Queens Theatre 2026-2027 Season to Feature Music, Dance, Theatre, Cultural Events and More
The season will feature Charo, Las Áñez, Xiomara Laugart’s Tribute to Celia Cruz, Calpulli Mexican Dance Company’s Día de Muertos and more.
Queens Theatre is launching a 2026–2027 season that brings cultures, traditions and artists from around the world to the heart of Queens, with tickets now on sale. Featuring a robust mix of Latin music and dance, jazz, theatre, family programming, global traditions, and cultural celebrations, the new season also marks a renewed effort to deepen Queens Theatre's connection with the communities it serves while keeping live performing arts accessible and affordable.
Keeping the Performing Arts Affordable and Accessible
Accessibility and affordability go hand in hand at Queens Theatre, where creating a welcoming space means removing barriers to the performing arts while presenting programming that speaks to the borough's multicultural and multigenerational communities. As Queens Theatre works to welcome audiences back and introduce new generations to live performance, affordability remains central to its mission. Ticket prices have remained remarkably consistent for decades, with pricing largely unchanged since the 1990s. The commitment is intentional: keeping performances within reach for families and residents throughout the borough is an essential part of Queens Theatre's role as a community cultural institution. Ticket prices for many 2026–2027 performances begin below $30, with some family programs averaging just $17.50 per ticket and select programming offered free of charge.
And accessibility extends beyond affordability at Queens Theatre. The theatre provides a range of services designed to make live performance welcoming to audiences of all abilities. The entire facility is wheelchair accessible, including seating in all three performance spaces, restrooms, hallways and the main entrance, while assistive listening devices are available at most performances in the Claire Shulman Theater. Designated performances also offer services such as American Sign Language interpretation, audio description, open captioning and touch tours. Relaxed and sensory-friendly performances provide additional accommodations, including modified sound and lighting, quiet areas, and greater flexibility for audience movement and noise. That commitment is further reflected through Queens Theatre's celebrated Theatre for All (TFA), an accessibility and professional development initiative that advances disability inclusion in the arts, while creating career-building opportunities for Deaf and disabled artists. Learn more about accessibility at Queens Theatre.
A Season that Reflects Queens
The 2026–2027 season opens in October with a lineup designed to reflect the extraordinary diversity of Queens, bringing together established artists, emerging voices and performances spanning cultures, traditions and genres. From Latin music and jazz to global dance, family entertainment and cultural celebrations, the season offers audiences of all ages and backgrounds opportunities to see something familiar, discover something new and find something for them at Queens Theatre.
Highlights include Colombian twin sisters Las Áñez; Calpulli Mexican Dance Company's Día de Muertos; Xiomara Laugart: Tribute to Celia Cruz; international entertainer Charo; illusionist VITALY: An Evening of Wonders; and The Monkey King: A Kung Fu Musical, presented in celebration of Lunar New Year.
Jazz takes on an expanded presence at Queens Theatre this season, with performances by Allan Harris, Tammy McCann, and Jumaane Smith, among others. Harris brings The Poetry of Jazz as part of the “Jazz is @ Queens Theatre” series, while McCann celebrates some of the genre's most influential women with The Legendary Ladies of Jazz and will feature special guest David O'Rourke, long-time guitarist of the late Cassandra Wilson. Jumaane Smith brings the sounds of New Orleans to the stage with Sweet Baby!
Dance programming similarly reaches across cultures and traditions, from Calpulli Mexican Dance Company's Día de Muertos celebration, to Darrah Carr Dance's Irish-inspired St. Patrick's Day performances, to the powerful rhythms of San Jose Taiko, which blends the powerful, traditional art of kumidaiko (ensemble drumming) with contemporary rhythms like jazz, Afro-Cuban, and rock.
Theatre continues to take center stage with Queens Theatre's New Play Development program, which this year will feature stories about Queens. Now 25 years old, New Play Development presents free public readings by emerging playwrights, and invites audiences into the creative process through talkbacks, building on a history of more than 200 readings, workshops, and productions. Titan Theatre Company returns to Queens Theatre with Thornton Wilder's “Our Town” opening this fall. Other readings and productions by local companies will be added to the calendar.
Family programming also remains a major part of the season, with several Rock and Roll Playhouse performances created especially for young audiences, along with Lightwire Dino-Light, which brings dinosaurs to life through electroluminescent artistry and imaginative storytelling.
Cultural celebrations are woven throughout the calendar, including programming recognizing Día de Muertos, Lunar New Year, Mardi Gras, Dominican Independence Day, St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day Special featuring Uptown Royalty, Liza & Willie, the Cherry Blossom Festival, and Mother's Day.
In addition, Queens Theatre's B-Side Series will further expand opportunities for audiences and artists to connect through free, multidisciplinary open-stage programming. Designed to make the community part of the artistic experience rather than simply an audience for it, the series creates an inclusive space for people of all abilities and experience levels to participate, share their creativity, and engage in artistic expression. The B-Side Series is sponsored, in part, by NewYork-Presbyterian Queens.
Bringing Queens Back to Queens Theatre
The new season also represents a broader effort to strengthen Queens Theatre's relationships with the neighborhoods and organizations surrounding it. Queens Theatre is working with community groups and organizations throughout the borough to better connect with residents, including Queens' extensive immigrant communities and the trusted service organizations that already work directly within them. Rather than asking communities to come to Queens Theatre on their own, the theatre is focused on building relationships within those communities and creating meaningful pathways for residents to discover its programming.
|
Murder on the Orient Express Manes Studio Theatre of Long Island (8/28-9/13) |
|
Broadway Magic Hour Broadway Magic Hour: Magic Show (7/25-1/02) |
|
Court & Katie: Take Two! The Greenroom 42 (9/10-9/10) |
|
Dominant Animals Teatro LATEA (10/02-10/04) |
|
Eileen Barnett: Back Again...For The Very First Time! The Laurie Beechman Theatre (10/06-10/06) |
|
Falling Into Now Greenroom42 (10/24-10/24) |
|
From America, With Love 28th Street Theatre (10/11-10/11) |
|
LOVE INSURANCE Theater for the New City (9/02-9/12) |
|
PANGEA: UNLEASHED KnJ Theater (10/10-10/11) |
|
Peribáñez y el Comendador de Ocaña Teatro Círculo (9/18-10/04) |