Flint Rep Collaborates with UM-Flint Theatre for 2025-2026 Season

FIM Flint Repertory Theatre has announced its 2025-26 season, marking a pivotal and transformational year. Patrons will experience another outstanding lineup of productions with a temporary venue change. The New Works Festival returns, and two new programs and creative collaborations are in place for the Flint Rep to connect to its community and celebrate the power of the performing arts.
 
Most notable this season, Flint Rep has taken up residence in the University of Michigan – Flint Theatre while the FIM Bower Theatre undergoes construction. All three mainstage productions will take place at the UM-Flint Theatre, as well as the March production of Lucky Stiff, which will be produced in collaboration with the UM-Flint Department of Theatre and Dance.
 
“This season marks an exciting moment of transition and growth,” says Flint Rep Interim Artistic Director and Managing Director Nicole Samsel. “We’re embracing the unknown and seeking connection in new places, and we are excited for what’s to come.
 
“By launching a number of new offerings, Flint Rep is building on the foundation that has been laid over the past six years. These collaborations in particular represent an incredible opportunity to expand our audience while reaching deeper into the community we love with the artistic work we’re passionate about.”
 
The season begins in September with Flint Rep’s twist on the American classic by Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire.  Featuring some of the most famous lines in all of theatre history, including “Stella!” and “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” Flint Rep’s production will immerse audiences in the world of New Orleans and capture the cultural soundscape of its setting. Through the addition of original and arranged music by sound designer Katie Hopgood, much of the score will be performed by actor musicians. The production also promises a unique interpretation of the play’s familiar ending.  
 
A Streetcar Named Desire is directed by Joshua Morgan, who also directed the 2024 Flint Rep production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. The cast features Sarab Kamoo as Blanche DuBois, Kevin O’Callaghan as Stanley Kowalski, June Schreiner as Stella and Mike Labbadia as Mitch, along with numerous Michigan-based actors and Flint Rep-regulars, including Detroit’s Madelyn Porter.
 
A Facility for Living (December) and Green Day’s American Idiot (May 2026) will round out the mainstage season at the UM-Flint Theatre.
 
September also marks the start of the new Ghost Light Cabaret Series. It will run every first Wednesday in the FIM Elgood Theatre lobby, transformed into an intimate, club-style performance venue. The first performance is on Sept. 3, with “Try to Remember: Highlights of Flint Rep’s Musical History.” Ghost Light is named after the tradition of a single bulb left burning in a theatre between performances, reminding patrons that the lights are still on at the home of Flint Rep during the renovation. It is perfect for those who love storytelling, themed acts and live music. Other performances in the series include “Broadway Thrillers,” “Wonderful: A Tribute to Stevie Wonder” and “Flint Rep Celebrates Pride.”
 
In October, the theatre launches Flint Rep on the Road, another new program that will go into the heart of the community with a professional production built specifically to travel into local schools.
 
Coming in the spring, Lucky Stiff will be the first collaborative performance with UM-Flint’s Program of Theatre and Dance. Its cast will be composed of both professional and student performers, along with a professional creative team of UMF faculty and Flint Rep artists.
 
“UM-Flint has always been an active collaborator with Flint Repertory Theatre and the other cultural center institutions. This co-production and having Flint Rep in residency is the first large-scale collaboration of its kind between us, and it means a lot for UM-Flint,” said Shelby Newport, chair of the UM-Flint Department of Fine and Performing Arts. “I’ve always wanted to share the UM-Flint Theatre with Flint Rep audiences, and now we get to do that.”

The complete season is available at thefim.org. Tickets are available at www.tickets.thefim.org, at FIM Ticket Center box offices at FIM Whiting Auditorium and FIM Capitol Theatre, or by calling (810) 237-7333. Genesee County residents receive a 30 percent discount as a benefit of the Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Enrichment Millage. Your tax dollars are at work.