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Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced that Sylvia Neil, Chair of its Board of Directors, will step down in May 2026. She will be succeeded by Craig C. Martin.

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) has announced a new play development initiative dedicated to adapting non-theatrical works — including novels, poetry, and film — into original stage productions.

We’re thrilled to have the chance to speak with composer Bob Kelly, one of the creators behind Confessions: A New Musical, which is set to have a private industry reading in New York City on October 20. The musical is based on Tom Rastrelli’s memoir Confessions of a Gay Priest and explores the powerful intersection of faith, sexuality, and identity through the eyes of a Catholic priest confronting his truth.

Playwright Jamie Gore Pawlik and Director, Derek Speedy, invite audiences to a one-night-only staged reading and presentation of her new play I EAT BOYS.

The Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced a transition in board leadership, with Sylvia Neil, current Chair of the Board of Directors, set to conclude her term in May 2026.

Lyric Opera of Chicago has revealed that Sylvia Neil, Chair of its Board of Directors, will step down in May 2026. Learn more about the leadership transitions here!

Jacob's Pillow will present Dance Your Purpose, its first-ever winter dance intensive, as the organization expands its year-round dance initiatives. Learn more here!

The Center for Craft has acquired the American Craft Council Library and Archives Collections—a landmark gift that will expand opportunities and access while protecting and developing wide-ranging craft histories. 

Only two new musicals are opening on Broadway in the first half of the 2025-2026 season: The Queen of Versailles and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York). There has been much discourse on the topic of whether rising capitalization costs and the rareness of full recoupment is impacting the number of new musicals being produced on Broadway. 

With frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in the news due to actor Bruce Willis fighting the disease for several years, I decided to speak with playwright Jake Broder, an Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute, about his motivation to create Unravelled and his research on the disease.

As a dramatic soprano, Alexandra LoBianco is accustomed to performing some of the most challenging roles in the repertoire, including Leonore in “Fidelio,” with the Vienna State Opera and North Carolina Opera, Brünnhilde in “Die Walküre,” Minnie in “La fanciulla del West,” with Des Moines Metro Opera, and the title roles in “Turandot,” with Des Moines Metro Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Maryland Lyric Opera, and “Aida” at Seattle Opera, to name but a few.

IndieSpace has announced Brooklyn Art Haus, Dixon Place, Green Space, Inspiration Point, IRT Theater, New Perspectives Studio, Noosphere Arts (Noo Arts), QED Astoria, St. Lydia's, and The Little Victory Theatre as recipients of this year's The Little Venue That Could Program.

Pianist Sullivan Fortner has been named the recipient of The Gilmore's inaugural 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award. The Award was announced at a special ceremony held at The Jerome L. Greene Space in New York City.

The New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) in San Francisco has announced that longtime collaborator Ben Villegas Randle will become its next Artistic Director in January 2026.

The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts have announced two senior leadership appointments: Dr. Kobie Smith as Chief Philanthropy Officer and Jamie Shover as Vice President of Information Technology.

The Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival (PSYPF), which promotes and encourages theatrical creative writing among elementary, middle, and high school students within Riverside County, has announced that it is now accepting submissions for the 9th Annual Palm Springs Young Playwrights Festival.

​The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts will welcome Tyler Henry Hollywood Medium for an incredible live show. Learn more and see how to purchase tickets here.

Review: & JULIET — A Pop-Fuelled Blast of Heart, Humour, and Girl Power, PACA Productions’ staging of & JULIET bursts onto the Riverside Theatre stage with infectious energy, flair, and wit

Ariana Grande has shared a behind-the-scenes video featuring her and Cynthia Erivo rehearsing Glinda's iconic 'Popular' from the film, complete with choreography. Check it out here and see if you can learn along.

ThinkTank Theatre values its role in fostering awareness, supporting new participants, and highlighting the impact of gun violence on communities through professionally staged, teen-written plays. Artistic Director Georgia Mallory Guy emphasizes the unique local spirit brought to the Tampa Bay staging and hopes the event inspires audiences to move beyond complacency and become advocates for change.

Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl dropped on October 3rd, and it includes plenty of references—some explicit and some ambiguous—to real showgirls throughout history. Many of these women have a Broadway past worth exploring that adds new context to Swift’s songs.

Amid the U.K. and Europe leg of her completely sold-out tour, Ethel Cain has added a 2026 North American leg to her Willoughby Tucker Forever run. The new shows include two hometown appearances at The Moon in Tallahassee and dates across the Midwest and Southeast.

As the fight for women to have equal rights and opportunities has evolved, so has the presence of plays telling these stories. When I wrote my book, Women Writing Musicals: The Legacy that the History Books Left Out, the first-ever book about female musical theatre writers, I researched many musicals that are in this genre as well.

Narrative ballet is hard, so anyone willing to go there deserves a medal regardless of the outcome. The Royal Ballet (mainstage) season opened last night with Christopher Wheeldon's 2022 Like Water for Chocolate. Based on the 1989 Laura Esquivel novel of the same name, the ballet is fundamentally a love story, and includes all the trials and tribulations that often come with it - with a heavy dose of mysticism and culinary explorations.

The Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach has named Kelly Williams its new Board Chair. Williams, CEO of the Williams Legacy Foundation and a recognized leader in the financial services industry, began her three-year term on September 29, 2025.