Photo by Matthew Murphy
Visit DC theaters for these can’t-miss performances
Make sure to mark your calendar with this array of highly anticipated productions set to debut across DC. Read up on other seasonal events, festivals and free things to do as well.
The Sound of Music – Sept. 9 – Oct. 5
The Kennedy Center stages a production of one of the great musicals with three-time Tony Award® winner Jack O’Brien as director. The Sound of Music transports the audience to the hills of Austria for unforgettable songs and a tale of resilience, love and resistance.
Tickets
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20566
Damn Yankees – Sept. 9 – Nov. 9
The minds behind this new adaptation of an American classic include Lortel Award winner Will Power, Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Wright and Tony Award winners Lynn Ahrens and Sergio Trujillo. From its pure love of baseball to its femme fatale and fateful pact with the Devil, Damn Yankees promises to be a crowd-pleaser at Arena Stage.
Tickets
Arena Stage, 1101 6th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024
Merry Wives – Sept. 10 – Oct. 5
Shakespeare Theatre Company hosts the regional premiere of a hilarious take on one of The Bard’s most famous farces. The infamous Falstaff is dropped into modern Harlem low on money and decides to pursue the purses of two West African wives. Schemes are launched to thwart the prospective thief and plenty of hilarity ensues.
Tickets
Harman Hall, 610 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20004
The Great Privation – Sept. 11 – Oct. 12
Timelines jump and collide in this innovative production at Woolly Mammoth Theatre. The Great Privation shows a mother and daughter guarding the grave of their husband and father to prevent resurrectionists from tampering with it, circa 1832. On the same grounds in the present, another mother and daughter are summer camp counselors. The two stories intersect in fascinating ways.
Tickets
Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D Street NW, Washington, DC 20004
Ford's Theatre
The American Five – Sept. 19 – Oct. 12
Ford’s Theatre treats audiences to a stage production that depicts five civil rights icons – including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – in the process of planning the March on Washington and crafting King’s legendary “I Have A Dream” speech. In the face of intimidation, life threats, surveillance and immense public pressure, the group forms a coalition and creates a defining moment in American history.
Tickets
Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004
Signature Theatre Company
Strategic Love Play – Sept. 23 – Oct. 9
Signature Theatre Company delivers a biting new satire from Succession writer Miriam Battye that skewers the world of online dating. When a man and a woman meet for a date after matching, a first date never to be forgotten quickly ensues.
Tickets
Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Julius X – Sept. 23 – Oct. 26
Renaissance man Al Letson reimagines one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies through the story of civil rights leader Malcolm X. Letson – an award-winning writer, journalist and podcast host – teams with director Nicole Brewer for a production that reflects the timelessness of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and examines the fascinating life of a revolutionary.
Tickets
Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol Street SE, Washington, DC 20003
Studio Theatre
The Heart Sellers – Opens in Sept.
Studio Theatre dives deep into the immigrant experience with this new play from writer Lloyd Suh and director Danilo Gambini. It’s Thanksgiving Day in 1973 when Filipino immigrant Luna meets the South Korean Jane in a near-empty grocery store. The two decide to celebrate the holiday together, eventually discussing their homesickness, their pursuit of the American dream, Soul Train and much more in this intimate production.
Tickets
Studio Theatre, 1501 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005
Photo by Roman Novitsky
The Stuttgart Ballet: Onegin – Oct. 8-12
For the first time in decades, The Stuttgart Ballet returns to the Kennedy Center with a bold and beautiful production of Onegin. Based on an Alexander Pushkin narrative poem from 1825, the ballet deals in an unrequited love between the reserved Tatiana and the globe-trotting Onegin. Expect soaring duets, sky-high emotions and plenty of technical mastery in this timeless classic.
Tickets
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20566
Fremont Ave. – Oct. 8 – Nov. 23
A daring production at Arena Stage pits three generations of Black men against each other in a game of Spades. At the center is the family’s matriarch, who’s equal parts beloved and feared. Raw and emotional, what begins as a night at the card table turns into a powerful reckoning with masculinity, identity and family secrets.
Tickets
Arena Stage, 1101 6th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024
The Wild Duck – Oct. 18 – Nov. 16
Henrik Ibsen’s timeless drama comes to Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre for a special fall engagement guided by Artistic Director Simon Godwin. A wealthy businessman’s son aims to destroy his friend’s life while a young girl tries to protect an innocent creature from the ugly truth of the world.
Tickets
Klein Theatre, 450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004
Photo by Todd Rosenberg
Aida – Oct. 24 – Nov. 2
Giuseppe Verdi’s legendary opera is staged with hieroglyphic and calligraphy-inspired sets in a new production at the Kennedy Center. Featuring Verdi’s epic music along with dynamic dance sequences, an unforgettable Triumphal Scene and a love triangle at its very center, Aida is not to be missed this fall.
Tickets
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20566
Signature Theatre Company
Fiddler on the Roof – Nov. 4 – Jan. 25, 2026
The welcoming environs of Signature Theatre are the perfect setting for a beautiful staging of this iconic musical. Fiddler on the Roof concerns Jewish milkman Tevye and his community in Czarist Russia as they deal with rising anti-Semitism and a world quickly changing around them. Legendary songs include “Sunrise, Sunset” “If I Were a Rich Man” and “Matchmaker”.
Tickets
Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206
ho ho ho ha ha ha – Nov. 12 – Dec. 21
Julia Masli’s award-winning show that changes literally every night returns to Woolly Mammoth Theatre with a special festive edition. The audience’s problems are invited to the stage and wow, does Masli have some surprising and hilarious solutions. Prepare to see a production unlike any you’ve ever seen.
Tickets
Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D Street NW, Washington, DC 20004
The National Theatre
The Life and Music of George Michael – Nov. 15
Few pop stars in history have scaled the global heights of George Michael, from his emergence as part of WHAM! to a decades-long solo career packed with unforgettable songs and moments. Attendees of this epic, one-night-only show at The National Theatre are sure to be dancing in the aisles as they experience Michael’s music like never before, from “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” to “Careless Whisper” to “Freedom” to “Faith” and many, many more.
7:30 p.m. | Tickets
The National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
Hadestown – Opens Nov. 18
Winner of eight Tony Awards in 2019 (including Best Musical), Hadestown is a vibrant musical experience that blends two mythic tales into a hair-raising voyage into the underworld. Expect an energetic ensemble of dancers and singers as your imagination is swept up in the tales of Orpheus and Eurydice and King Hades and his wife, Persephone.
Tickets
The National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
Photo by Matthew Murphy
Some Like It Hot – Opens Nov. 25
Take a trip back to Prohibition-era Chicago and join two musicians in a fantastic musical adventure. After the duo witnesses a mob hit, they must run for their lives in a colorful production that combines comedy, action, song and dance. The show won more theater awards than any in its season and was named Best Musical by the Drama Desk, The Drama League and the Outer Critics Circle.
Tickets
The National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
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