Tituss Burgess and More to Join OLNEY OUTDOORS at Olney Theatre Center
Events will run from July 31 - August 24, 2025.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz May. 19, 2025
Tickets are on sale now for Olney Theatre Center’s summertime series, Olney Outdoors, performed, as the name suggests, on the outdoor Root Family Stage at Omi’s Pavilion (July 31 - August 24, 2025). Incorporating local and national acts, the program includes Broadway and television star Tituss Burgess, nationally and internationally acclaimed tribute bands, concert versions of new and classic musicals, cabaret salutes to popular music artists, sing alongs, princess parties, petting zoos, and concluding with a drag show spectacular featuring Latrice Royale and LaLa Ri. Tickets to events range from $15 – $85, and can be purchased at olneytheatre.org/outdoors or through the Box Office (301-924-3400).
Olney Outdoors is created by Kevin S. McAllister, Olney Theatre’s Director of Curated Programming and BIPOC Artist Advocate, who said, “I’m particularly excited by the mix of local and national acts we have this year. Bands like Zoso, Billy Nation, Purple xPeRIeNCE, and Better Off Dead have devoted fan bases who will be excited to see them in Olney. I’m also excited to welcome the incomparable Tituss Burgess to Olney Outdoors. There just isn’t another entertainer out there with his unique skill set and talents. For Broadway devotees we have three concert versions of shows, a classic (South Pacific), a deep cut (Songs For a New World) and a brand new musical (To Wong Foo - The Musical). Finally, their new Sunday night Lab Lounge will feature local stars like Nova Y. Payton and Rayshun Lamarr interpreting some of the most significant popular music of the 20th Century. I always say it, because it’s true, ‘There’s something for everyone and anyone in Olney Outdoors.’”
To encourage people to cross genres and art forms, Olney Theatre continues to offer a limited number of All-Access Passes for the summer. For $200, these passes provide entry to almost all the events on the schedule and deep discounts to the few that aren’t already included. The passes sold out last summer, and while more are being offered for the 2024 edition of Olney Outdoors, they are expected to go quickly once they go on sale Friday, June 13 at 12:00 pm at: olneytheatre.org/all-access.
SUMMERFEST
Sunday, July 27
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Their annual, free open house takes place the weekend before Olney Outdoors begins. Come by for backstage tours, costume and prop sales, games, giveaways, performances, and more!
WEEK 1
Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific in Concert
Featuring William Michals
Thursday, July 31 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $65 - 75
One of their audience favorites, William Michals, returns to reprise his performance as the French plantation owner Emile de Becque in this concert version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic.
Orquesta Manplesa
Salsa Celebration
Friday, August 1 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $20 - $30
Dance the night away with DC’s newest and hottest salsa band. Named after the unofficial Hispanic neighborhood that encompasses D.C.’s Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods, Orquesta Manplesa brings together musical strands from Nicaragua, Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Guatemala. We’ll have experts on hand to teach you the salsa basics, so come with a partner or we’ll help you find one to get your feet moving!
Wicked Sing Along
Saturday, August 2 at 10:00 am and 12:30 pm
Tickets: $25
Come spend the morning belting out tunes from everyone's favorite Broadway musical-turned-movie-mega-it. We'll have lyric sheets and song leaders on hand to lead you through. And unlike your local multiplex -- no one will shoot you a dirty look for singing along.
Featuring:
Tori Gomez
Chris Mueller
Jordyn Taylor
Zoso - The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience
Saturday, August 2 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $55 - 65
Celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2025, Zoso has become one of the most iconic and respected Led Zeppelin tribute experiences in the world, having played over 4,800 shows across the globe. Known for their unparalleled dedication to faithfully recreating the legendary band's live performances, Zoso has earned accolades from both critics and fans alike.
Lab Lounge: Aretha Franklin
Sunday, August 3 at 7 pm
$60 Cabaret Table/$50 Regular
Featuring:
Nova Y. Payton
Antira McKinney
With 17 Top Ten pop singles and 20 number-one R&B singles, an evening of song saluting Aretha Franklin is what the kids call “no-skips.” Join us as Olney Outdoors moves indoors to the Multiz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab for our Lab Lounge concerts.
WEEK 2
Tituss Burgess
Thursday, August 7 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $75 - $85
Whether you know him from “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” Season 2 of “Schmigadoon,” or one of his many star turns on Broadway (Oh, Mary!, Moulin Rouge, Guys and Dolls, The Little Mermaid, Jersey Boys), you know that Tituss Burgess is one of the entertainment industry’s most versatile and dynamic performers, with his work in television, film, and theater generating both critical and commercial acclaim. Now he’s bringing his act to the Root Family Stage at Omi’s Pavilion for a special one-night-only concert!
Billy Nation: A Tribute to Billy Joel
Friday, August 8 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $55- $65
Billy Nation delivers a high energy authentic concert experience celebrating the music of Billy Joel. Complete with Billy's signature grand piano, growling saxophone, rich harmonies, and lots of audience engagement, Billy Nation captures Billy's stylistic range with ease from anthems like 'Piano Man' to rocking songs like 'You May Be Right' to beautiful ballads like 'Just the Way You Are.' Billy Nation will make you feel like you are experiencing one of Billy Joel’s concerts in his prime, bringing back the magic of that one-of-a-kind era of music.
Marshall Charloff & The Purple xPeRIeNCE
Saturday, August 9 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $55 - $65
Marshall Charloff & Purple xPeRIeNCE is the most celebrated tribute to Prince in the world. The group was co-founded in the “Purple Mecca”- Minneapolis- by Marshall and Matt “Doctor” Fink (keyboardist from Prince & The Revolution) in 2011, an era where Prince closely monitored the use of his art. Their vision was to deliver Prince’s music on the highest level, played live and untracked by skilled musicians, while paying respectful visual homage through costuming and likeness. Immediately met with success and adoration from discerning Prince devotees, the show in its 15th year of touring, nationwide and internationally, now having performed for over 1 million fans.
Lab Lounge: Patsy Cline
Sunday, August 10 at 7pm
Tickets: $60 Cabaret Table/$50
Featuring:
Kylie Truby
Anitra McKinney
You’d be “Crazy” to miss this Lab Lounge performance in the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab saluting one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th Century. Though her career was cut short by a tragic plane crash in 1963, she left behind a musical legacy we still celebrate today through songs like “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “I Fall To Pieces,” and “Leavin’ On Your Mind.”
WEEK 3
Applause Series: Songs For A New World
Featuring Local Broadway Heroes
August 14 - 15, at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $55 - $65
Jason Robert Brown’s (Parade and The Last Five Years) dramatic song cycle gets an all-star recital from some of our region’s favorite Broadway veterans.
Featuring:
Adelina Mitchell (Wicked)
Florrie Bagel (Parade) (Florrie)
David Rowen (Swept Away)
John Sygar (Swept Away)
Felicia Curry (Into The Woods)
Princess Party
Saturday, August 16, at 10 am and 12:30 pm
Tickets: $20
Join us for a morning of songs surrounding your favorite princesses. Whether they live under the sea or in an ice palace, have the power to control the ocean or change a beast’s heart, we love these characters for their intelligence, independence, and sense of adventure. Costumes strongly encouraged!
Justine “Icy” Moral
Alex De Bard
Simone Brown
Celebration of Motown
Saturday, August 16 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $40 - $50
Check out our new revue of the songs that made the Motor City sound irresistible. You can’t go wrong with a roster that includes The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers, The Jackson Five, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes.
Featuring:
Anitra McKinney
Malshauna Hamm
Quadry Brown
Darrin Scott
Lab Lounge: BB King and the Blues
Sunday, August 17 at 7:00
Tickets: $60 Cabaret Table/$50
B.B. King once said, “People all over the world have problems. And as long as people have problems, the blues can never die.” So we’re offering an evening of B.B.’s best in the Lab Lounge, including “The Thrill Is Gone,” “Rock Me Baby,” and “Every Day I Have the Blues.”
Rayshun Lamarr
WEEK 4
To Wong Foo: The Musical - In Concert
Thursday, August 21, at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $65 - $75
This concert performance provides North American audiences with their first-ever glimpse of the critically acclaimed musical adaptation of the hit film To Wong Foo - Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar. Vida, Noxeema, and Chi Chi are three New York drag queens who get stranded in a one-horse town while driving cross country. Ahead of its time when it was first released in 1995, this new musical reminds us of the liberating and magical power of drag.
Featuring:
Quadry Brown
David Singleton
Connor James Reilly
Solomon Parker III
EagleMania - The World’s Greatest Eagles Tribute Band
Friday, August 22 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $55 - $65
EagleMania has been dazzling audiences for over a decade by spectacularly reproducing the music of The Eagles. EagleMania thrills internationally sold-out audiences with their stunning five part harmony, virtuoso guitar work and uncanny ability to emulate the distinct sound of The Eagles. The EagleMania show consists of the Eagles’ greatest hits, as well as select Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Joe Walsh solo efforts.
If you like The Eagles you simply must experience the world’s greatest Eagles Tribute, EagleMania!
Petting Zoo
Saturday, August 23 at 10:00 am
Omi’s Pavilion
Tickets: $15
Come spend time with a variety of kid-friendly animals in our special petting zoo, including: goats, chicks, ducklings, bunnies, piglets, guinea pigs, and even a mini-horse!
Better Off Dead
Saturday, August 23 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $40
It’s become an annual tradition to welcome the region’s preeminent Grateful Dead tribute band to the Root Family Stage at Omi’s Pavilion. Every summer, BOD attracts new fans and old for an evening that delivers favorites and deep cuts from the Dead’s deep repertoire. Definitely one of the most fun nights you’ll have all summer.
Just Arts: From Stonewall to RuPaul Drag Extravaganza
August 24 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $40 - $50
Featuring: Latrice Royale and LaLa Ri
They will present a double-bill of two great queens and veterans of multiple seasons of RuPaul’s drag empire. More than that, we’re putting a focus on the intersection of art and activism, and that intersection has never looked more fabulous. Join us for an evening to declare that visibility matters. That drag is art. And that art belongs to everyone.
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