THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW and More Announced for SUNY Cortland Performing Arts Department 2025–26 Season
Season also includes The Taming, Mr. Marmalade, and Cinderella.
By: A.A. Cristi Aug. 21, 2025
The SUNY Cortland Performing Arts Department will launch its 2025–26 season with a bold mix of comedy, rock musical spectacle, dark satire, and timeless family entertainment. The season will begin this fall with Lauren Gunderson’s The Taming and continue with Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show, Noah Haidle’s Mr. Marmalade, and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
This year also marks the arrival of a new class of twenty first-year BFA Musical Theatre majors, alongside several new faculty and staff members, underscoring the department’s mission to provide rigorous professional training for future theatre artists.
“The excitement is palpable,” said Department Chair Dr. Deena Conley. “We are thrilled to welcome new students and faculty as we continue building a program that challenges and inspires.”
New Faculty and Staff
The department will welcome Rachel Fry, recently seen as Dolly in Hello, Dolly! and Ursula in The Little Mermaid at Cortland Repertory Theatre, and Natalie Ehrensbeck, a Berklee MFA graduate in Musical Theatre Vocal Pedagogy, who will join the vocal faculty. Tanya Mixon, whose work has been featured at Tri-Cities Opera and Glimmerglass, will bring her expertise to the costume shop. Nationally recognized theatre educator Joey Steinhagen, founder of Ithaca’s Running to Places Theatre Company, will also join as a new instructor of Musical Theatre Performance.
2025–26 Season Productions
The season will open September 25–28 with The Taming, Lauren Gunderson’s sharp, satirical political comedy, directed by Dr. Conley. The play explores America’s divides with humor and unexpected moments of sisterhood.
From October 24 to November 1, the department will co-produce Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show with Cortland Repertory Theatre. Directed by Bryan Knowlton, the production will feature eight performances, including a Halloween night extravaganza with games, dancing, and a costume runway.
The spring semester will begin February 26–March 1 with Noah Haidle’s Mr. Marmalade, directed by Syracuse-based artist Tanner Efinger. The darkly comic play follows a 4-year-old and her cocaine-addicted imaginary friend, blending fantasy and satire in a surreal exploration of childhood and loneliness.
The season will conclude April 10–19 with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. With six performances, this sparkling musical will offer free admission for K-12 students, ensuring younger audiences can experience the joy of live theatre.
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