Laura Benanti, Darren Criss, Patti LuPone and More Set for THE TOWN HALL 2025-2026 Season

The Town Hall has revealed initial programming for their 2025-2026 Season of The Town Hall Presents. The 2025-2026 season will celebrate Black Brilliance, Queer Icons, Girlhood, Animated Splendor, and Spiritual Inspirations, among other programming.
 
The season opens with a star-studded concert version of John Cassavetes' Opening Night, the first staged musical with music, lyrics, and orchestrations arranged by Rufus Wainwright. Sara Bareilles, Laura Benanti, Darren Criss, Patti LuPone, and Elizabeth Teeter come together for this ACLU benefit show. See full programming here! 
 
MORE DETAILS ON THE 2025-2026 SEASON:
 
Murmrr and The Town Hall Present
A Concert with the Music of

John Cassavetes’ OPENING NIGHT

September 15, 2025 at 7:30pm
 
John Cassavetes' Opening Night is the first stage musical with music, lyrics, and orchestrations by Rufus Wainwright. Based on the classic 1977 film, the musical had its World Premiere in London in Spring 2024, and features a book and London direction by Ivo van Hove. The cast for this concert will include Broadway stars Sara Bareilles, Laura Benanti, Darren Criss, Patti LuPone, Elizabeth Teeter, and Rufus Wainwright. The evening will benefit the ACLU.
 
Opening Night tells the story of an actress, Myrtle Gordon, played by Cassavetes' wife, Gena Rowlands in the film, who is premiering a play written for her that is about a woman coming to terms with aging. Myrtle Gordon does not come to terms with her own aging and rebels against the play and throws the entire production into jeopardy. A young female fan asking her for an autograph at the stage door gets killed by a car as she runs off onto the street. Myrtle is being haunted by the young girl. On opening night, she arrives completely drunk but ultimately does what she does best: act and improvise. Part All About Eve, Opening Night is the story of an actress who risks madness for her truth.
 
World Music Institute and The Town Hall Present

Chandrika Tandon DIVINE ECSTASY

September 20, 2025 at 7pm
 
Grammy-winner and two-time Grammy nominee Chandrika Tandon presents Divine Ecstasy with a full ensemble of instrumental and vocal musicians. The performance showcases various chants in the Vedic tradition, blending Indian classical music with diverse world influences. The evening includes music, storytelling, audience participation, and chanting. More than a concert experience, the evening will be a profound connection with your innermost self, fellow seekers, and the divine essence that binds us all.
 
The Town Hall x CrunchyRoll Present the World Premiere

TOKYO GHOUL 10th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

October 7, 2025 at 8pm
 
Ten years ago, the Tokyo Ghoul anime launched the story of Ken Kaneki into global pop consciousness. Starting from its first episode, the music of Tokyo Ghoul proved to be intrinsic to the world-building of an alternate universe where humans and ghouls co-exist. Composer Yutaka Yamada’s lush, sweeping ballads and ominously percussive score have made the Tokyo Ghoul soundtrack one of the most influential anime recordings of the last decade. Join all women and majority women-of-color orchestra The Sinfonietta in a full concert of the most beloved tracks from Tokyo Ghoul, with new orchestral arrangements and selected clips from the series.
 

NORWEGIAN ARTS SERIES

The Norwegian arts series will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the restauration setting sail from Stavanger and arriving in New York City. Led by Katherine DePaul, The Town Hall will present multi-disciplinary performances throughout Fall 2025:
 
Martha Redbone: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
October 9, 2025
 
Multi-hyphenate artist Martha Redbone will curate, direct, and perform in a concert building bridges across American Indigenous and Black folk traditions. Joined by Grammy-award winning banjo player Abigail Washburn, the lauded jazz singer-songwriter Madeleine Peyroux, critically acclaimed Norwegian duo Oakland Rain, and composer David Amram, the evening showcases the breadth of Roots music as a part of Town Hall Presents' Norway Series. More special guests will be announced.
 

KAIZERS ORCHESTRA

October 10, 2025 at 7pm
 
Norway's biggest rock band, Kaizers Orchestra, will come to New York to celebrate their only US show straight off the heels of their successful 2025 Nordic stadium tour and the 200th anniversary of the first organized Norwegian immigration to the Americas on the sloop Restauration. With a new Restauration's journey from Stavanger, Norway to New York set to begin this summer, Kaizers Orchestra will perform the day after the boat and its party arrive in the New York harbor, welcoming fellow Norwegians, Americans and their fans of all backgrounds to New York's The Town Hall. Experience Norwegian stormtrooping tarantellas with savage rhythms and innovative textures.
 
Vagabond Media and The Town Hall Present

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! A SPECTACULAR NIGHT OF QAWWALI, SUFI AND GOSPEL MUSIC

October 30, 2025 at 7pm
 
For the Love of God! is a musical collaboration like no other—uniting the soaring fire of Ustad Fareed Ayaz & Abu Muhammad Qawwal with the ecstatic power of Le Chorale Château. Here, South Asian Qawwali meets Southern Gospel in a rapturous conversation across faiths and continents. Born in Black churches and Sufi shrines, these soul-shaking traditions fuse blues, spirituals, and sacred poetry. Carried by legends like Mahalia Jackson, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Abida Parveen, this gathering becomes a transcendent experience—where music becomes prayer, and devotion becomes a joyous sound. Damien Sneed serves as the Music Advisor.
 

DISNEY & PIXAR’S COCO IN CONCERT LIVE TO FILM

November 1, 2025 at 2pm & 7pm
 
The Town Hall and The Sinfonietta will present Disney and Pixar’s Coco in Concert Live to Film, featuring the film’s musical score by Oscar® and Grammy®-winning composer Michael Giacchino performed live along to the film by the acclaimed all-women orchestra The Sinfonietta. 
 
Coco tells the story of Miguel, a young boy who dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz, despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music. Following a mysterious chain of events and desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead. Along the way, he meets a charming trickster named Héctor and together they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history. The presentation is licensed by Disney Concerts and produced by Overture Global Entertainment.
 

Ana Gasteyer’S SUGAR & BOOZE

December 15, 2025 at 7pm
 
Ana Gasteyer will perform favorites from Sugar & Booze, her 2019 album of seasonal favorites and holiday originals which topped numerous “Best Holiday Album” lists. Called “an uproarious homage to Christmas albums of old” by Billboard and “the magical love child of Astrud Gilberto and Lucille Ball — an unexpectedly perfect combination” by BUST Magazine, the album was released to rave reviews. As said by the LA Times, “‘Were Frank, Dino or Sammy still with us, any or all would pounce on the delightfully swaggering title track” and “Saturday Night Live’ alumna Gasteyer puts her considerable vocal chops to work here to marvelous effect on this ebullient big-band jazz effort.” Gasteyer previously performed sold-out Sugar & Booze holidays shows at Le Poisson Rouge.
 
WORLD PREMIERE

SYMPHONY & SENSIBILITY: THE MUSIC OF Jane Austen IN FILM

December 16, 2025 at 7pm
 
Step into Jane Austen’s world for a sweeping night of music, romance, and Regency elegance. On the date of Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, The Town Hall and The Sinfonietta invite you to Symphony & Sensibility : The Music of Jane Austen in Film, a one-of-a-kind live orchestral event that brings Austen’s timeless stories to life on stage by a live, all-women orchestra The Sinfonietta. Experience the sweeping scores of film adaptations including Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, and more — plus a few unexpected modern twists.
 
Headlining pianist to be announced. Austen enthusiasts are encouraged to don their finest Regency attire and immerse themselves in the timeless charm of her stories, complete with selected readings and set to live orchestral performance.
 

Taylor Mac’S HOLIDAY SAUCE

December 19 & 20, 2025 at 7pm
 
Taylor Mac returns to Town Hall! Christmas as Calamity! Taylor Mac’s beloved annual holiday extravaganza, Holiday Sauce blends music, film, burlesque and random acts of fabulousness in the most subversive and cathartic event of the season. Ibsen Award winner and MacArthur Fellow Taylor Mac (who uses “judy” as a gender pronoun) invites long-time collaborators (including Matt Ray as music director with looks and appearances from Machine Dazzle)  and surprise special guests to celebrate the holidays in all of their dysfunction. There is more to the holidays than rampant gift giving— in Taylor’s world, creativity and imagination are their own spirituality. Taylor Mac reminds us of the collective power of our chosen families, a message that rings true in spite of capitalism’s attempt to hijack the holidays. Holiday Sauce is produced by Pomegranate Arts.
 

WORLD PREMIERE

BODY & SOUL

February 6, 2026
 
The Town Hall has commissioned Grammy®-winning songwriter and rock legend Vernon Reid to compose a new original score for the African American cinema classic, Body and Soul. Oscar Micheaux is the first major Black American filmmaker, having directed and produced 44 films over his career. His films depicted contemporary Black life and complex characters, countering the negative on-screen portrayals of Blacks at the time. Body and Soul, which stars Paul Robeson in his film debut, takes a critical look at the exploitation of African American communities by corrupt religious figures, and explores broader issues including poverty, systemic racism, and the struggle for economic and social justice.
 
WORLD PREMIERE

THE MUSIC OF Taylor Swift: A SYMPHONIC TRIBUTE

March 28, 2026
 
The Town Hall and The Sinfonietta are proud to present the U.S. premiere of The Music of Taylor Swift: A Symphonic Tribute. From the fearless first chapters to the wintry woods of folklore, a symphony orchestra brings each era to life — no vocals, just the sweeping sound of Taylor’s melodies reimagined through pure, powerful instrumentals. Sing your heart out with us or simply close your eyes and feel the music — either way, this night is for every Swiftie who has ever found themselves in a song. This isn’t just an orchestra concert. It’s a memory, a feeling, a love letter to the songs that became our soundtracks, a celebration of every era we’ve lived through together. Join us for a symphonic night you’ll never forget — and leave a little more enchanted. 
 
Note: Taylor Swift will not appear live at any performance. “The Music of Taylor Swift: A Symphonic Tribute” is a fan-led orchestral tribute concert and is not affiliated with or sponsored by TAS Rights Management, Universal Music Group, or any of their affiliates.
 

KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: THE PRINCESS OF GOSPEL

June 5, 2026 at 7pm
 
Gospel royalty Kierra Sheard-Kelly is returning to the Town Hall for a solo concert--her first with orchestra! The virtuosic mezzo-soprano will perform music from all of the musical genres that have poured into her and created the greatest voice of her generation. Led by conductor Damien Sneed, Clark-Sheard's frequent collaborator and longtime friend of The Town Hall, the Orchestra of Tomorrow will bring the colloquial glory of Black music into the realm of the artistic sublime.
 

John Cameron Mitchell & Friends / The Pridef*ck Edition