Theater Preview – March 24, 2026

2026/27 VALLEY THEATER SEASON ANNOUNCEMENTS

2026/27 Valley Theater Season Announcements

By Chris Curcio
Theater Critic

Spring’s arrival brings the 2026/27 season announcements from the Valley’s major theater companies.  So far ASU Gammage’s Broadway series, Arizona Theatre Company (ATC), and The Phoenix Theatre Company (TPTC) have revealed their coming seasons.  Stray Cat Theatre (SCT) awaits the final rights to a play before announcing their season.

As always, Valley theatergoers will see an impressive line-up of eight recent Broadway musicals at ASU Gammage, a five-play ATC season that includes a new piece closing the season, and TPTC will present 11 plays and musicals plus their annual Richard P. Stahl Festival of New American Theatre in their downtown Phoenix three-theater complex.

ASU GAMMAGE

The Tempe home to touring Broadway musicals, ASU Gammage, starts its season with a three-week return engagement of audience favorite “The Phantom of the Opera” (September 16-October 4) in a new staging that will re-create the original London and Broadway productions.  Several recent Broadway hits then arrive beginning with “Water for Elephants” (October 27-November 1).  Based on the best-selling novel about a young man who jumps a train to see what he can learn from a traveling circus as new worlds open up for him.

Best 2024 Tony musical winner “The Outsiders” (January 26-31) is adapted from a novel and an iconic film.  It tells of a Tulsa, Oklahoma guy who with a friend and his family talks about battling rivals.  The show pictures self-discovery while wondering if the world will accept them.

“Operation Mincemeat” (February 23-28), a London and Broadway prize-winner, takes audiences back to 1943 as Allies gamble their futures on a stolen corpse.  Then off to Cuba where Havana nightlife music inspires a woman to change her life in “Buena Vista Social Club” (April 20-25).

“Boop! The Musical” (May 18-23) brings popular cartoon character Betty Boop to life as she dreams of an ordinary day that evolves into a big adventure.  Popular crowd pleaser “The Sound of Music” (June 22-27) returns in a new production about the postulant who marries a widower with a slew of children as they become a singing phenomenon.

The season concludes with “Death Becomes Her” (August 24-29) as two women, one a stunning actress, the other an author who lives in the other woman’s shadow, turn their safe world topsy-turvy when a third woman shows up.

Two shows are season options.  “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical” (December 1-6) brings the holiday classic to life and “Beetlejuice” (January 1-3) based on the beloved film tells the tale of an unusual teenage girl whose life changes when she meets a deceased couple and a demon.  “Beetlejuice” is a returning attraction having played here a couple of seasons ago.

Several recent Broadway hit shows are touring next season but aren’t part of ASU Gammage’s offerings including “The Great Gatsby,” the play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” “Maybe Happy Ending,” “Just in Time,” and “Back to the Future.”  Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, ASU Vice President for Cultural Affairs and Executive Director of ASU Gammage, says “not to worry as these shows may come the following season.”  We will see.

ARIZONA THEATRE COMPANY

The State’s resident theater company performs in both Tucson and Tempe/Phoenix presenting a five-show season that includes three oft-performed plays and a popular musical but concludes with a world premiere play. “Proof” (October 24-November 8) won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony as David Auburn’s drama explores Catherine as she copes with her well-known mathematician’s father’s death.  She proves her own genius and falls in love.  “Proof” is returning to Broadway for a limited engagement beginning March 31 starring Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle.

The musical “Little Shop of Horrors” (January 9-24) is pure escapist fare as it looks at a weird florist where an unusual plant talks and needs human blood as it cavorts among the shop employees.  ATC is co-producing this musical with Utah’s Pioneer Theatre Company.

Then ATC goes backstage as an amateur theater company attempts to stage a tricky murder mystery thriller that goes manically bizarre in “The Play That Goes Wrong” (February 27-March 14).  ATC joins forces with Seattle Rep and Portland Center Stage to produce this wacky comedy.  August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean” (April 10-25) is the first part of Wilson’s American Century Cycle that explores various characters as they search for freedom.

The season ends with the premiere, “Killing Kit: A Shakespeare Murder Mystery” (May 22-June 6).  Audiences will help determine this who-dun-it crime tale that urges William Shakespeare to solve the murder of his rival playwright Christopher Marlowe.

THE PHOENIX THEATRE COMPANY

TPTC plans an eleven-show season including a couple of premieres among its mostly musical theater productions.  Several recent Broadway hits are included.  Starting things off is the musical “Murder for Two” (August 26-September 20 in the Hormel Theatre) that probes a famous murdered novelist and a police officer who interrogates 13 possible suspects all played by a single actor.  The Tony Award-winning musical “Suffs” (October 14-November 29 in the Hormel Theatre) brings to life the true story of women who fought for their voting rights.

Based on the Walt Disney film, “Mary Poppins” (November 18-December 31 in the Stephenson Theatre) shows a charming nanny who brings many tricks and magic to keep her two young charges in check.  The Richard P. Stahl Festival of New American Theatre (December 4-20 in the Hormel Theatre) will workshop premiere works.

“Churchill & Roosevelt: The Christmas that Saved the World” (January 9-March 28 in the Hardes Theatre) will reveal a secret Christmas trip made by Winston Churchill to visit Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, D.C. for a discussion of how World War II would evolve as the leaders share a unique friendship.  “Unlock’d” (January 28-February 21 in the Stephenson Theatre) is a pre-Broadway musical that explores how rival fairies and gnomes dabble in the lives of young royals setting off merriment as this pop show brings a funny story to life.

Next is the comic take on King Arthur and the Round Table Knights as they strive to find the Holy Grail in “Monty Python’s Spamalot” (February 17-May 16 in the Hormel Theatre).  The Stephen Sondheim masterpiece “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ (March 17- April 18 in the Stephenson Theatre) probes a wronged barber who returns to revenge his injustice aided by wacky pie shop owner Mrs. Lovett in the Tony Award winning show which aspires to operatic heights with a memorable score and very dark story.

A new musical “Stage Mother” (May 19-June 20 in the Stephenson Theatre) tells of a small-town church choir director who gains a drag club from her son in a story of discovery and how people can change unexpectedly.  The Tony winning musical “Kimberly Akimbo” (June 16-July 18 in the Hormel Theatre) explores an optimistic teenager who has a rare disease that causes her to age four times faster than normal kids and lets audiences see how unusual challenges can be positive.

TPTC’s season closes with two popular musicals.  “Legally Blonde” (July 14-August 22 in the Stephenson Theatre) explores Elle Woods who goes to Harvard Law School to win back her boyfriend but proves she can handle the challenges of a law career.  “The Fantasticks” (August 11-29 in the Hormel Theatre) is a famous off-Broadway musical about two kids falling in love.

STRAY CAT THEATRE

SCT brings shows not usually produced by the other major theaters but they have not yet secured rights to one show they hope to produce.  Until all shows can be booked, SCT will not yet reveal their season.  Watch for the SCT season announcement in a future Curtain Up Phoenix article.

With 26 plays and musicals announced and four productions still to be revealed, Valley theatergoers will see 30 productions plus community theaters will offer additional shows.