Penn Live Arts Will Open 2025–26 Season With Mark Morris Dance Group And Branford Marsalis Quartet

Penn Live Arts will launch its 2025–26 season with a weekend of dance and jazz icons. Mark Morris Dance Group will perform Dances to American Music on September 26 and 27, including the Philadelphia premieres of Pizzica and You’ve Got to Be Modernistic, alongside returning favorites Dancing Honeymoon and Three Preludes. Following the Friday evening performance, Mark Morris will join PLA Executive and Artistic Director Christopher Gruits for a post-show conversation.

Closing out the opening weekend, the Branford Marsalis Quartet will perform on September 28, showcasing music from its latest recording Belonging, a reimagining of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 European Quartet album. A pre-show discussion with Marsalis and Gruits will take place at 6 p.m. before the 7 p.m. concert.

This season, titled America Unfinished, will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The theme will bring together artists across disciplines to explore how the nation’s founding ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness resonate in the 21st century. Programming will include new theatrical works, world premieres in dance and music, and major Philadelphia debuts. Audiences will also encounter The Listening Cabinet, an installation in the Feintuch Family Lobby that invites dialogue and reflection on civic participation.

2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats

Best Lead Performer in a Musical - Top 3

1. LJ Benet - The Lost Boys, A New Musical

25.4% of votes

2. Joshua Henry - Ragtime

13.9% of votes

3. Sam Tutty - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

11.9% of votes

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