Cast Set For Village Theatre's 23rd Annual Festival Of New Musicals

Village Theatre has announced the casting for the 23rd annual Festival of New Musicals, which takes place August 7-9, 2026, at the Francis J. Gaudette Theatre in Issaquah. Casting for all four staged readings in the Festival includes local theater artists showcasing the vast wealth of talent in the Seattle area.

Tickets are $10 each. Limited tickets and waitlists are available for all public Festival events, and seats will be released up to day-of-show based on availability.

"Every year, hundreds of patrons and artists gather in the shadows of the Issaquah Alps to celebrate the new musical," said Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr.  "I can't wait for our community to join in the launch of these incredible, powerful, and hilarious new works—performed by some of Seattle's top musical theater talent. Village Theatre continues to write the future of musical theater, and this year's Festival promises to be another thrilling chapter."

Village Theatre has launched more than 180 new musicals into the universe, sending them across the country, to Broadway, and worldwide, and jumpstarting beloved hits like Million Dollar Quartet and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal.

“The Festival of New Musicals is one of my favorite weekends of the year,” said Managing Director Derek Watanabe. “I love seeing people spend a few days immersed in new work—running into friends, comparing notes on the shows they've seen, and sharing in the excitement of discovering something special. This year will be even more fun as Front Street comes alive with Al Fresco activities, adding to the energy throughout downtown Issaquah. It's a great reminder that theatre isn't just about what happens on stage. It's about the connections and sense of community it creates.”

2026 FESTIVAL SHOW INFORMATION

WIDOWS

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 7:30 p.m.

Book by Matthew Greene
Music and Lyrics by Kira Stone
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Music Directed by ELISA MONEY

CAST: Andi Alhadeff (Cora Peterson), Ethan Carpenter (Alvin/Wes), Rebecca Cort (Pearl Ward), Sarah Rose Davis (Harriet Price), Anteia DeLaney (Faye/Linda Jo), Lauren Drake (Bonnie Bennett), Mark Ivy (Tom/Everett), Trina Mills (Margie Reed), Jessie Selleck (Joyce Kelly), and Aaron Shanks (Ronald)

Bonnie feels trapped in her 1950s suburban life until a hit-and-run accident ends her abusive marriage and brings her face-to-face with a group of supportive fellow widows at the funeral home.  

Soon Bonnie learns that these ladies were responsible for her husband's death and the demise of countless other monstrous men like him. Given the chance to join them in their vigilante ways while her suspicious brother-in-law breathes down her neck, Bonnie wonders if she's the murdering kind.  

With a driving pop score, a dark sense of humor, and a big moral predicament, Widows takes the audience on one woman's dizzying quest to regain her power.

LOVE IS DEAD

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2:00 p.m.

Book and Music by Brett Ryback  
Book and Lyrics by Jeff Luppino-Esposito
Directed by Adam Immerwahr
Music Directed by TIM SYMONS

CAST: Mark Emerson (Blake, etc.), James D. Gish (Cody), and Lauren Paris (Jordan).

It's a rom-com to die for! Created by rising star writers Brett Ryback and Jeff Luppino-Esposito, Love Is Dead is a wildly irreverent, girl-meets-ghost musical comedy that's screamingly funny and bursting with spirited, pop-infused songs.  

On Halloween weekend, heartbroken and recently single Jordan books a solo getaway to write the article that could change her life. When she finds her guest house has an unexpected roommate—a devastatingly sexy ghost who lives to torment short-term renters—sparks fly, souls collide, and things get delightfully weird.   

Sometimes the only way to feel alive again… is to fall for someone who isn't.

JET CITY IMPROV PRESENTS: AN IMPROVISED MUSICAL!

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 5:00 p.m.

You bring the title—we bring the show. With Broadway in our hearts and chaos in our hands, the cast creates a fully improvised musical right before your eyes. No script. No plan. Every word, step, and note is made up on the spot—raw, fearless, and on fire.

From show-stopping numbers to wild twists, this is musical theater like you've never seen before.

One night only. One chance to witness the magic. Don't miss it.

LET ME FLY

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 8:00 p.m.

Book and Lyrics by Minhyung Cho  
Music by Chanhong Min  
English Translation and Lyrics by Michael K. Lee
Directed by Desdemona Chiang
Music Directed by ALMA David Taylor

CAST: Diana Huey (Sunhee), Kawika Huston (Young Namwon), Heesun Hwang (Jungbun), and Michael K. Lee (Old Namwon)

1969. Apollo 11 lands on the Moon. That same night in a backwoods city in Korea, Namwon–the town tailor– receives an acceptance letter to Korea's finest Design Academy, getting him closer to achieving his dreams.  While envisioning the future, his life is unexpectedly transformed by a cosmic event, rendering him unconscious.  

Next thing he knows, everything has changed yet seems eerily familiar. The year is now 2020, and he meets Sunhee, an elderly woman who agrees to help him. Determined to return to 1969 and the love of his life, Jungbun, Namwon constructs his plan to go back in time.    

An utterly charming story of love across time and space, the Festival marks Let Me Fly's debut full English translation, following on the heels of its critically-acclaimed run in South Korea.  

AN OPTIMIST'S GUIDE TO THE DARK AGES

SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2:00 p.m.

Music by Michael Kooman  
Book and Lyrics by Christopher Dimond
Directed by DÁMASO RODRIGUEZ
Music Directed by R.J. Tancioco

CAST: Anne Allgood (Mother), Kyle Nicholas Anderson (Percival), Danny Kam (Mother Superior), Ashley Lanyon (Flavian), Anden Leo (Copernileo), Karin Terry (Hildegard), and Jason Weitkamp (Sir Brontis)

The Dark Ages: A time of plagues, pestilence, and poor personal hygiene.    

But in the midst of the mud and the muck, Percival von Schmootz remains impossibly hopeful. In fact, he is the world's one and only optimist, which does not go unnoticed by the jaded residents of his hometown, who are constantly irritated by his positive worldview.  

When the Bubonic Plague wipes out the entirety of said hometown, Percival sets out on a quest to personally end the Dark Ages. His efforts meet with hilarious failure at every turn, until he ultimately learns what enlightenment truly means.

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