Beyond the lights of the Broadway and Off-Broadway scene, there are countless regional venues mounting high-quality productions each year to the delight of fans across the country. Below, find out which beloved musicals, intriguing plays, and world premiere works will be performed during newly announced 2019–2020 seasons around America.
Arden Theatre (Philadelphia, PA)
Ragtime will kick off the Arden Theatre’s season in September, followed by the world premiere of My General Tubman by local playwright Lorene Cary. The play explores the life of Harriet Tubman and the impact the African-American 19th century hero still has today. Later, the Tennessee Williams’ classic A Streetcar Named Desire will be performed, while Once on this Island finishes up the season in May 2020.
Learn more about the 2019–2020 season at ArdenTheatre.org.
Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.)
The 70th season at Arena will include three world premieres. Right to Be Forgotten, by Sharyn Rothstein, a play about the impacts of social media and big business, will debut in October. The following month marks the premiere of Ken Ludwig's Dear Jack, Dear Louise, about two strangers who form a relationship by letter during World War II. Lastly, a look at Fidel Castro’s relationship with his most trusted adviser, is explored in Eduardo Machado's Celia and Fidel.
The season begins with the Holland Taylor-penned Ann in July with Jayne Atkinson as Texan governor Ann Richards, followed by August Wilson’s Jitney. Later, audiences can catch Disney's Newsies, Octavio Solis' Mother Road (a co-production with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival), A Thousand Splendid Suns, and August Wilson’s Seven Guitars. Concluding the season is Lydia Diamond’s Toni Stone, which plays Off-Broadway later this year.
To read more about these works, visit ArenaStage.org.
Argyle Theatre (Babylon, NY)
The Long Island venue has announced the full cast and creative team for The Producers, the final production in its inaugural season. Leading the company are Jason Simon as Max Bialystock, Richard LaFleur as Leo Bloom, Cody Marcukaitis as Franz Liebkind, Gina Milo as Ulla, Jon J. Peterson as Carmen Ghia, and John Salvatore as Roger De Bris. Artistic director Evan Pappas helms the staging of the Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan comedy, with Jeffrey Lodin serving as music director and Antoinette DiPietropolo as choreographer.
The theatre's recently announced 2019–2020 season launches in May with Million Dollar Quartet, followed by Legally Blonde, The Full Monty, Miracle on 34th Street, The Little Mermaid, and Cabaret.
For tickets and more, visit ArgyleTheatre.com.
Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, MN)
Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie begins the Guthrie’s season in September, followed by Steel Magnolias and Noura, the story of an immigrant in New York City loosely based on A Doll’s House.
Later in the season, Twelfth Night, Euripides’ The Bacchae, Emma, and the switched-at-birth comedy Destiny of Desire will be performed. The venue will finish the year with Cabaret and and Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer-winning Sweat.
More details are available at GuthrieTheater.org.
Signature Theatre (Alexandria, VA)
The Signature Theatre has announced the full cast and crew for its upcoming production of Grand Hotel. Starring as Elizaveta Grushinskaya is Natascia Diaz, who recently appeared in the Encores! presentation of the musical at New York City Center.
On stage with Diaz will be Bobby Smith, Nicki Elledge, Nkrumah Gatling and Ben Gunderson. Eric Schaeffer directs and Kelly Crandall D’Amboise choreographs the production.
Performances run April 2–May 19.
Trinity Repertory Company (Providence, Rhode Island)
The Prince of Providence, a world premiere play about former Providence Mayor (and eventual convicted felon) Buddy Cianci, kicks off the New England theatre’s season in the fall.
Prior to that is the venue’s annual bilingual production of a Shakespearean play. This year, Mucho Ruido y Pocas Nueces/Much Ado About Nothing will be performed.
Rounding out the season are productions of Fade, August Wilson’s Radio Golf, A Tale of Two Cities, Sweat, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in addition to a holiday run of A Christmas Carol.
Go to TrinityRep.org to learn more about the theatre’s 2019–2020 season.
Writers Theatre (Chicago, IL)
Writers Theatre will kick off its 2019–2020 season with Into the Woods, running August 14–September 22; Gary Griffin (Broadway's Honeymoon in Vegas) will direct. The lineup also includes two plays recently seen Off-Broadway—Eleanor Burgess' The Niceties and Anna Ziegler's The Last Match—and the Manual Cinema performance piece Mementos Mori.
Learn more about the complete season at WritersTheatre.org.
ZACH Theatre (Austin, TX)
Celebrated playwright Terrence McNally’s Fire and Air has been reworked into Immortal Longings and will debut at the ZACH Theatre this summer. Casting will be announced at a later date.
McNally, a four-time Tony winner, wrote the books for Ragtime and The Kiss of a Spider Woman, among others.
The play, exploring the life of Russian impresario Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes, debuted under its original title as Classic Stage Company in February 2018 with a cast that included Douglas Hodge, James Cusati-Moyer, and the late Marin Mazzie.
