A Season Driven by Music as Broadway in Thousand Oaks Reveals 2026-27 Lineup
Broadway in Thousand Oaks Reveals 2026-27 Lineup
A Season Driven by Music as Broadway in Thousand Oaks Reveals 2026-27 Lineup
The American Theatre Guild has announced its 2026-27 Broadway in Thousand Oaks season at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center, unveiling a lineup that leans strongly into music-driven storytelling and audience favorites while still offering discovery. The upcoming season includes Hadestown, The Bodyguard, and A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical as subscription titles, with The Carpenters Songbook: A Live Celebration offered as a special add-on engagement. All four productions mark Thousand Oaks premieres, continuing the Guild’s commitment to bringing major touring Broadway directly to Ventura County.
According to Craig Aikman, Senior Director of Presenting Operations for The American Theatre Guild, programming a season is always about balance. “You want to give everybody what they want to see, but you also want to expand their horizons a little bit and maybe surprise your audience,” he said. “I think this season kind of does that.”
That balance is evident in a lineup unified by music, whether drawn from mythology, pop superstardom, or iconic catalogs. Anchoring the season is Hadestown, which plays December 11 through 13, 2026. Winner of eight Tony Awards in 2019, including Best Musical, and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, Anais Mitchell’s folk opera has become one of the most acclaimed Broadway titles of the last decade.
“Hadestown may be more of an unknown title for some audiences,” Aikman acknowledged, “but that show is life-changing as far as I’m concerned. It takes a story you may already know and transports it into a completely different world.” With its New Orleans-inspired sound and poetic reimagining of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, the show arrives in Thousand Oaks as a full Broadway tour with talent drawn directly from New York. As Aikman noted, “You don’t have to go to New York. You don’t have to go to the Pantages. You can experience this world-class entertainment right in your own backyard.”
The season continues March 17 through 19, 2027, with The Bodyguard, the stage adaptation of the 1992 film starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. The production blends romance, suspense, and spectacle, supported by a score featuring Houston’s legendary hits including I Wanna Dance with Somebody and I’m Every Woman.
“You go see The Bodyguard for the romance and the thriller aspect of it,” Aikman said, “and also because you want to hear I Will Always Love You. But there’s more to it than just the music. It’s about how the songs help tell the story.”
Closing out the subscription season is A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, playing June 11 and 12, 2027. Created in collaboration with Neil Diamond himself, the musical traces the songwriter’s journey from his Brooklyn beginnings to becoming one of the most successful hitmakers in American music history. “People know the music,” Aikman said, “but what really draws them in is the story of how he became who he became. It’s in the same vein as Jersey Boys and Beautiful. You’re discovering the person behind the catalog.”
In addition to the subscription titles, the season includes The Carpenters Songbook: A Live Celebration, a one-night-only add-on event on November 30, 2026. The concert-style production blends live performance with storytelling rather than traditional portrayals of Karen and Richard Carpenter. “It’s artists giving their take on the music and telling their story in a really unique way,” Aikman explained. The show carries particular resonance in Thousand Oaks, as Aikman noted that The Carpenters were from the area, making the performance feel like a homecoming for their music.
Behind the scenes, The American Theatre Guild presents Broadway seasons in 11 markets nationwide, but Aikman emphasized that each city is programmed individually. “It’s not about creating a widget and moving that same widget from city to city,” he said. “We really pay attention to what speaks to each audience. Thousand Oaks has its own personality.”
After nearly two decades with the organization, Aikman remains confident in the enduring power of live theatre. “There’s something romantic about going to the theater,” he said. “The lights go down, the orchestra swells, and you escape for a little while. That still resonates.”
Season Memberships for the 2026-27 Broadway in Thousand Oaks series are on sale now. Tickets and memberships are available exclusively at BroadwayInThousandOaks.com or through the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Box Office.
Photo Credit: Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.
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