Bailey Theatre Company Unveils Lineup for 2026 Season
Bill Bruner will return to the stage for the first time in 20 years
By: A.A. Cristi Nov. 20, 2025
Bailey Theatre Company will launch its 2026 season, marking its seventh year producing professional theatre in Denver.
The company will introduce reduced pricing for the upcoming year, lowering tickets to $30 from the previous $40. The season will include the third installment of the “Greater Tuna” series and a production featuring the return of BTC president Bill Bruner to the stage.
2026 SEASON
The season will begin with Red, White, and Tuna, running July 9–19. The production marks the third entry in the “Greater Tuna” series and will coincide with the 250th anniversary of the United States and the 150th anniversary of Colorado. Concord Theatricals describes the work as “the much anticipated third installment in the Tuna trilogy,” noting that the musical satire follows familiar characters and new arrivals during a Fourth of July high school class reunion in the small town of Tuna, Texas.
The description continues: “Along with Tuna's perennial favorites, some new Tuna denizens burst into the 4th of July Tuna High School Class Reunion. This sets the stage for a show full of fireworks and fun from the land where the Lion's Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies. It's been several years since we left Bertha and Arles dancing at the end of A Tuna Christmas. Did the romance blossom? Has Didi Snavley received any ‘cosmic’ communications from R.R.'s UFO? Did Stanley make his fortune in the Albuquerque taxidermy business? These and other burning questions will be asked and answered in the side-splitting spoof of life in rural America.”
The second production of the season will be Early One Evening at the Rainbow Bar and Grille, featuring Bill Bruner in his first full stage performance in 20 years. Bruner will appear as Shep, the bartender—a role that marked a pivotal moment in his early professional career. The play is set in a small-town bar as its regular patrons respond to news of nuclear destruction across the United States. Concord describes the work as “a wonderful, off beat variation on the saloon situation comedy,” adding that it follows a traveling salesman who is revealed to be God, offering the bartender immortality in exchange for writing a new Bible.
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