BLACK SWAN, WONDER World Premiere Musicals And More Set for American Repertory Theater 2025/26 Season
Season also includes a multimedia performance titled PASSENGERS and more.
By: A.A. Cristi Jun. 05, 2025
American Repertory Theater has announced its 2025/26 season, highlighted by two major world premiere musicals adapted from beloved films, BLACK SWAN and Wonder, featuring a slate of Broadway talent both on and offstage.
BLACK SWAN will begin performances May 26, 2026, at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge. Based on Darren Aronofsky’s Academy Award-nominated psychological thriller, the production will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Sonya Tayeh, known for Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Gatsby at A.R.T. The musical features a new score by Obie Award winner Dave Malloy (The Great Comet, Ghost Quartet), a book by Guggenheim Fellow Jen Silverman (Collective Rage), and music direction by Or Matias (Moby-Dick, The Great Comet). A gala performance is scheduled for June 4. The show promises a visceral theatrical experience exploring ambition, rivalry, and the cost of perfection.
Just ahead of that, A.R.T. will present the world premiere of Wonder, a musical adaptation of R.J. Palacio’s bestselling novel and its subsequent film, opening December 9, 2025. The production features music by A Great Big World (GRAMMY winners Ian Axel and Chad King), a book by Pulitzer Prize finalist and MacArthur Fellow Sarah Ruhl (Eurydice), and direction by Taibi Magar (Macbeth In Stride, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992). Choreography will be by Katie Spelman (The Notebook), and music supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo, whose credits include Waitress, 1776, and Real Women Have Curves. Scheduled to run through January 25, 2026, the show tells the story of Auggie Pullman and his family as they navigate difference, resilience, and kindness.
Elsewhere in the Cambridge season, A.R.T. opens September 2, 2025, with Passengers, a theatrical event combining circus, dance, and music to explore travel and transformation. Directed by Shana Carroll of The Seven Fingers collective, the show runs through September 26. From October 1–19, Farkas Hall, will host 300 Paintings, Sam Kissajukian’s autobiographical, Drama Desk-nominated solo show about creativity and mental health, blending stand-up with storytelling.
In fall 2025, Artistic Director Diane Paulus will direct the U.S. tour of Dear Everything, a musical previously developed at A.R.T. as WILD: A Musical Becoming. Written by V (formerly Eve Ensler) with music by Justin Tranter, Caroline Pennell, and Eren Cannata, the concert tour will feature contributions from Idina Menzel and be produced by global activist group V-Day.
Internationally, A.R.T. continues its partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company with the January 2026 world premiere of All Is But Fantasy, created and directed by Whitney White. The production reframes the stories of Shakespeare’s most iconic women and Richard III through a genre-bending musical lens. And in February 2026, Lincoln Center Theater will present Night Side Songs by Daniel and Patrick Lazour, which premiered at A.R.T. in collaboration with Philadelphia Theatre Company in spring 2025.
Subscriptions to A.R.T.’s 2025/26 season, available in three- and four-play packages starting at $149, go on sale to A.R.T. supporters on June 5, with broader access to follow. For more information, visit AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/Subscribe.
A.R.T. 2025/26 SUBSCRIPTION SEASON
PASSENGERS
A Production by The 7 Fingers
Directed, Written, and Choreographed by Shana Carroll
Co-produced by TOHU (Montréal, Canada) and ArtsEmerson (Boston, États-Unis) SEPT 2 – 26, 2025 | Loeb Drama Center
“Dazzling acrobatic and aerial feats. A SPELLBINDING PERFORMANCE.”, The Boston Globe
All aboard the thrilling theatrical journey.
Montréal’s acclaimed contemporary physical-theater troupe The 7 Fingers is pulling into Harvard Square with a must-see theatrical journey. The passengers on this train don’t sit in silence staring at their phones, they express their hopes and dreams through an astonishing blend of cirque, music, and dance, and superhuman skills. Poetic goodbyes. Anticipatory reunions. Fateful encounters. By exploring travel as a metaphor for the ever-changing landscape of life, each heart-stirring story from this community of strangers is filled with moments of amazement and wonder.
300 PAINTINGS
Created and Performed by Sam Kissajukian
Produced by Sally Horchow and Matt Ross in association with Octopus Theatricals
OCT 1 – 19, 2025 | Farkas Hall, 12 Holyoke Street, Cambridge
Sometimes a breakdown coincides with the biggest breakthrough.
In 2021, Aussie comedian Sam Kissajukian quit stand-up, rented an abandoned cake factory, and became a painter. Over the course of what turned out to be a six-month manic episode, he created three hundred large-scale paintings, unknowingly documenting his mental state through the process. In his Drama Desk Award-nominated solo performance, Kissajukian brings audiences on a hilarious and wildly original rollercoaster ride exploring the ties between art, mental health, and creativity.
WONDER A.R.T. WORLD PREMIERE
Music and Lyrics by A Great Big World (Ian Axel & Chad King)
Book by Sarah Ruhl
Music Supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo
Choreography by Katie Spelman
Directed by Taibi Magar
Based on the novel Wonder by R.J. Palacio and the Lionsgate and Mandeville film Wonder DEC 9, 2025 – JAN 25, 2026 | Loeb Drama Center
“We can change the way we see.”
Based on the novel Wonder by R.J. Palacio and the Lionsgate and Mandeville film Wonder, this uplifting new musical follows the Pullman family as they navigate change, identity, and what it means to belong. Auggie Pullman has been homeschooled his entire life, often retreating to outer space in his imagination. But when his family decides it’s time for him to start going to school, Auggie must take off the space helmet he’s used to hide his facial difference. As Auggie navigates a world filled with kindness and cruelty, his parents and sister go on their own journeys of transformation and discovery. Featuring a driving, pop inspired score, Wonder celebrates empathy, resilience, and the power of choosing kindness.
Taibi Magar (Night Side Songs, Macbeth In Stride, We Live in Cairo, and others at A.R.T.) directs this world premiere adaptation of R.J. Palacio’s beloved story with a score by Ian Axel and Chad King, the GRAMMY Award-winning duo behind A Great Big World (“Say Something,” “This Is the New Year”) and a book by MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl (Eurydice; The Clean House; Smile, a memoir).
BLACK SWAN A.R.T. WORLD PREMIERE
Book by Jen Silverman
Music and Lyrics by Dave Malloy
Music Supervision and Direction by Or Matias
Directed and Choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
Based on the Twentieth Century Fox Motion Picture “BLACK SWAN,” story by Andres Heinz MAY 26 – JUN 28, 2026 | Loeb Drama Center
“Could she be the dancer in the mirror?”
Tony Award winner Sonya Tayeh (Gatsby at A.R.T., Moulin Rouge! The Musical on Broadway) returns to the A.R.T. to bring a bold new musical adaptation of the 2010 Academy Award-nominated psychological thriller BLACK SWAN to life on stage. As driven ballerina Nina fights for the lead role in Swan Lake, pressure increases and boundaries blur, and she begins to unravel. This haunting exploration of ambition, rivalry, and the cost of perfection features a score by Obie Award winner Dave Malloy (Moby-Dick, The Great Comet, and others at A.R.T.) and book by Guggenheim Fellow Jen Silverman (The Roommate, Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties). Production support of BLACK SWAN is provided by Katie and Paul Buttenwieser. BLACK SWAN is presented by special arrangement with Buena Vista Theatrical.
A.R.T. IN THE WORLD
REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES: THE MUSICAL
Music and Lyrics by Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez
Book by Lisa Loomer with Nell Benjamin
Based on the play by Josefina López and HBO’s Real Women Have Curves Screenplay by Josefina López and George LaVoo
Music Supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo
Director and Choreography Sergio Trujillo
Now Playing | James Earl Jones Theatre, New York, NY
Ana dreams of flying away. But when her family’s East Los Angeles garment business receives a make-or break order for 200 dresses, Ana finds herself juggling her own ambitions, her mother Carmen’s expectations, and a community of women all trying to make it work against the odds. Based on the play by Josefina López that inspired the iconic hit HBO film, with music by GRAMMY Award-winning composer Joy Huerta and directed by Tony Award winner Sergio Trujillo, the Tony Award-nominated Real Women Have Curves: The Musical “makes us feel we can all soar!” (WBUR)
More information at realwomenhavecurvesbroadway.com/.
DEAR EVERYTHING
Beginning in fall 2025, A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus will direct the US concert tour of DEAR EVERYTHING. Commissioned and developed by A.R.T. and premiered in concert form as WILD: A Musical Becoming at the Loeb Drama Center in December 2021.
Dear Everything is a riveting story driven by galvanizing and emotional pop and folk music, speaks to the dialectic of our times, adults focused on surviving the now, and youth with a fierce eye on the future. With empathy, complexity and outrage it addresses the most pressing issue of our day, the climate crisis. Dear Everything is written by Tony and Obie Award-winning playwright V (formerly Eve Ensler), with music by Grammy and Golden Globe-nominated songwriter Justin Tranter, Caroline Pennell, and Eren Cannata, lyrics by V, Caroline Pennell, and Justin Tranter, with contributions by Tony and Obie Award winner, Idina Menzel. The tour will be produced by V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women, gender expansive people, and the Earth. Tour dates, stops, and cast will be announced at a later date.
ALL IS BUT FANTASY
Written, Composed and Directed by Whitney White
Begins January 28, 2026 | Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon, England
Some people make history. Lady Macbeth, Juliet, Emilia and Richard III. Each has a finger on the self destruct button, sometimes by accident, sometimes by design. But why should loving too hard, aspiring too high or living too fast cut the story short? Award-winning artist Whitney White explodes into The Other Place with a groundbreaking theatrical event, featuring four of Shakespeare’s most famous characters. Their stories are revisited across two high-energy gig-theatre performances, catalyzed by a red-hot soundtrack of musical genres from rock and soul to pop and gospel. With the three Witches as backing singers, one question comes up time and again: Can you have ambition and love and still be alive in Act V? More information at rsc.org.uk/all-is-but-fantasy.
NIGHT SIDE SONGS
Words and music by The Lazours
Directed by Taibi Magar
Previews begin Feb 14, 2026 | Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center Theater, New York
Night Side Songs is about the small human connections that make up the vast tapestry of our lives. Inspired by Susan Sontag’s insight that “illness is the night side of life,” this transformative new musical brings us together to explore how song heals us and empowers our spirits. With a stirring folk score by the acclaimed duo The Lazours (We Live in Cairo) and visionary direction by Taibi Magar (We Live in Cairo, Macbeth In Stride), Night Side Songs amplifies the voices of those who navigate the complexities of health, patients, caregivers, and medical professionals alike. What emerges is a moving portrait of how we show up for one another. How love can be the most powerful medicine. Night Side Songs reminds us of the strength we find in community, and the healing that happens when we truly listen. More information at LCT.org/shows/2025-26-season.
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