Hershey Felder in LOVE NOTES and More Set for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Season 56 Lineup

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has unveiled its 56th season—a lineup of works to be presented July 2026 through April 2027. TheatreWorks Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli revealed the three plays, two musicals, and one play with music the company will present in its next season. She also revealed plans for this summer's New Works Festival and more.

The 2026-27 season lineup will feature two World Premieres: one TheatreWorks commission seen in its New Works Festival and the other by actor/writer/pianist Hershey Felder. The season also includes the Northern California Premiere of an a cappella musical that was also a hit from its 2025 New Works Festival, the Regional Premiere of a freshly-reimagined Western tale about the fight for justice, a bone-chilling and wildly-inventive gothic drama, and a beloved Broadway musical. Two of the season's productions will be mounted at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts (MVCPA), three will be staged at Palo Alto's Lucie Stern Theatre, and for the first time, one will be staged at Redwood City's Fox Theatre. 

TheatreWorks' 56th season will kick off in the summer with the World Premiere of The Employee Dharma Handbook (July 8 - August 2, 2026) by Geetha Reddy (Safe House, Mahābhārata). A bold, funny, and enlightening new work, this scintillating premiere was a favorite at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's 2025 New Works Festival and is recipient of TheatreWorks' Kurjan/Butler Commission. Set at a Silicon Valley aerospace company, HR executive Val investigates a potential staffing issue amongst the lead engineers, suspecting sexism. She instead encounters simmering tensions of ancient origins amongst the company's Indian immigrant employees, bubbling over and threatening to derail the company's upcoming rocket launch.

TheatreWorks will present its 23rd Annual New Works Festival in summer 2026, offering Bay Area theatre fans a sneak peek at future theatre hits. Featuring readings of new plays and musicals, the Festival will take place August 7 - 16, 2026 at Palo Alto's Lucie Stern Theatre. Festival passes ($90) are currently available as an add on to Season 56 subscriptions. Individual tickets and more information will be available at a later date at TheatreWorks.org.

Just in time for Halloween, TheatreWorks will get into the spooky spirit with Dracula (October 7 - November 1, 2026), adapted by Steven Dietz. Based on Bram Stoker's iconic vampire novel of the same name, this gothic thriller brings the seduction and suspense of one of literature's most infamous undead to the stage in a production steeped in terrifying theatrical illusions and formidable frights. A strange Transylvanian count terrorizes a circle of friends, drawing them into a captivating world of intrigue, desire, and hidden power. Premiering at Arizona Theatre Company, this darkly elegant adaptation has played to critical acclaim across the country. BroadwayWorld proclaimed, “If you are looking for the perfect show to put you in the mood for the spooky season, look no further.” Chicago Theatre Review said, “Steven Dietz's version of the vampire myth makes for some deliciously eerie entertainment.” TheatreWorks Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli sinks her teeth into the horror classic as the production's director.

For the holidays, TheatreWorks journeys to London for the Northern California Premiere of Alice, Formerly of Wonderland (December 2 - 27, 2026). Written by seven-time Emmy Award winning writer Mark Saltzman, this enchanted a cappella musical is inspired by a true story and imagines a secret romance between Alice Liddell and Prince Leopold, son of Queen Victoria. As a child, Liddell was Lewis Carroll's inspiration for the girl who fell down the rabbit hole and as a result, achieved global fame. As an adult at Oxford, Alice wishes to escape her storybook reputation, but finds herself intrigued by the even more famous prince who has captivated the whole college campus. This musical favorite from TheatreWorks' 2025 New Works Festival features a magical score mixing gorgeously rendered harmonies of period tunes with original songs. TheatreWorks Founder/Artistic Director Emeritus Robert Kelley returns to direct.

TheatreWorks will ring in 2027 with the return of actor/pianist/writer Hershey Felder in the World Premiere of Love Notes: A Romantic Musical Triangle (January 12 - 31, 2027), directed by Trevor Hay. This new work explores the entangled romantic worlds of Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann, connected by Schumann's wife, composer and pianist Clara Schumann. Felder will play Brahms alongside Sally George as Clara Schumann and Jonathan Silvestri (seen in Hershey Felder: Rachmaninoff and the Tsar) as Robert Schumann in this story of passion, longing, and love that led to the some of the most beautiful music ever composed. Felder is currently dazzling audiences in his autobiographical World Premiere Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me, onstage through February 8, 2026. Breaking many TheatreWorks box office records, Felder has long been a favorite of TheatreWorks audiences, who have flocked to his hit productions including Hershey Felder: Rachmaninoff and the Tsar; Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone; Hershey Felder: Chopin in Paris; Our Great Tchaikovsky; Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin; Hershey Felder as Claude Debussy in A PARIS LOVE STORY; and Hershey Felder: Beethoven. For this engagement, Felder will perform in Redwood City's beautifully restored, 1929 art-deco style Fox Theatre, a new venue for the Tony Award recipient company.

In the spring, TheatreWorks will present the Regional Premiere of Karen Zacarías' Shane (March 3 - 28, 2027), directed by TheatreWorks Associate Producer of Casting & Literary Management Jeffrey Lo with Bay Area theatre veteran Aldo Billingslea in the titular role. Written by the playwright behind Native Gardens (TheatreWorks 2018), Destiny of Desire, Mariela in the Desert, The Sins of Sor Juana, and many more, Zacarías explores the mythology of the American Western, illuminating the frontier's untold, real-life tapestry of Mexican, Black, and Indigenous communities in this vivid take on Jack Shaefer's 1949 cowboy novel of the same name. A mysterious gunslinger rides into Wyoming's cattle country, finding kindness on a homesteader's farm, then steps up to protect it from ruthless rival ranchers aiming to take their land. Teeming with adventure, standoffs, heartbreak, and heroism, this thrilling theatrical ride explores the pursuit of honor, justice, courage, and all things good in the world. Premiering at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Shane has captured critical raves at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Guthrie Theater, and Dallas Theater Center, among other leading theatre companies. KLCC (NPR) called it “Highly original. Riveting. Unforgettable.” BroadwayWorld lauded it as “A gorgeous demonstration of the human experience.” Dallas Weekly said Shane “taps into something that connects us all. This is a classic Western told with a fresh perspective, and it leaves us walking out of the theater reminded of why we love these stories in the first place.” Dallas Voice said, “A stunning experience. This ain't your grandpa's Western—this was better.”