Chance Theater Announces 2026 Season

Chance Theater announced its 2026 season, showcasing a lineup of celebrated musicals, powerful new plays, and daring contemporary voices. The lineup features Tony Award-winning hits, urgent new works, and innovative premieres from resident playwrights.

"This season, with the help of two of our resident playwrights, we’re asking big questions and sharing unforgettable stories,” said Founding Executive Artistic Director Oánh Nguyễn.

Opening the season is the Tony Award–winning musical Once (Book by Enda Walsh, Music & Lyrics by Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová). This intimate, folk-inspired story begins with a chance encounter between an Irish street musician and a Czech pianist, and blossoms into a moving tale of love, connection, and second chances. What makes this production especially ambitious is that it marks the largest first-slot show in Chance Theater history. While actor-musicians have energized the Chance Theater's stage before, this is the first time a production of this size opens the season with their live instruments and voices in full harmony.

Directed by Literary Manager James Michael McHale (OCTG Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Green Day’s American Idiot), with music direction by Resident Artist Lex Leigh (OCTG Outstanding Music Direction, Striking 12), Once runs January 23 through February 22, 2026 on the Cripe Stage at Bette Aitken theater arts Center.

Next, Chance Theater presents the West Coast premiere of The Messenger by 2016 Resident Playwright Jenny Connell Davis (OCTG Outstanding New Play for Matinicus: The Story of Abigail Burgess). Inspired by Holocaust survivor Georgia Gabor and true events, this urgent play intertwines the stories of four women grappling with justice, memory, and silence. Following an acclaimed Rolling World Premiere, Chance Theater brings this powerful work to the West Coast.

This marks the second collaboration between Jenny Connell Davis and Resident Artist Katie Chidester (OCTG Outstanding Direction of a Play, Tiny Beautiful Things), who directs the production. The Messenger runs March 27 through April 19, 2026, on the Cripe Stage at Bette Aitken theater arts Center.

Following that, the Orange County premiere of Sanctuary City by Pulitzer Prize-winner Martyna Majok will take the stage. A gritty and lyrical exploration of love, sacrifice, and belonging, this acclaimed play follows two undocumented teenagers navigating life in post-9/11 Newark.

Directed by Founding Executive Artistic Director Oánh Nguyễn (ArtsOC’s Outstanding Artist Award). Sanctuary City delivers a bold, unforgettable story that resonates with today’s conversations on identity, belonging, and resilience. Urgent, heartfelt, and profoundly timely, this production continues the Chance Theater's tradition of introducing nationally acclaimed works to local audiences. Sanctuary City runs May 1 through 24, 2026, on the Fyda-Mar Stage at Bette Aitken theater arts Center.

Summer will see Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill, the Musical, featuring the music of Alanis Morissette & Glen Ballard, with a book by Diablo Cody. This electrifying rock musical — winner of 5 Tony Awards and a Grammy — cracks open the façade of a “perfect” family to reveal a story about addiction, identity, and healing.

Directed by Matthew McCray, who returns after recently helming Rent and Next to Normal, this production reunites him with Associate Artistic Director Jocelyn A. Brown (OCTG Outstanding Actor in a Musical, Next To Normal and Sweeney Todd), starring as Mary Jane Healy. Jagged Little Pill runs July 10 through August 9, 2026, on the Cripe Stage at Bette Aitken theater arts Center.

The fall season concludes with the California premiere of The Bed Trick by 2023 Resident
Playwright Keiko Green. A sharp and funny modern remix of Shakespeare’s infamous “bed
trick,” this provocative new play dives into sex, consent, and the messy complexities of friendship and desire. Directed by H. Adam Harris, fresh off the success of 2025’s Tick, Tick... BOOM!, this production continues the Chance Theater's tradition of championing playwrights on the rise.

Keiko Green’s meteoric ascent includes a TV writing career with A24/Apple TV’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Hulu’s Interior Chinatown, and commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club/Sloan Foundation, Atlantic Theater Company, and Signature Theatre. The Bed Trick runs September 11 through October 4, 2026, on the Cripe Stage at Bette Aitken theater arts Center.

Full details on the Chance Theater's Holiday Series will be announced later in the season.