MOST HAPPY FELLA and More Set for Ten Thousand Things 2025-2026 Season

Ten Thousand Things (TTT) has announced Caitlin Lowans' first season as Artistic Director: Two Gents, William Shakespeare's rip-roaring comedy, directed by Lowans; Men on Boats, a brilliant satire by Jaclyn Backhaus, directed by Joy Dolo; and Most Happy Fella, Frank Loesser's beautiful musical and the second musical TTT ever performed, directed by Lowans.

"This 2025-2026 season offers three stories rooted in history - a Shakespearean comedy, an adventure, and a Golden Age musical," says Lowans. "As they mingle with each other, the plays invite reflection on whose stories are told, how to break through the stories others tell about us, and the power of reimagining those stories we tell about ourselves. I couldn't be more excited to engage with TTT's history with Most Happy Fella, to add something new to its Shakespeare canon with Two Gents, and to showcase Joy Dolo's work as a director with her vision for the wild and woolly world of Men on Boats."

ABOUT THE 2025-2026 SEASON

Two Gents by William Shakespeare

September 24 - November 2, 2025

Directed by Caitlin Lowans

Two best friends-one who resists love and one who falls headfirst into it-separate to find their way in life. On their journeys, each is struck by cupid's arrow, but as friendship and love soon cross, it's up to the "objects" of their affections to set things right. In this reimagined Shakespeare comedy, lovers, servants, suitors, and outlaws all collide in an identity-swapping, rip-roaring, clown-around comedy with a feminist heart.

Men on Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus

February 4 - March 15, 2026

Directed by Joy Dolo

Ten men (but there are no men). Four boats (but there are no boats). A crew of explorers sets off down a river to name and claim things that aren't theirs to own. Riffing on the history of an 1869 expedition through the Grand Canyon as embodied by a cast composed of those the first journey left out, Men on Boats is a raucous adventure that questions the entwined mythologies of America, Manifest Destiny, and masculinity.

Most Happy Fella by Frank Loesser

April 29 - June 7, 2026

Directed by Caitlin Lowans

A waitress finds a love note from a mysterious customer and begins a letter-writing romance with a man who calls her "Rosabella." Little does she know the object of her growing love is Tony, an aging immigrant wine grower. Fearing his "Rosabella" will reject him, Tony sends her a photograph of his handsome foreman instead. As her visit approaches, the stage is set for confusion, hurt, and betrayal before finally blooming into love and understanding in a return to a beautiful story that was also the second musical TTT ever performed.

Tickets for Two Gents will go on sale in September. A limited number of Flex Passes (season tickets) will be available on a lottery basis this summer for TTT donors.

ABOUT TEN THOUSAND THINGS

Ten Thousand Things awakens the creative spirit of audiences and artists by bringing essential and exceptional theater to people from all backgrounds and life experiences. Theater-goers experience the immediacy and vibrancy of theater through a performance in which there is no stage and actors perform in the middle of the audience. With minimal sets and costumes, talented actors fully engage the audience by distilling the story to its essence.

Approximately half of the company's award-winning shows are performed for paying public audiences and the other half are performed for free in locations where people may not have ample opportunities to see live, professional theater, including correctional facilities, shelters, English Language Learner centers, centers for individuals with disabilities, and low-income senior and youth centers.