Season 18 (2025 - 2026)
Welcome to a Season of Hope, Humor & Heart
As we celebrate 18 incredible years at the Playhouse, we invite you to join us for a season that’s bold, thought-provoking, and bursting with heart. Season 18 brings you:
- Powerful stories filled with heart-stopping moments.
- Characters who challenge the status quo.
- Performances that leave you inspired, moved, and wanting more.
- A journey through friendship, artistic legacy, family history, and community survival.
From Black Bottom in Detroit to Bikini Bottom under the sea, this season is one you won’t want to miss. Subscribe today to put your bottom in a seat for Season 18!
a Co-Production with Penumbra Theatre in Saint Paul, MN
September 24 – November 2, 2025
By Dominique Morisseau
Directed by Lou Bellamy
Step into a world of jazz, found family, and the inspiring resilience of a community on the brink.
It’s 1949 and gentrification is threatening Detroit’s Black Bottom, the city’s historic African American neighborhood. Blue, a talented but tormented trumpeter, must decide if he wants to fight to keep his jazz joint, the Paradise Club, alive. When a mysterious woman full of secrets and ulterior motives comes into town everything Blue thought he knew, and his relationships with the people at the heart of the Paradise Club, are thrown into question. Dominique Morisseau’s noir inflected musical drama explores the price of ambition, the weight of history, and what it means to be a people fighting to find their song in a community on the brink.
November 25 – December 31, 2025
By Charles Dickens Adaptation and Original Lyrics by Rick Lombardo Original Music by Anna Lackaff and Rick Lombardo Music Arrangements by Anna Lackaff
Directed by Charles Grant
Celebrate the joy of the Season with Portland's favorite holiday tradition!
This timeless holiday classic returns to the Playhouse, relating the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy and miserly businessman who ultimately experiences redemption. As Scrooge learns the importance of kindness, connection, and love, this heart-filled, musically-infused telling of the story is sure to leave audiences feeling uplifted and inspired. Always a local highlight, A Christmas Carol is a dose of soul-nourishment that is sure to feed you this winter. For those who have made A Christmas Carol a cherished part of your holidays, we can’t wait to have you back at the Playhouse with us. And if you're yet to experience this yuletide tale, this year we invite you to begin a new tradition with us.
February 11 – March 15, 2026
By Pearl Cleage
Directed by Ramona Lisa Alexander
Witness the meeting of two raucous and radical women as they grapple with ambition, the generational divide, and the right to tell their stories.
Anna Campbell shook the theater world decades ago with a radical performance of monologues from August Wilson’s Fences, which came to be known forever as Naked Wilson. It made her a legend – and a pariah. Now, after years in self-imposed exile, she’s back and ready to reclaim her legacy. But instead of the triumphant return she imagined, she finds Pete Watson, a highly ambitious younger actress with an adult entertainment background, preparing to step into Anna’s most famous role. Pearl Cleage’s razor-sharp comedy dives into how friction between generations can lead to a surprising amount of humor and grace, the evolution of feminism, and the art of knowing when to fight for your place and when to pave the way for the next generation.
a Co-Production with Portland Center Stage, performed at The Armory
April 19 – May 17, 2026
By James Ijames
Directed by Charles Grant
Join the barbecue feast for a sharp, witty and hilarious retelling of Hamlet… where the only thing getting roasted is the patriarchy.
A backyard barbecue becomes a simmering cauldron of family tension when Juicy's mother marries his uncle just one week after his father's death. Sound familiar? In this Pulitzer Prize-winning reimagining of Shakespeare's Hamlet, playwright James Ijames brilliantly transforms the sweet prince of Denmark into a queer, Black college student in the American South. In comedy birthed from tragedy, Juicy must decide to avenge his father’s death or stay true to his center. Fat Ham questions identity, family and the cycles of liberation required to become who we truly are.
April 29 – June 28, 2026
Directed by Brian Weaver
Music Direction by Eric Nordin
Choreography by Kemba Shannon
Based on the series by Stephen Hillenburg Book by Kyle Jarrow Musical Production Conceived by Tina Landau Original Songs by Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady A, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants, T.I. And Songs by David Bowie, Tom Kenny & Andy Paley Additional Lyrics by Jonathan Coulton | Additional Music by Tom Kitt
Dive into this irresistible musical adventure, where an unexpected hero, and the power of friendship & community, save the day! It’s fun for the whole family!
The end of the world is coming. At least, that’s what the citizens of Bikini Bottom believe when a volcano threatens to wipe them off the map. As panic spreads and doomsday schemes take hold, one unlikely hero emerges: SpongeBob SquarePants. With the help of his best friends, he sets out to prove that hope, heart, and a little bit of courage can change everything. Propelled by an electrifying score featuring original songs from David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Sara Bareilles, Panic! At the Disco, and Steven Tyler, this Tony Award-winning spectacular transforms the TV hero into a musical explosion you won’t want to miss.
As a Season 18 subscriber, you are at the heart of our community, enjoying the best savings and exclusive perks all season long. Whether you opt for a Preview or Anytime Subscription, you're securing a front-row seat to innovation and excellence in live theatre.
When you subscribe to Season 18, you will:
- Enjoy 15% off regular ticket prices, making each moment more memorable.
- Gain priority access to select your preferred dates before single tickets go on sale to the general public, ensuring your seat for your chosen performance.
- Benefit from no exchange or transaction fees, offering you flexibility and peace of mind.
- Receive 20% off additional single tickets for shows included in your subscription, and 10% off tickets to our annual holiday show – A Christmas Carol (an add-on to the season).
- Take pride in knowing you're investing in a vibrant theatre, contributing to the arts and culture landscape of our local community.
Don't miss out on this season of hope, humor & heart. Subscribe today and be part of something truly extraordinary along with us.
*Single ticket prices for 2025 – 2026: Previews: $27, Regular tickets: $56.95, Access Tickets: $25, Arts for All: $5, BIPOC Performances: Pay What You Wish, starting at $5.
Preview & Regular ticket purchases incur a $3 per ticket processing fee and may be subject to a $5 per ticket processing fee for each exchange.
4-Show Subscriptions include one ticket to: Paradise Blue; Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous; Fat Ham; and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.
3-Show Subscriptions include your choice of one ticket to any 3 of the following shows: Paradise Blue; Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous; Fat Ham; or SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.
Subscriptions cannot be used for multiple tickets to the same production.
Our annual production of A Christmas Carol is not included in Subscription Packages. However, subscribers receive a 10% discount and early access to tickets.
