tanya, stealing every scene she's in, and Alex Lanning (three cheers for understudies!) brings abundant comedy to the role of Rosie.

The men's ensemble is always one of the great joys of this show. They sing and dance in full snorkeling gear – flippers included! Standout among them is Dominic Young, who is absolutely wonderful as Pepper. The guy can move!

There’s a reason MAMMA MIA! has been touring for 25 years. It will send you out the door with a smile and “Dancing Queen” stuck in your head for the rest of the week. Pro tip: Don’t leave early! A lot of people bolt for the exits at the first hint of a curtain call, but here you'd be missing not only the chance to show your appreciation for the cast’s hard work, but also a mini ABBA concert. You came for the music. You might as well stay for it.

MAMMA MIA! runs at the Keller Auditorium through June 7. Details and tickets here.

A DRAG QUEEN CHRISTMAS to Return for 12th Year With 39-City National Tour

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:57:07 PST

“A Drag Queen Christmas” will return for its 12th year, launching a 39-city national tour this November - December. The 2026 edition is hosted by returning fan favorite and theatre star Nina West, and features an all-new merry lineup of drag superstars from the Emmy-winning RuPaul's Drag Race franchise.

Artist pre-sale begins Wednesday, June 3 at 10 a.m. (local time) with the code “TWELVE,” and general on sale begins Friday, June 5 at 10 a.m. (local time) at dragfans.com.

This year's cast includes:

Myki Meeks, Winner of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 18 (2026)
Nini Coco, Runner-up, Drag Race Season 18 (2026)
Darlene Mitchell, Drag Race Season 18 (2026)
Juicy Love Dion, Drag Race Season 18 (2026)
Discord Addams, Drag Race Season 18 (2026)
Crystal Methyd, Drag Race All Stars Season 11 (2026) & Drag Race Season 12 (2020)
Silky Ganache, Drag Race All Stars Season 11 (2026), Drag Race All Stars Season 6 (2021), Drag Race Season 11 (2019)

“A Drag Queen Christmas” is the world's premiere holiday drag showcase and a sensational theatrical experience that delivers high camp, over-the-top lip-sync performances, side-splitting comedy, elaborate costumes, Broadway-style staging, and a whole lot of heart—something we all seek during the chaos of the holiday season. With plenty of spectacular surprises in store, the show offers audiences a chance to see drag queens at the top of their game perform showstopping numbers of epic holiday proportions on revered theater stages across America. Each year, “A Drag Queen Christmas” provides an annual tradition for folks from all walks of life to come together and connect, find community, and celebrate the season with joy and laughter.

This dazzling, 18+ holiday extravaganza runs two hours and offers fans the chance to add-on a VIP Meet & Greet Experience—including early access to the venue, photos with the queens on stage, autographs, and exclusive tour merchandise.

A Drag Queen Christmas 2026 Tour Dates:

November 11 - Detroit, MI (Fisher Theatre)

November 12 - Rochester, NY (Kodak Center)

November 13 - Rutland, VT (Paramount Theatre)

November 14 - Portland, ME (Merrill Auditorium)

November 15 - Boston, MA (Emerson Colonial Theatre)

November 17 - Red Bank, NJ (Count Basie Center for the Arts)

November 18 - Morristown, NJ (Mayo Performing Arts Center)

November 19 - Washington, DC (Warner Theatre)

November 20 - Durham, NC (Durham Performing Arts Center)

November 21 - Wilmington, NC (Wilson Center - Cape Fear Community College)

November 22 - Philadelphia, PA (Fillmore)

November 24 - Pittsburgh, PA (Byham Theater)

November 25 - Columbus, OH (Palace Theatre)

November 27 - Chicago, IL (Riviera Theatre)

November 28 - Appleton, WI (Fox Cities Performing Arts Center)

November 29 - Omaha, NE (Orpheum Theater)

November 30 - Oklahoma City, OK (The Criterion)

December 1 - Des Moines, IA (Hoyt Sherman Place)

December 2 - Kansas City, MO (Uptown Theater)

December 4 - Denver, CO (Paramount Theatre)

December 5 - Salt Lake City, UT (Kingsbury Hall)

December 7 - Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)

December 9 - Sacramento, CA (Channel 24)

December 10 - San Francisco, CA (Golden Gate Theatre)

December 11 - Stockton, CA (Bob Hope Theatre)

December 12 - Los Angeles, CA (The Wiltern)

December 13 - Santa Rosa, CA (Luther Burbank Center)

December 15 - Mesa, AZ (Mesa Arts Center)

December 16 - Tucson, AZ (Fox Tucson Theatre)

December 17 - El Paso, TX (Plaza Theatre)

December 19 - Austin, TX (ACL Live at The Moody Theater)

December 20 - Dallas, TX (Winspear Opera House)

December 21 - Wichita, KS (Orpheum Theatre)

December 22 - St.Louis, MO (The Factory)

December 23 - Knoxville, TN (Tennessee Theatre)

December 26 - Tampa Bay, FL (Straz Center for the Performing Arts)

December 27 - Fort Myers, FL (Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall)

December 28 - West Palm Beach, FL (Kravis Center for the Performing Arts)

December 29 - Jacksonville, FL (Florida Theatre)

Review: KRISTINA WONG, #FOODBANKINFLUENCER at Portland Center Stage

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:01:02 PST

A parody karaoke musical about social justice that you can sing along to? Yes, please!

Kristina Wong is now at Portland Center Stage for a very limited run of her latest solo show, Kristina Wong, #FOODBANKINFLUENCER, presented with Boom Arts.

You may remember Wong from her previous PCS appearance in Kristina Wong, SWEATSHOP OVERLORD, her Pulitzer Prize Finalist and multi award-winning solo show about organizing mask-making during the pandemic. This time, her subject is food insecurity. And before you think "that sounds heavy," know that you will leave this theater enlightened, hopeful, and energized to take action.

Wong's work defies easy categorization. It's theatre, personal storytelling, and performance art all at once. And in #FOODBANKINFLUENCER, it's also a karaoke musical. She parodies greatest hits from the past few decades and beloved showtunes with Weird Al-level wit, using humor and song to examine the causes of food insecurity, the current emergency food system in the United States, and the limitations of charity.

The PCS main stage is a big space for a solo show, but Wong's passion for justice is more than big enough to fill it. There's nothing quite like watching someone perform work they're on fire about, and that fire is contagious. The musical element makes the show even bigger: just like real karaoke, you get to sing along, and that participation transforms the room. The overall feeling is communal and galvanizing, less like watching a show and more like attending a rally (we Portlanders know a thing or two about those).

What all of this adds up to is sharp social commentary that is absolutely a call to action, but never once feels like a lecture. You'll learn about the political decisions over decades that have left 1 in 7 Americans food insecure, but what you’ll leave with is optimism, not outrage. If political choices got us here, different political choices can get us out.

Kristina Wong, #FOODBANKINFLUENCER runs through June 7. Definitely go see it. Details and tickets here.

REVOLUTIONS: FIVE YEARS OF COLLABORATION to Mark Revolve Dance Project's Anniversary

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 19:32:37 PST

Revolve Dance Project celebrates its fifth anniversary this year in presenting two shows, Sunday, June 28 at 2 and 6pm, The Strand, 70 Washington Street, Providence. The company has emerged as one of the region's newest and most exciting artistic collaborations-a vibrant fusion of dance, music, and creative partnership. This show will celebrate its accomplishments as well as its singular contribution to Rhode Island's cultural landscape.

Tickets are available at Revolve Dance Project at The Strand.

Founded by visionary dancer Kirsten Evans and her husband and artistic partner, Cameron McIntosh, RDP brings together extraordinary talent from across the country to create bold, original performance works. Evans, a celebrated former dancer with Festival Ballet, and McIntosh, an acclaimed jazz drummer whose performances span New England, New York City, Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and premier music venues throughout the city, form the dynamic artistic force behind the company.

Each late spring, RDP draws together rising and established choreographers, composers, dancers, and musicians from around the nation for an intensive creative residency. There, they develop entirely new works, transforming the studio into a hub of artistic innovation and forging not only a performance company, but a living laboratory for the next generation of interdisciplinary art.

Guest artists this year include:

Charlotte Nash and John-Paul Simoens (Oregon Ballet Theater)

Composer Katie Jenkins and Choreographer Kurt Douglas

Composer Luther S. Allison and Choreographer Danielle Diniz

Composer Jim Oblon and Choreographer Emily Adams

Dance Theater of Harlem's Alexandra Rene Jones and Ballet RI's Audrey Lukacz

Dancers returning to the project include Kailee Hrbae, Joe Lynch, and Aram Hengen

Musicians returning to the project include Katie Martucci, Cameron MacIntosh, Josh Knowles, and Luther S. Allison

Beyond the stage, Revolve has deepened its impact through Educational Community Programming, serving more than 100 students of all ages, experience levels, and abilities through low-cost arts masterclasses and complimentary performance tickets-extending the company's spirit of access, education, and artistic discovery far beyond the theater.

HELL'S KITCHEN Tickets To Go On Sale To Open Portland's Broadway Season

Sat, 30 May 2026 18:42:43 PST

AKW Entertainment and producers of the Grammy and Tony Award-winning musical HELL’S KITCHEN have announced that tickets will go on sale Monday, June 1 at 10am for the Portland engagement that premieres at the Keller Auditorium.

The North American Tour of HELL’S KITCHEN will star Maya Drake as Ali, Kennedy Caughell as Jersey, Roz White as Miss Liza Jane, Desmond Sean Ellington as Davis, and JonAvery Worrell as Knuck. Joining them on stage will be Stemarciae Bain, Miya Bass, Jaylen T. Bryant, Rashada Dawan, Sherée Marcelle Dunwell, ’Zaiah Ellis, Mae-Lynn Flores, Marques Furr, Destini Hendricks, Sean Holland, Alfred Jackson, Gigi Lewis, Christopher Miller, Usman Ali Mughal, Chikezie Nwankwo, Sangeetha “Sang” Santhebennur, Marley Soleil, Beda Spindola, Asten Stewart, Teetee, Sydney Townsend, Timothy Wilson, and Ethan Zundell. Together, this company will bring Alicia Keys’ music and Kristoffer Diaz’s story to vibrant life in cities across the country.

HELL’S KITCHEN is directed by five-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif (Rent, Dear Evan Hansen and The Notebook) and features choreography by five-time Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown, a book by Pulitzer Prize finalist Kristoffer Diaz and the music of Alicia Keys.

Your journey begins with Ali, a 17-year-old girl full of fire, searching for freedom, passion, and her place in the world. Along the way, you’ll meet the musical mentor who changes her life, her dynamic family, and the neighborhood that helps her grow. Relatable, raw, and refreshingly fun, HELL’S KITCHEN is a celebration of finding yourself, your purpose, and the people who lift you up

The massively talented creative team also includes Tony Award® nominee Robert Brill (Scenic Design), Tony Award® winner Dede Ayite (Costume Design), Tony Award® winner Natasha Katz (Lighting Design), Tony Award® winner Gareth Owen (Sound Design), Tony Award® nominee Peter Nigrini (Projection Design), Mia Neal (Hair and Wig Design), Michael Clifton (Makeup Design), Monet (Associate Director), Ricky Tripp (Associate Choreographer), and Foresight Theatrical (General Management). Casting by Heidi Griffiths, CSA & Kate Murray, CSA. The Production Stage Manager is Veronica Aglow and the Company Manager is Deborah Barrigan.

The music team of HELL’S KITCHEN includes orchestrations by Tony Award® winner Tom Kitt and Tony Award® nominee Adam Blackstone, arrangements by Alicia Keys and Adam Blackstone, music consulting by Tom Kitt. Lily Ling is the Associate Music Supervisor and Emily Orr is the Music Director for the tour.

Aaron Lustbader serves as Executive Producer and Mandy Hackett as Consulting Producer. DML Productions, The Sunshine Group, The Jacobs Family, John Gore Organization, Clara Wu Tsai, Score 3 Partners, No Guarantees Productions, Front Row Productions, Sharpton Swindal Productions, Grove Entertainment, Terria Joseph, James L. Nederlander, Candy Spelling, Universal Music Publishing, Independent Presenters Network, Della Pietra Spark Theatricals, TodayTix ARGU, Julie Yorn, Andy Nahas, Serena Williams/Nine Two Six Productions and The Public Theater are Co-Producers.

Performances will take place July 14-19 at the Keller Auditorium. Tickets can be purchased at the Broadway In Portland's website starting Monday, June 1st.

Review: ONCE UPON A MATTRESS at Broadway Rose

Fri, 29 May 2026 16:11:09 PST

Looking for a joyful night out at the theatre? Broadway Rose Theatre Company's production of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS is exactly that.

With music by Mary Rodgers and lyrics by Marshall Barer, ONCE UPON A MATTRESS is a comedic musical romp based on the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea." The kingdom is in crisis: Queen Aggravain has decreed that no one may marry until her son, the sweet but hapless Prince Dauntless, weds first. And she has been sabotaging every princess who comes to court. Enter Princess Winifred, a thoroughly unconventional swamp princess who arrives swimming across the moat and proceeds to turn the entire kingdom upside down. The question is whether she can pass the Queen's impossible test: detecting a single pea hidden beneath twenty mattresses. (If you want to learn more about the show and the fascinating woman who wrote the music, Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers is a wonderful companion read.)

Originally written as a summer camp performance at the Poconos resort Camp Tamiment, this unlikely show made it to Broadway in 1959, where it catapulted the career of then-unknown Carol Burnett. Since then it has been a favorite of regional and local theatres, revived on Broadway twice and filmed as well. It's easy to see why. The show is a classic that lends itself to being updated and shaped by the people performing it, and it radiates positive energy from start to finish.

The success of any production of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS depends enormously on who is playing Princess Winifred, and Broadway Rose has absolutely hit it out of the park by casting Karin Terry, last seen at Broadway Rose as Erma in last summer's Anything Goes. Terry has seemingly boundless energy, perfect comic timing, and a voice that could levitate the roof – not to mention a million-dollar smile. From the moment Winifred climbs onto the stage, you are entirely in her corner, rooting hard for this weird swamp princess to get her prince.

Prince Dauntless is played by Andy Baldwin, another physical comedy genius who was last seen at Broadway Rose as Ogie in Waitress. The two have adorable chemistry together, and watching them fumble toward their happy ending is a genuine pleasure.

The supporting cast is filled with familiar Broadway Rose faces and a few welcome new ones. Sharon Maroney is imperious as the scheming Queen Aggravain, while Dan Murphy brings physical wit to the silent King Seximus. Alex Foufos and Marin Donohue are sweet as Sir Harry and Lady Larkin, whose own romantic subplot gives the story an additional conflict. Rounding out the main cast are Alec J. Connolly as the Minstrel, Travis Bilenski as the Wizard, Collin Carver as the Jester, while a good-sized ensemble keeps the stage full of life.

Director Chan Harris has calibrated the whole production to squeeze every possible laugh out of this extremely silly, extremely joyful show.

ONCE UPON A MATTRESS is musical theatre comfort food at its finest. It runs through June 21. Details and tickets here. Enjoy!

Photo credit: Liz Wade

ANTíKONI to Close Bag&Baggage and NPAN's Season in Hillsboro

Fri, 29 May 2026 05:28:23 PST

Bag&Baggage Productions and Native Performing Arts Network will present the final production of B&B's 2025-26 season: Antíkoni, written by Beth Piatote (Nez Perce) and directed by Jeanette Harrison (Onondaga), Creative Director of NPAN.

Nez Perce stories are the heart of this bold reimagining of Sophocles' Antigone – showing how power distorts while offering ways to overcome. Set within a museum filled with Indigenous belongings, in a yet-unknown world after Nationalists have seized power, a Nez Perce family is caught between the demands of modern survival and the sacred traditions they are determined to uphold.

“Sophocles' Antigone centers a young woman standing up to the unchecked authoritarian power wielded by her uncle,” said Piatote. “My adaptation shifts the context and replaces the Greek chorus with a chorus of Aunties who tell traditional Nez Perce stories, offering humor, wonder, and wisdom that transcend time.”

Antíkoni is NPAN's second full-length production, and the first with their current name and identity, having started at Bag&Baggage as Native Theater Project. Their first production was the world premiere of Blossom Johnson's Diné Nishłį (i am a sacred being) Or, A Boarding School Play, at the Vault Theater in 2024.

Antíkoni previews June 4 and 5, opening June 6 through June 21 at Bag&Baggage's Vault Theater in Hillsboro. Press opening is June 6th.

Review: X at Third Rail Repertory Theatre

Thu, 28 May 2026 16:33:22 PST

X is not the type of show you sit back and enjoy. It will put you on edge, drag you into dark places, and leave you thinking for days. If you're that kind of theatergoer (and I certainly am), the journey is well worth it.

Alastair McDowall's 2016 speculative sci-fi play, now on stage as the final show in Third Rail Repertory Theatre's 20th anniversary season, puts a small crew of astronauts on a research station on Pluto, sometime in the distant future after an environmental apocalypse on Earth. They've lost contact with mission control. They send messages out, but none come back. They don’t know why. They don’t know when, or if, anyone is coming to rescue them.

That premise alone would make for a tense evening. But X goes somewhere stranger and darker than a simple survival story. As the waiting stretches on, the crew's psychological distress curdles into hallucinations, distortions of time, fractures in reality. The play slides between darkly funny and genuinely frightening, all soaked in existential dread. If rescue isn't coming, why keep going at all?

The whole production is designed to make you uncomfortable, and it succeeds completely. Alex Meyer's set, Carl Faber's lighting, Mark Valadez's sound, and Trevor Sargent's videos all work together to keep you slightly off-kilter. A prominent clock watches over everything. Director Rebecca Lingafelter, a Third Rail Company Member and founding member of Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble, unafraid of weirdness and discomfort, is the perfect person to have at the helm.

The cast is full of familiar faces, none of whom could be accused of holding back when it comes to emotional gut-punches. Bruce Burkhartsmeier is Ray, the aging captain who is the only crewmember who remembers what Earth used to be like before the collapse. His feeling of futility sets the play’s drama in motion. Maureen Porter plays Gilda, a geologist who finds herself trying to hold the crew together through sheer force of will by convincing them, and herself, that help is on the way. Mike O'Connell is Clark, the comms specialist who responds to a problem he can't solve by pretending it doesn't exist, spending his days in his underwear bouncing a ball around the kitchen while everyone quietly blames him. Olivia Mathews is Mattie, responsible for keeping the station's systems running, and the one with the most to lose. She’s the youngest of the crew, staring down a potentially permanent state of being stranded in space. Austin Michael Young plays Cole, who channels his anxiety into a quest to work out an algorithm for time, which isn't working the way you expect it to. Junior Company members Rosie Kashinsky and Fiona Kashinsky round out the cast, making their professional theatre debuts alternating in the role of Young Mattie.

The title, X, works the way the variable does in math. It stands for something different depending on who's holding it. Time. Loss. The way memories fade until you're not sure what's real. Disconnection. Silence. Violence. The play is full of mysteries, and reality keeps shifting. Everything is open to interpretation, so you'll need to be okay with ambiguity. My partner and I talked about it for a long time after we left, went to sleep, and picked the conversation back up first thing the next morning. I’m not sure we've worked it out yet.

This show demands your full engagement. Like the crew on that station, you won't make it out unscathed, and you will probably find yourself still processing it days later.

X runs through June 7. Details and tickets here.

Photo credit: Owen Carey

SONIC LIVE IN CONCERT to Launch Global Tour With US and UK Premieres

Wed, 27 May 2026 20:59:39 PST

As Sonic the Hedgehog celebrates 35 years as one of the most iconic video game franchises of all time, Senbla and SEGA today announced Sonic Live In Concert (www.sonicliveinconcert.com). This new concert experience brings the music and moments of the beloved video games to the stage.

Featuring iconic moments and music from the very first game in 1991 through today, the production will debut in the U.S. at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on September 26, 2026, before making its European premiere at London's Eventim Apollo on September 30. The U.S. tour will visit more than 30 cities nationwide, and a UK tour will follow in February 2027. More European dates will be announced at a later time. Tickets will go on sale May 29, 2026, with pre-sale tickets going on sale on May 28, 2026.

As part of a global rollout celebrating the franchise's milestone anniversary, Sonic Live In Concert features the most recognizable music from the Sonic universe, performed by a live ensemble alongside rock musicians, vocalists, and electronic elements. The setlist includes fan-favorite tracks and an incredible array of music from the very first game through to today accompanied by synchronized HD footage of iconic levels, moments and boss battles from the franchise. Audiences can expect musical Easter eggs woven into the arrangements, adding an extra layer of discovery that brings Sonic's world vividly to life on stage.

The concert also highlights the creative legacy behind Sonic's music from legendary composers Jun Senoue and Tomoya Ohtani, whose work has helped define Sonic's sound across generations.

"Sonic has some of the most distinct and celebrated music in gaming," says Ollie Rosenblatt, CEO of Senbla. "We wanted to create a live show that stays true to what the fans love about Sonic's music, from the electronic and melodic themes to high-energy rock."

“Music has always been a core part of Sonic's identity, shaping how fans experience this world across generations," said Ivo Gerscovich, Chief Business & Brand Officer at SEGA of America, Inc. "With this concert, we're looking forward to celebrating that legacy in a live setting; bringing together the energy, emotion, and creativity of Sonic's music in a way that both longtime fans and new audiences can enjoy together.”

Since his debut in 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog has become a global entertainment icon spanning video games, film, television, and consumer products. With renewed momentum driven by recent film releases, new game titles, and a global brand campaign tied to the 35th anniversary, the franchise continues to reach new generations of fans worldwide.

The performance schedule includes:

September 20, 2026 – Spokane, Washington – First Interstate Center for the Arts
September 22, 2026 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre (preview)
September 23, 2026 – Portland, OR – Keller Auditorium (preview)
September 25, 2026 – San Diego, CA – San Diego Civic Theatre (preview)
September 26, 2026 – Hollywood, CA – Dolby Theatre
September 27, 2026 – Riverside, CA – Fox Performing Arts Center
September 29, 2026 – Mesa, AZ – Mesa Arts Center - Ikeda Theater
September 30, 2026 – London, U.K. – London Eventim Apollo
October 1, 2026 – Las Vegas, NV – Resorts World Theatre
October 2, 2026 – Fresno, CA – Saroyan Theatre
October 3, 2026 – San Jose, CA – San Jose Civic
October 4, 2026 – Reno, NV – Grand Theatre at The Grand Sierra Resort & Casino
October 6, 2026 – Denver, CO – Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre
October 8, 2026 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
October 9, 2026 – Houston, TX – Bayou Music Center
October 10, 2026 – San Antonio, TX – Boeing Center at Tech Port
October 11, 2026 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion
October 13, 2026 – Wichita, KS – Orpheum Theatre
October 15, 2026 – Omaha, NE – Orpheum Theater
October 16, 2026 – Peoria, IL – Prairie Home Alliance Theater
October 17, 2026 – Louisville, KY – The Louisville Palace Theatre
October 18, 2026 – St. Louis, MO – The Factory
October 19, 2026 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
October 20, 2026 – Mobile, AL – Saenger Theatre
October 22, 2026 – Brandon, MS – City Hall Live
October 23, 2026 – Huntsville, AL – VBC Mark C. Smith Concert Hall
October 24, 2026 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre
October 25, 2026 – Greensboro, NC – Steven Tanger Center for Performing Arts
October 27, 2026 – Charlotte, NC – Ovens Auditorium
October 28, 2026 – North Charleston, SC – North Charleston Performing Arts Center
October 29, 2026 – Jacksonville, FL – Florida Theatre
October 30, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FL – Duke Energy Center for the Arts - Mahaffey Theater
October 31, 2026 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Broward Center for the Performing Arts - Au Rene Theater
November 1, 2026 – Orlando, FL – Walt Disney Theater at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
February 17, 2027 – Glasgow, UK – Royal Concert Hall
February 18, 2027 – Edinburgh, UK – Usher Hall
February 19, 2027 – Manchester, UK – Bridgewater Hall
February 20, 2027 – Birmingham, UK – Symphony Hall

For more information, tour dates, and tickets, visit www.sonicliveinconcert.com.

STORM LARGE MAKES IT HOME to Make World Premiere at Portland Center Stage

Wed, 27 May 2026 05:24:36 PST

Portland Center Stage has announced the return of award-winning musician, actor, playwright, and author Storm Large to the PCS Main Stage with the world premiere of Storm Large Makes It Home, June 12–28, 2026. The limited 2-week run promises a powerhouse display of all new music, stark revelations, radical vulnerability, and the pure rock n' roll energy of a Portland legend.

Storm Large Makes It Home marks the second time PCS has partnered with Large and her longtime collaborator, James Beaton, to create an original show. Following in the footsteps of the record-breaking, 21-week sold-out run of Crazy Enough in 2009, and its subsequent 10th anniversary remount in 2019, Storm Large Makes It Home is an intensely personal—and often raucous—memoir-on-stage. It ventures into Large's turbulent family history with characteristic frankness and the electricity that only comes from live performance.

“Lighting up Portland with her unbelievable voice for over two decades — when she's not playing concert venues across Europe with Pink Martini, or singing at Carnegie Hall — we're thrilled to welcome Storm Large back home with this riveting new show,” says PCS Artistic Director and the Director of Storm Large Makes It Home, Marissa Wolf.

“I'm back at Portland Center Stage because I was asked to write another show for this incredible theater that taught me so much about art and about vulnerability,” adds Large. “It's been really exciting to dive in and write some new music for it, and really explore the question, ‘How can you make it home when the only home you've ever known didn't want you?'”

“Storm is revealing profound new stories about her childhood and the recent loss of her father,” says Wolf. “Her wild and beautiful show is deeply inviting to all audiences, as we each reach for a home to hold us.”

“You're gonna have a good time with me,” states Large. “Don't worry, I got you.”

An all-star backing band made up of longstanding Large collaborators, including James Beaton (Everclear, The Balls), Scott Weddle (The Flatirons, Amelia), Matthew Brown (Redray Frazier, She & Him), and Greg Eklund (Everclear), will appear onstage with Large.

STORM LARGE MAKES IT HOME to Make World Premiere at Portland Center Stage

Wed, 27 May 2026 05:24:36 PST

“You're gonna have a good time with me,” states Large. “Don't worry, I got you.”

CONFLUENCE: OUR SHARED VOICES Festival to Open at Chamber Music Northwest

Wed, 27 May 2026 05:24:39 PST

Chamber Music Northwest will host its 56th annual summer festival from June 25 to July 19 at concert venues throughout Portland, Oregon. Themed CONFLUENCE: Our Shared Voices, the 2026 festival will present music to transcend cultural, geographical, and political borders and celebrate a range of musical traditions that have shaped chamber music today. CMNW will host more than 70 of the world and region's finest chamber musicians—from piano and voice to winds and strings—as they converge on Portland to bring dozens of classic, new, beloved, and rarely performed masterpieces of boundless variety to life.

In addition to presenting concerts in large halls, CMNW offers a new music series in smaller venues and noontime Protégé Spotlight Recitals, as well as free outdoor community concerts, educational opportunities, and masterclasses. Early in the festival, CMNW will once again host the Young Artist Institute (launched in 2022) an intensive education program for 16 talented string players from around the world, ages 14–18. These young musicians will be featured in free showcases and perform throughout the community.

From Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim: “Music has the ability to connect us beyond words, labels, and borders, inviting us to celebrate both our differences and our common ground. Confluence: Our Shared Voices is a tribute to music's power to unite and to the vibrant cultural heritages that continue to inspire the music we love.”

2026 Summer Festival Highlights

Historic and 21st-century masterpieces by J. S. Bach, Lembit Beecher, Leonard Bernstein, Brahms, Dvořák, George Gershwin, Kodály, Mozart, Maurice Ravel, Robert Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Performances by the greatest chamber musicians in the world, including violinist Jennifer Frautschi, cellist Clive Greensmith, clarinetists David Shifrin and Anthony McGill, flutist Tara Helen O'Connor, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, and 2022 Protégé Ensemble Viano Quartet.
This year boasts three one-night-only special events: “modern-day Mozart” Kit Armstrong returns, mandolin master Chris Thile performs a handpicked program, and CMNW will remount George Takei‘s and Kenji Bunch's epic Lost Freedom: A Memory for a larger audience.
Oregon Bach Festival presents Bach's soaring and celebratory Cantatas 201 and 207.
CMNW's visionary Protégé Project introduces bright stars cellist Jonah Ellsworth and violist Samuel Rosenthal.
Captivating world premieres by some of America's most exciting emerging composers including Steven Banks, Reena Esmail, and Donghoon Shin, plus recently written works that energize the New@Night series.

Second Annual Portland Pride Play Festival Sets Schedule

Sun, 24 May 2026 10:11:16 PST

Returning after its triumphant inaugural year, the second annual Portland Pride Play Festival gives queer audiences the opportunity to celebrate their history, hear their stories, and see themselves represented on stage. Produced by Third Eye Theatre, this weekend festival features eight staged readings, from comedies to dramas, covering the breadth of the queer experience.

From Mikki Gillette, author of American Girl, Riot Queens, Mimetic Desire, Tears and Glitter, and others comes The Flowers of Virtue, a psychological trans drama set in Idaho. A collection of trans and non-binary individuals navigate the tenuous atmosphere in and around a queer bar in a “purplish” town in Idaho … and their own community's expectations, history, shifting relationships, and individual foibles. Will the denizens of this community get what they want? Or what they need? The Flowers of Virtue is directed by Ravyn Jazper-Hawke.

A poignant montage of what it looks like when there is no home to run back to, Downward Facing by Mishelle Apalategui is directed by Shareen Jacobs. Alternating between two women — Jenna and Janna — in a complicated relationship, and the home where yoga teacher Lily-Anne is trying to build her fledgling studio in the place where Flex has squatted for years, Downward Facing shows the families people build when they are required to start out with nothing.

Nothing is Nothing is Nothing by Tim Krause, directed by Ravyn Jazper-Hawke, is a saucy comedy of royal proportions. When the King mysteriously dies, it's open season for the throne in this twisted household: where all the men are gay, and all the women are straight. The lonely Queen orders a Farewell Cotillion for her late husband, but already has her eyes set on the Publican. Lance the Knight and his Maiden try to find love against the law while the dirty Cook loses her prize winning fish, a foolish Jester plays tricks, and the androgynous Bishop strives to turn the inheritance over to his "Church." Searching for the King's last will and testament, this bawdy bunch will eventually all learn a lesson in tolerance ... more or less.

From playwright Jeremy Cole comes The Women's Ward, directed by Ed Lyons. The Women's Ward imagines a state mental health facility where patients from many eras — from the 1920s to the 1980s — inhabit the same space at the same time. Time is an abstract in this piece. No real attempt at historical accuracy has been made. Each patient has a personal demon that the system struggles to “exorcize” — with varying results. Cole's play Encounters won the inaugural Portland Pride Play Festival and was presented at Fertile Ground in April.

In Boo! by Deanna Strasse, paranormal investigators The Boo-lievers are attempting to refute the common view of ghost-hunting as pseudoscience at best and outright hoax at worst. The team behind this (marginally) successful Internet ghost-hunting show will use any means necessary to get the evidence, and prove once and for all that we are not alone. But while investigating The Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston, suspicions and friendships will be tested, ultimately examining the big question of “What do you believe?” Boo! is directed by Jamie Adams.

The ten-minute short play Challah if You Queer Me by Allison Fradkin, directed by Jamie Adams, is a comedic blast from the past — if 1950s sitcoms involved Jewish characters and queer themes. When a young woman comes out to her family on the first night of Hanukkah, will her parents plotz or will they be justifiably Jewbilant?

In Every Guy by Rhett Goldman, Jasper is going to kill himself ... but not right now. This explicit, two-person, coming-of-age, semi-verbatim dramedy explores the sexual experiences of a young, southern gay guy and his relationship with his childhood Best Friend, who develops schizophrenia. Narrated in clear-eyed, borderline-uninterested language, short bouts of omniscience and future-telling reveal the protagonist's private values and inner life. In an age where sexual truth-telling is ubiquitous, Every Guy still manages to startle, capturing adolescence and early adulthood in all its confusion, self-hatred, and excitement. Every Guy is directed by Gina Lou.

Finally, Queerly Departed is a touching family comedy by Ian Trutt, directed by Alacias Enger. Three siblings (and their partners) reunite at their grandfather's funeral, with all the usual tensions and shared history between them (not to mention a Tarot reading, a pending marriage proposal, and Uncle Marty's memorial PowerPoint with bullet points). But after someone urinates on the grave, the family unearths secrets about each other and their beloved Pop-Pop.

Performances will take place July 10-12 at The Back Door Theater located at 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd Portland, OR. Attendance is Pay What You Will ($5—20 suggested donation) available for advance purchase at The Third Eye Theatre's website or at the door for any show. Seats are first come, first served.

Performance Schedule:

Friday July 10 7:00 PM
Challah If You Queer Me by Allison Fradkin
Directed by Jamie Adams

Friday July 10 7:30 PM
Queerly Departed by Ian Trutt
Directed by Alacias Enger

Saturday July 11 1:00 PM
Downward Facing by Mishelle Apalategui
Directed by Shareen Jacobs

Saturday July 11 3:00 PM

The Women's Ward by Jeremy Cole

Directed by Ed Lyons

Saturday July 11 5:00 PM

Every Guy by Rhett Goldman

Directed by Gina Lou

Saturday July 11 7:30 PM

Flowers of Virtue by Mikki Gillette

Directed by Ravyn Jazper-Hawke

Sunday July 12 1:00 PM

Boo! by Deanna Strasse

Directed by Jamie Adams

Sunday July 12 3:00 PM

Nothing is Nothing is Nothing by Tim Krause

Directed by Ravyn Jazper-Hawke

HAMLET, A DOLL'S HOUSE, and More Set For Oregon Shakespeare Festival 2027 Season

Thu, 21 May 2026 05:34:56 PST

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has announced its 2027 season, a lineup of nine productions exploring identity, self-discovery, and the moments that shape who we become. From Hamlet to Shrek, Frida Kahlo to Nora Helmer, the 2027 season brings together unforgettable characters wrestling with who they are, who they've been told to be, and what happens when those two things begin to pull apart. Spanning Shakespearean tragedy, outrageous comedy, intimate storytelling, and contemporary drama, these plays follow people searching for freedom and purpose while trying to break away from the expectations and cycles that have shaped them.

“Each season, we ask what stories feel most urgent to share, and for 2027, we found ourselves drawn to plays about becoming who we are,” said Artistic Director Tim Bond. “Theatre holds up a mirror to the stories we inherit, the wounds we carry, and our capacity to change. Across this season people are trying to find their place in the world while wrestling with the fears and expectations standing in the way. What moves me most is their willingness to keep searching anyway.”

In the Angus Bowmer Theatre, the season opens with William Shakespeare's Hamlet, directed by Associate Artistic Director Rosa Joshi. A quintessential story of vengeance, madness, and mortality, this gripping production follows a young prince grappling with an impossible moral dilemma after encountering his father's ghost. Following this iconic tale is Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, in a new version by Amy Herzog directed by Juliette Carrillo. In this urgent and razor-sharp adaptation, a seemingly perfect marriage unravels as Nora Helmer embarks on a powerful journey of self-discovery. Also opening in the spring, Rob Melrose directs the world premiere of A Loco-Motive For Murder by Mark Bedard and John Tufts, a wildly unhinged, Marx Brothers–inspired send-up of classic murder mysteries packed with outrageous humor, puns, and theatrical chaos. Opening in the summer in the Angus Bowmer Theatre, Artistic Director Tim Bond directs Purpose, a Pulitzer Prize– and Tony Award–winning drama that follows a powerful Civil Rights dynasty as long-buried secrets and tensions rise to the surface.

In the Thomas Theatre, the season begins with What the Constitution Means to Me, directed by Associate Artistic Director Kaytlin McIntyre. This deeply personal, funny, and thought-provoking play by Heidi Schreck blends humor and history to explore how the U.S. Constitution shapes—and sometimes endangers—our lives. Next is The Winter's Tale, directed by Shana Cooper. Shakespeare's late romance moves from jealousy and tragedy to forgiveness and wonder in a sweeping story of redemption and magic. Also appearing in the Thomas Theatre, Joanie Schultz directs Frida … A Self Portrait, a visually rich, music-filled solo performance by Vanessa Severo that intertwines the life of Frida Kahlo with Severo's own story in a powerful exploration of resilience, identity, and artistic expression.

In the outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre, OSF will present Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, directed by Marcela Lorca. This fast-paced, family-friendly romp of mistaken identities delivers nonstop hilarity as two sets of twins collide in a whirlwind of confusion. Also opening the summer season is Shrek The Musical, directed by Bill Fennelly. Based on the beloved film, this joyful, irreverent adventure celebrates self-acceptance and the hero in all of us.

“One of the things I love about theatre is that it can sneak up on you,” said Bond. “We'll get you in the door with laughter and spectacle, and somewhere along the way a moment catches you off guard. Suddenly, something in the story speaks to your own life in a way that feels deeply familiar. I think this upcoming season is full of those beautiful moments.”

Hamlet

March 12 – October 31, 2027

Angus Bowmer Theatre

“The time is out of joint…”

The king of Denmark is dead, and his son, Prince Hamlet, is deep in grief. But when the king's ghost appears, demanding Hamlet avenge his murder with another murder, the young prince dives into a dangerous tangle of deception and conspiracies as he grapples with an impossible moral dilemma that threatens to destroy him and those he loves. A quintessential story of vengeance, madness, and mortality featuring some of Shakespeare's most rivetingly transcendent language, and directed by OSF Associate Artistic Director Rosa Joshi, Hamlet is perfect for Shakespeare fans, newcomers, and students.

A Doll's House

March 13 – October 30, 2027

Angus Bowmer Theatre

“Now I have to go find out if society is right or if I am.”

Nora Helmer is a woman with a secret. Mother to three young children and wife to career-minded Torvald, Nora lives in seemingly domestic bliss—which is shattered when a man who secretly lent her money reappears and threatens to expose her. The threat leads Torvald's “little bird” into a darker web of lies, but one that ultimately leads to a journey of self-discovery that remains fiercely and hauntingly relevant for women today. A razor-sharp and urgent version of Henrik Ibsen's classic from award-winning playwright Amy Herzog, directed by Juliette Carrillo (Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles).

A Doll's House (Herzog) is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

A Loco-Motive For Murder

March 14 – July 11, 2027

Angus Bowmer Theatre

Dial M for Marx Brothers

When newspaper tycoon Edmund Blaublüt turns up dead on a swanky European train, the stage is set for murder … and hilarity! That's right, the team that brought you Animal Crackers, The Cocoanuts, and It's Christmas, Carol! are back again with this seriously unhinged send-up of classic murder mysteries, train movies, trains, mysteries, and… Well, don't worry—with a cast of characters like Baroness Von Reichendamen and detective Hugo M. Onyatail (and a sneaky guy with the world's most crowded trenchcoat), the jokes will be flying and no pun will be left ungroaned at in this medicinal dose of silliness, barely contained by director Rob Melrose (Born with Teeth).

Purpose

July 29 – October 30, 2027

Angus Bowmer Theatre

A political dynasty divided

The Jaspers are a family of legend—an acclaimed Civil Rights dynasty whose name has commanded power and awe for decades. But when their youngest son returns home with an unexpected friend, he isn't prepared for both the literal storm that leaves them stranded, or the figurative one that leaves ancient secrets exposed. The bonds of love are tested and the family's legacy begins to splinter as the Jaspers have to reckon with the men and women behind the myths. Brimming with sharp-witted humor and surprising revelations, this story will have you on the edge of your seat. Winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play, Purpose is a stunning triumph of American drama by one of the nation's most celebrated playwrights. Directed by OSF Artistic Director Tim Bond.

What the Constitution Means to Me

March 17 – July 31, 2027

Thomas Theatre

Not your grandma's history (until it is)

When playwright Heidi Schreck was 15 years old, she loved the U.S. Constitution—so much that she traveled the country, competing in Constitutional oratorical contests to earn money for college. But when she unearths secrets about her own family history, she also discovers that this critical founding document can both protect and betray us—and she questions how it will shape the next generation of Americans. Part stand-up comedy and part hard-hitting investigation, Constitution, directed by OSF Associate Artistic Director Kaytlin McIntyre in her OSF directorial debut, is a deeply personal journey that's hilarious, moving, and profoundly human. Sure to spark conversation, Constitution explores the questions that “We the People” should be asking.

What the Constitution Means to Me is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

The Winter's Tale

April 14 – October 30, 2027

Thomas Theatre

A jealous king, a queen accused, a newborn daughter abandoned: The stakes are high in Shakespeare's classic story of suspicion and its tragic consequences. But years later in a beautiful, faraway land, when a prince woos his love, a shepherdess—who is not what she seems—the pendulum swings from darkness to delight, leading the couple on a surprise voyage back to where the story began. This fantastical tale from late in Shakespeare's career turns vengeance into redemption and mourning into magic in a new production directed by Shana Cooper (The Taming of the Shrew) in OSF's most intimate space, the Thomas Theatre.

Frida … A Self Portrait

August 11 – October 29, 2027

Thomas Theatre

Brazilian writer-performer Vanessa Severo seamlessly weaves chapters of Frida Kahlo's bold and tumultuous life with chapters of her own in this surreal, music-filled solo show. Transporting audiences to Frida's beloved home in Mexico and morphing effortlessly into figures close to her—her father Guillermo, her husband Diego, and more—Severo enacts stories from Frida's life as passionately as she narrates her own. The result is a portrait of two powerful and fiercely determined women, both overcoming physical adversity to tell their own stories. Joanie Schultz directs this evocative new work giving voice to an artist and her muse.

The Comedy of Errors

May 28 – October 16, 2027

Allen Elizabethan Theatre

A stormy shipwreck separates two sets of twins at birth, a cataclysm that keeps them apart for years. When two of them boldly enter the bustling city of Ephesus in search of their respective twins, their arrival leads to several merrily madcap cases of confusion: wrongful accusations, wrongful imprisonments . . . and, technically, the wrong wives. The topsy-turvy mayhem and slapstick-fueled hilarity never stop in this early Shakespeare romp that has inspired comedies from the 1600s through today. Marcela Lorca (A Midsummer Night's Dream) returns to direct the vibrant and family-friendly classic about the search for belonging and a place to call home.

Shrek The Musical

May 29 – October 15, 2027

Allen Elizabethan Theatre

When a grumpy green ogre named Shrek finds his beloved swamp overrun by displaced fairy-tale creatures, the hulking loner strikes a deal with a scheming Lord to get his home back. That deal sends him on a once-in-a-lifetime journey alongside a hilarious Donkey and a fierce princess—a journey that reveals that anyone, even a less-than-fresh-smelling ogre, can be a hero. Joyously irreverent and endlessly entertaining, the blockbuster film comes to life outdoors in OSF's historic Allen Elizabethan Theatre. With a humorous score from a Pulitzer Prize–honored and Tony Award–winning musical theatre duo and under the direction of Bill Fennelly, Shrek will have everyone in the family embracing their inner ogre.

Shrek The Musical is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.

HAMLET, A DOLL'S HOUSE, and More Set For Oregon Shakespeare Festival 2027 Season

Thu, 21 May 2026 05:34:56 PST

Hamlet

March 12 – October 31, 2027

Angus Bowmer Theatre

“The time is out of joint…”

A Doll's House

March 13 – October 30, 2027

Angus Bowmer Theatre

“Now I have to go find out if society is right or if I am.”

A Doll's House (Herzog) is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

A Loco-Motive For Murder

March 14 – July 11, 2027

Angus Bowmer Theatre

Dial M for Marx Brothers

Purpose

July 29 – October 30, 2027

Angus Bowmer Theatre

A political dynasty divided

What the Constitution Means to Me

March 17 – July 31, 2027

Thomas Theatre

Not your grandma's history (until it is)

What the Constitution Means to Me is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

The Winter's Tale

April 14 – October 30, 2027

Thomas Theatre

Frida … A Self Portrait

August 11 – October 29, 2027

Thomas Theatre

The Comedy of Errors

May 28 – October 16, 2027

Allen Elizabethan Theatre

Shrek The Musical

May 29 – October 15, 2027

Allen Elizabethan Theatre

Shrek The Musical is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.

LA TRAVIATA and More Set For Portland Opera 26/27 Season

Thu, 21 May 2026 05:13:53 PST

Portland Opera, the legacy Pacific Northwest arts company, has achieved the first benchmark goal in their KEEP PORTLAND OPERATIC fundraising campaign goal of $1.5M by June 30, 2026, allowing for the announcement of their 2026/27 season DRIVEN BY VISION.

Portland Opera is proud to present our 62nd season DRIVEN BY VISION - stories of resilience, reinvention, and self-determination for those who refuse to be confined by expectations.

SEASON LINEUP

La Traviata

Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave

In concert at the Keller Auditorium, Friday, November 6, 2026 at 7:30, Sunday November 8, 2026 at 2 PM

Gracefully framed by some of the most memorable melodies ever written, this tragic love story of an independent woman considers what it means to live outside society's rules, but inside your own truth.

Portland Opera to Go: The Crown Maker

Composed by Jesse J. Sanchez
Libretto by Maya Malán-González

At the World Trade Center Theatre, Friday, December 4, 2026 at 7 PM, Saturday, December 5, 2026 at 1 PM & 3:30 PM

The third installment in the “Our Oregon” series, this world premiere opera celebrates the vision and cultural impact of Eva Castellanoz, Mexican American healer, artist, and advocate for immigrant rights.

Porgy and Bess

Composed by George Gershwin, arranged by Russell Garcia
Libretto by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward
Lyrics by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin

A live radio-show style format at Newmark Theatre, Friday, March 5, 2027 at 7:30 PM, Sunday, March 7, 2027 at 2 PM, Thursday, March 11, 2027 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, March 13, 2027 at 2 PM

Controversial, provocative, and widely considered the greatest American opera, this landmark of Black artistic representation uses jazz, blues, and spirituals to examine resilience, identity, and the ways in which connections are forged within community.

The company has also announced receipt of a $100,000 donation from Broadway Across America to its fundraising campaign.

“We are deeply grateful to Broadway Across America for this generous gift to our KEEP PORTLAND OPERATIC campaign,” said Tracy Wenckus, Portland Opera's Interim General Director. “Our longstanding partnership through our Broadway in Portland series demonstrates what is possible when organizations come together with a shared commitment to creating positive change. We are proud to work alongside Broadway Across America and appreciate their leadership, generosity, and belief in our work.”

Broadway Across America's gift underscores the significant progress of Portland Opera's fundraising work. Titled KEEP PORTLAND OPERATIC – Save our song. Secure our future, the campaign is a 16-month endeavor aiming to stabilize operations, protect artistic excellence, and position the company for long-term sustainability. To date, Portland Opera has raised a total of $1,506,215, with $3,493,785 still to be raised by June of 2027.

Funds raised through KEEP PORTLAND OPERATIC will:

Resume programming for the 26/27 season
Sustain hundreds of artists, musicians, craftspeople, and staff who power the Pacific Northwest arts ecosystem
Protect and expand vital community programs, including Portland Opera to Go (POGO) — which has reached nearly 300,000 students — and Opera a la Cart, the mobile performance program that brings live opera directly into neighborhoods across the region
Create capacity for transformation, with a leaner, nimbler and more transparent operating model designed to grow earned revenue and secure long-term financial stability

The next act begins now. Portland Opera invites supporters to contribute at all levels to help the company continue to inspire, educate, and strengthen community in the Pacific Northwest. Donations can be made at portlandopera.org/donate or by contacting giving@portlandopera.org.

Review: THE PAVILLION at 100 Lives Repertory

Wed, 20 May 2026 15:25:48 PST

Now onstage at 100 Lives Repertory, THE PAVILION is a play about time – the Narrator will tell you so at the outset. It’s also a play about scope. Craig Wright's poetic script opens with the creation of the universe and narrows, with breathtaking precision, to the story of two people at their 20th high school reunion in Minnesota. This expansion and contraction of perspective, which continues throughout, is one of Wright's great gifts: the ability to operate at universal and human scale simultaneously.

Kari (Annie Kehoe) and Peter (Alex Lathrop) were voted "Cutest Couple" back in the day, but they haven't spoken since he left suddenly after learning she was pregnant. Now Kari is in an unfulfilling marriage to the local golf pro, and Peter is doing the middle-age-man thing, i.e., dating someone too young and not quite right. He wants to rewind the clock. She'd rather pretend he doesn't exist. We aren’t rooting for a love story here, but we are hoping each of them will find some way out of the quiet desperation they've made of their lives. That their struggles are so ordinary is exactly what makes them sting.

The rest of the reunion is populated by equally ordinary people: a marijuana-smoking mayor, a world-traveling closeted lesbian, a jaded clergyman, and other assorted townsfolk still trading the same gossip they did at eighteen. All of these roles, plus the Narrator, are played exquisitely by Brooke Totman. She moves between characters with such ease and specificity that the stage genuinely feels full, while as the Narrator she delivers philosophical gut punches on the unrelenting forward march of time, the fragility of life, and the ethereal nature of happiness. The pavilion of the title is both the real location where the reunion takes place and a metaphor: "a temporary shelter for the human project."

Like Wright's other work, THE PAVILION is metatheatrical. As an audience member, you become part of the story merely by witnessing it. The play meditates on the long consequences of our actions, a kind of temporal butterfly effect. No matter how desperately we may want to return to the moment before everything went wrong, you can’t step in the same river twice. Wright's script is full of reflections and observations so evocative you’ll want to sit with each one long after the lights come up. He also knows the value of a well-timed joke, which pulls the play back from the philosophical edge, grounding it in the very real lives of these very human, very flawed people. Expansion and contraction.

THE PAVILION closes 100 Lives Repertory's inaugural season. In just three productions, this company has established itself as an essential home for thought-provoking, emotionally resonant work. They’re currently building a new performance and community space in a warehouse in inner SE PDX, an especially worthy endeavor at a moment when arts funding is stretched thin.

THE PAVILION runs through June 7. The theatre is tiny, just around 30 seats, so only a couple hundred people will get a chance to see it. Do yourself a favor and be one of them. Details and tickets here.

Photo credit: Cat Plein

THE NOTEBOOK North American Tour Adds 26 Cities to 2026-27 Route

Tue, 19 May 2026 08:13:15 PST

The North American Tour of THE NOTEBOOK hasannounced engagements for the 2026-27 season, adding 26 cites to the previously announced route, including stops in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, and Houston. The tour began performances on September 6, 2025, at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio, and has welcomed over 500,000 patrons to date.

Read the reviews for the touring production of The Notebook.

Allie and Noah, two people from different worlds, share a lifetime of love despite the forces that threaten to pull them apart in a deeply moving portrait of the enduring power of love. Based on the book that has sold millions of copies worldwide and a film that is one of the highest-grossing romantic dramas of all-time, the musical adaptation of THE NOTEBOOK played Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theatre from March 2024 to December 2024 following a critically acclaimed world premiere engagement at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in the fall of 2022.

THE NOTEBOOK features music and lyrics by multi-platinum singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson and a book by playwright Bekah Brunstetter (writer and producer on NBC's “This Is Us,” The Cake). The production is directed by Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen, Next to Normal, RENT) and Schele Williams (Aida, The Wiz), with choreography by Katie Spelman (Associate Choreographer on Moulin Rouge! The Musical).

The creative team for the tour includes scenic design by David Zinn and Brett J. Banakis, costume design by Paloma Young, lighting design by Ben Stanton, sound design by Nevin Steinberg, hair and wig design by Mia Neal, and projection design by Lucy Mackinnon. The production's music supervisor is Carmel Dean, who also collaborated on arrangements with Ingrid Michaelson and on orchestrations with John Clancy, and the music director is Tina Faye. Casting by The Telsey Office, Patrick Goodwin, CSA.

The production was recognized with three 2024 Tony Award nominations (Best Book of a Musical, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical), Drama League Award nominations for Outstanding Production of a Musical, two Distinguished Performance Awards and the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing, Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical, and an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical.

2026-2027 Tour Dates:

Detroit, MI — Fisher Theatre
September 22 – October 4, 2026

Dayton, OH — Schuster Center
October 6 – 11, 2026

Grand Rapids, MI — DeVos Performance Hall
October 13 – 18, 2026

East Lansing, MI — Wharton Center
October 27 – November 1, 2026

Richmond, VA — Altria Theater
November 3 – 8, 2026

Pittsburgh, PA — Benedum Center
November 10 – 15, 2026

Schenectady, NY — Proctors
December 1 – 6, 2026

Boston, MA — Emerson Colonial Theatre
December 8 – 20, 2026

Oklahoma City, OK — Civic Center Music Hall
December 29, 2026 – January 3, 2027

Houston, TX — Hobby Center
January 5 – 10, 2027

Dallas, TX — Winspear Opera House
January 12 – 24, 2027

New Orleans, LA — Saenger Theatre
January 26 – 31, 2027

Hershey, PA — Hershey Theatre
February 3 – 7, 2027

Providence, RI — PPAC
February 9 – 14, 2027

Rochester, NY — Auditorium Theatre
February 16 – 21, 2027

Fayetteville, AR — Walton Arts Center
February 24 – 28, 2027

Huntsville, AL — Von Braun Center
March 2 – 7, 2027

Ft. Lauderdale, FL — Broward Center
March 9 – 14, 2027

Ft. Myers, FL — Barbara B. Mann Hall
March 16 – 21, 2027

Naples, FL — Artis—Naples
March 23 – 28, 2027

North Charleston, SC — North Charleston PAC
March 30 – April 4, 2027

Birmingham, AL — BJCC Concert Hall
April 6 – 11, 2027

Atlanta, GA — Fox Theatre
April 13 – 18, 2027

Tucson, AZ — Centennial Hall
April 27 – May 2, 2027

San Jose, CA — Center for the Performing Arts
May 4 – 9, 2027

Sacramento, CA — SAFE Credit Union PAC
May 11 – 16, 2027

Anthology Productions Launches in Portland

Mon, 18 May 2026 18:28:21 PST

Anthology Productions, a new Oregon nonprofit theater company founded by producer and theater artist Andy Baldwin, has announced its launch.

Based in Portland, the company will produce work in themed cycles rather than traditional seasons. According to the company's announcement, each cycle will function as a self-contained body of work, with productions developed and curated around a central idea before the next cycle begins. Upcoming productions will not be announced until the current production opens, and reservations will be offered without prepayment.

The company’s inaugural programming initiative, Anthology One (A1), will explore the question, “What is storytelling?” The cycle will include four mainstage productions alongside two entries in the company’s In the Margins series, which will focus on intimate, actor-driven works staged in nontraditional spaces.

Anthology One’s first production is scheduled to be announced in August, ahead of performances beginning in December 2026 at the World Trade Center Theater in downtown Portland. The 200-seat venue will serve as the home for the company’s debut production.

"The negative national narrative of our city has energized us. Our response is to keep joy and vibrancy centered in the heart of Portland and give Portlanders another reason to gather downtown, shop, eat, and see world-class theater. December is when we remind folks that the magic is right here, and it belongs to everyone," said Andy Baldwin, Founder and Artistic Director

Anthology Productions Launches in Portland

Mon, 18 May 2026 18:28:21 PST

Anthology Productions, a new Oregon nonprofit theater company founded by producer and theater artist Andy Baldwin, has announced its launch.

MRS. DOUBTFIRE Will Come to The Kauffman Center in June

Mon, 18 May 2026 08:49:56 PST

The North American Tour of the musical comedy, MRS. DOUBTFIRE will be part of the 25–26 PNC Broadway in Kansas City Series and will take the Kauffman Center stage June 2-7, 2026.

The production features Craig Allen Smith in the title role of Daniel Hillard/Euphegenia Doubtfire, joined by actress Melissa Campbell as Miranda Hillard.

Rounding out the principal company are Alanis Sophia as Lydia Hillard, Brian Kalinowski as Frank Hillard, DeVon Wycovia Buchanan as Andre Mayem, Collin Salvatorè as Stuart Dunmire, Kennedy V. Jackson as Wanda Sellner, Vivian Atencio and Ava Rose Doty as Natalie Hillard, and Chance Challen and Theodore Lowenstein as Christopher Hillard.

The cast also includes Scott Taylor-Cole, Naja Bates, Connor Barton, Kirstin Angelina Henry, Chaz Ingraham, Se'Lah Jackson, Jaden Kindle, Kasey Lazan, Giulia Marolda, Chelsea Lynne Myers, Jayden Cyrus Nelson, Izzy Ramirez, Patrick Joseph Wallace, and Kade Wright.

Out-of-work actor Daniel Hillard will do anything for his kids. After losing custody in a messy divorce, he creates the kindly alter ego of Scottish nanny Euphegenia Doubtfire in a desperate attempt to stay in their lives. As his new character takes on a life of its own, Mrs. Doubtfire teaches Daniel more than he bargained for about how to be a father. A hysterical and heartfelt story about holding onto your loved ones against all odds, MRS. DOUBTFIRE is the musical comedy we need right now – one that proves we're better together.

Based on the original direction by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks, the new musical comedy features a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell and music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, the Tony Award nominated team behind Something Rotten!

The creative team is rounded out by tour director Steve Edlund and tour choreographer Michaeljon Slinger based on the original choreography by Lorin Latarro; Arranger and Orchestrator Ethan Popp; Music Supervisor Matthew Smedal; Scenic Designer David Korins; Costume Designer Catherine Zuber; Lighting Designer, Philip S. Rosenberg; Sound Design by Keith Caggiano; tour Hair & Wig Design by Victoria Tinsman based on original Hair & Wig Design by David Brian Brown; Makeup Design by Craig Forrest-Thomas; and Casting by Murnane Casting (Chad Eric Murnane, CSA and Amber Snead, CSA). The production is stage managed by Anna Klevit.

CATCH ME WHEN I FALL To Premiere With Stages Performing Arts Academy

Sun, 17 May 2026 14:54:59 PST

Stages Performing Arts Academy has announced the world premiere of Catch Me When I Fall, an original, Broadway-style musical inspired by the lived experiences of Washington County residents facing economic hardship.

Written and directed by Jodi Walder, with music and lyrics by Off-Broadway composer Noel Katz, the production combines powerful storytelling with a theatrical score. This ensemble-driven work features a cast of fourteen performers, aged 16 to 75, offering a sweeping and deeply human portrait of the community.

Catch Me When I Fall is a social justice docudrama-a form of theater that draws directly from real events while incorporating dramatic structure to create a cohesive and compelling narrative. Every story in the production is based on true experiences shared by community members, thoughtfully woven together to highlight resilience, struggle, and hope.

The musical is rooted in an extensive interview process that began in December 2024 at GG's House. Walder trained a team of eight volunteers to conduct and record conversations with local residents, resulting in interviews with 50 individuals and more than 70 hours of recorded material. Walder then collaborated with Violeta Basenko, Alyssa Hicks, and Jessie Walder-Biesanz to shape these real-life accounts into a series of themed monologues and dialogues.

Composer Noel Katz joined the project in January 2025, creating original music and lyrics that deepen the emotional resonance and authenticity of the stories.

Performances will run May 29th through June 7th at the Masonic Hall in Hillsboro, Oregon. Tickets can be purchased at the Stages Youth website.

BroadwayWorld.com Oregon Stories

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This year's cast includes:

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Guest artists this year include:

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Second Annual Portland Pride Play Festival Sets Schedule

Performance Schedule:

HAMLET, A DOLL'S HOUSE, and More Set For Oregon Shakespeare Festival 2027 Season

Hamlet

A Doll's House

A Loco-Motive For Murder

Purpose

What the Constitution Means to Me

The Winter's Tale

Frida … A Self Portrait

The Comedy of Errors

Shrek The Musical

HAMLET, A DOLL'S HOUSE, and More Set For Oregon Shakespeare Festival 2027 Season

Hamlet

A Doll's House

A Loco-Motive For Murder

Purpose

What the Constitution Means to Me

The Winter's Tale

Frida … A Self Portrait

The Comedy of Errors

Shrek The Musical

LA TRAVIATA and More Set For Portland Opera 26/27 Season

SEASON LINEUP

La Traviata

Portland Opera to Go: The Crown Maker

Porgy and Bess

Review: THE PAVILLION at 100 Lives Repertory

THE NOTEBOOK North American Tour Adds 26 Cities to 2026-27 Route

2026-2027 Tour Dates:

Anthology Productions Launches in Portland

Anthology Productions Launches in Portland

MRS. DOUBTFIRE Will Come to The Kauffman Center in June

CATCH ME WHEN I FALL To Premiere With Stages Performing Arts Academy