Community Theatre: Consider These Plays & Musicals 2026

The fall season is underway! If you’re looking for great shows to round out your theatre’s calendar, check out this companion piece to Community Theatre: Your 2026 Guide to Season Planning. Here, we’re offering a smart sampling of plays and musicals ranging from long-standing classics to cutting-edge new works, all geared towards a community theatre audience.

PLAYS

26 Pebbles by Eric Ulloa (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 2m)
Similar in style to The Laramie Project, 26 Pebbles is a heartbreaking and riveting docudrama. Playwright Eric Ulloa conducted interviews with members of the community in Newtown and crafted them into an exploration of gun violence and a small town shaken by a horrific event. 

A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie, adapted by Leslie Darbon (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 7w, 5m)
An announcement in the local paper states the time and place of an imminent murder. When an unknown visitor to Miss Blacklock’s Victorian home dies under the prescribed circumstances, Miss Marple turns up to solve the case. 

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 6w, 6m)
Tennessee Williams’ explosive and groundbreaking drama ranks as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century: stunning, challenging and emotionally devastating to this day. 

Accomodation by Greg Burdick (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 1m)
Taking on generational shifts in America’s expectations for education, parenting and teaching, this provocative play questions how we do or do not protect our students. When the mother of a gifted athlete meets with his guidance counselor to discuss accommodations for his learning disability, life-altering conflicts arise.

Agnes of God by John Pielmeier (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w)
In this taut, compelling three-character drama, a court-appointed psychiatrist visits a convent to assess the sanity of a novice accused of murdering her newborn. The Mother Superior’s defensive response further arouses her suspicions. As this gripping and dynamic play leads to a climax, all three women must re-examine the meaning of faith.

Always a Bridesmaid by Jones Hope Wooten (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 6w)
In this hilarious comedic romp, four friends have sworn to keep the promise they made on the night of their senior prom: to be in each other’s weddings – no matter what. More than 30 years later, these Southern friends-for-life are still making “the long walk” for each other, determined, despite their glaring differences, to honor that vow. 

Amadeus by Peter Shaffer (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 12m)
A blockbuster hit in the West End, on Broadway and on film, Peter Shaffer’s passionately powerful and darkly funny play explores jealousy, genius and mediocrity through the eyes of the genteel composer Antonio Scalieri, a contemptuous rival to the boorish but ingeniously talented young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. An opulent and entertaining drama bursting with passion, rivalry, ambition and divine inspiration.

Amy and the Orphans by Lindsey Ferrentino (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 2m)
When their 85-year-old father dies, sparring siblings Maggie and Jake must break the bad news to their sister Amy, who has Down syndrome and has lived in a state home for years. Along the way, the pair find out just how much they don’t know about their family and each other. Also available for a gender-swapper actor as Andy and the Orphans (US/UK).

2023 Second Stage Theater production of Appropriate (Joan Marcus)

Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 3m, 1 any gender youth)
In their family’s decaying plantation mansion in Arkansas, three adult children sort through a lifetime of hoarded mementos and junk as they collide over clutter, debt and a disturbing family history. But after a shocking revelation about their father’s past, the reunion takes a turn for the explosive, unleashing a series of crackling surprises and confrontations. 

August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson by August Wilson (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 5m)
In Wilson’s powerful and haunting drama, an American family struggles to improve their lives while respecting their ancestors. It’s 1936, and Boy Willie wants to sell the antique piano that sits in his sister Berniece’s living room. But she refuses because the piano is covered with beautiful carvings detailing the family’s rise from slavery. As the siblings argue, spirits from the past arise to make their intentions known.  

Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist by Jeffrey Hatcher (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 8m)
London. 1610. It’s plague time, and a servant and his two con artist co-conspirators are ready and willing to fleece hordes of greedy and terrified Londoners. It’s comic gold with dupes, double-dupes, duels, disguises and a lucky flea named Lewis.

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, adapted by Martin Crimp (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 10m)
In Martin Crimp’s radical new adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s masterwork, Cyrano seduces in raps and rhymes, using his linguistic brilliance to help another man win the heart of his one true love. This theatrical tour-de-force captures timeless passion through spoken word, contemporary poetry and raw physicality. 

Dorothy’s Dictionary by E.M. Lewis (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 1m)
In this touching and inspirational two-hander, sparks fly when Zan, an angry high school student, works off his community service assignment by helping Dorothy, an ailing librarian. Each of them might just have what the other needs… if they can only find the words. This wonderful character study reminds audiences in a time of technology-overwhelm that human connection – and books! – still matter. 

Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4w, 2m)
This hilarious and timely comedy won the 2025 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. The Eureka Day School in Berkeley, California, is a bastion of progressive ideals: representation, acceptance, social justice. When a mumps outbreak threatens the Eureka community, facts become subjective and every solution divisive, leaving the school’s leadership to ask: How do you build consensus when no one can agree on truth?

Fallen Angels by Noël Coward (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
Best friends now happily married to others, Julia and Jane both once counted the dashing Frenchman Maurice as their lover. Guess who’s back in town and requesting the pleasure of the ladies’ company? Coward at his inimitable best, this story is a champagne cocktail of wit and charm. 

Four Old Broads by Leslie Kimbell (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 6w, 1m)
For retired burlesque queen Beatrice, her best friend Eaddy, and their neighbors Imogene and Maude, things have not been very pleasant at Magnolia Place Assisted Living since Nurse Pat Jones began working there. A mystery unfolds with laughter as the gals try to outsmart the evil nurse, figure out why so many residents have been moved to “the dark side,” and uncover what happened to Doctor Head. The sequels Four Old Broads on the High Seas (US/UK) and The Miss Magnolia Senior Citizen Beauty Pageant (US/UK) as well as the festive The Four Old Broads Christmas Extravaganza (US/UK) are also available for licensing. 

Greater Tuna by Jaston Williams, Ed Howard and Joe Sears (US)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2 any gender)
What do Arles Struvie, Thurston Wheelis, Aunt Pearl, Petey Fisk, Phineas Blye and Reverend Spikes have in common? In this hilarious send-up of small-town morals and mores, they are all among the upstanding citizens of Tuna, Texas’ third-smallest town. Also available: A Tuna Christmas (US).

Heroes of the Fourth Turning by Will Arbery (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 2m)
On a chilly night in the middle of America, four young conservatives gather in a backyard to toast their mentor’s induction as president of a tiny Catholic college. As their reunion spirals into spiritual chaos and clashing generational politics, it becomes less a celebration and more a vicious fight to be understood. A haunting play that speaks to the heart of a country at war with itself with grace and disarming clarity.

How Black Mothers Say I Love You by Trey Anthony (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w)
A powerful and touching tale of immigration, family and sacrifice. Hard-working Daphne left her two young daughters in Jamaica for six years to create a better life for them in America. Now, 30 years later, proud and private, Daphne is relying on church and her nearby dutiful daughter to face a health crisis, and the arrival of feisty activist Claudette stirs up family ghosts and the burning desire for unconditional love. 

2024 Manhattan Theatre Club production of Eureka Day (Jeremy Daniel)

JOB by Max Wolf Friedlich (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 1m)
Jane, an employee at the big tech company (you know the one), has been placed on leave after becoming the subject of a viral video. She arrives in the office of a crisis therapist – Loyd – determined to be reinstated to the job that gives her life meaning. This psychological thriller zooms in on two careerists of different generations, genders and political paradigms to examine what it means to be a citizen of the internet and our obligation to help the people who need it most.

Ken Ludwig’s Lady Molly of Scotland Yard by Ken Ludwig (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 4m)
You know Holmes and Watson. You know Nick and Nora. Now, meet Peg and Molly, two brilliant detectives from Scotland Yard. A simple murder investigation leads Molly and Peg deep into the British WWII effort, launching a high-octane, laugh-out-loud race against time. Saving the world has never been so much fun. 

Ken Ludwig’s Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood by Ken Ludwig (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 6m)
Packed with thrills, romance, laughter and immortal characters like Little John, Friar Tuck and Maid Marian, Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood tells the enduring story of a hero of the people who takes on the ruthless powers that be. So get ready to duck a quarterstaff or two – you won’t want to miss a moment of the swashbuckling fun!

Ken Ludwig’s The Game’s Afoot by Ken Ludwig (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5w, 3m)
It is December 1936, and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play Sherlock Holmes, has invited his fellow cast members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. Also known as Holmes for the Holidays, this wild and funny ride leads audiences from one tantalizing clue to another in a great alternative to your standard holiday entertainment.

Les Blancs (The Whites) by Lorraine Hansberry (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 8m, 5 any gender, 1 boy or girl)
Winner of the Best American play of 1970, Les Blancs prophetically confronts the hope and tragedy of Africa in revolution. In a white Christian mission in a colony about to explode, the English-educated son of a chief comes home to bury his father. He finds his teenage brother a near alcoholic and his older brother a priest and traitor to his people. Forswearing politics, he is drawn into the conflict, pursued by a woman dancer representing the powerful Spirit of Africa.

Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman, based on the myths of Ovid (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 5w, 5m + ensemble)
Called by Time the “theatre event of the year,” Zimmerman’s brilliant play brings Ovid’s tales to stunning visual life. Often (though not necessarily) set in and around a large pool of water onstage, this arresting drama juxtaposes the ancient and the contemporary to reflect the variety and persistence of narrative in the face of inevitable change.

Mlima’s Tale by Lynn Nottage (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 3m)
In this unique and moving play from two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, Mlima is a magnificent elephant trapped by the underground international ivory market. As he follows a trail littered by a history of greed, he journeys through memory, fear, tradition and the destruction that follows in its wake.

Nana’s Naughty Knickers by Katherine DiSavino (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5w, 3m, 1 any gender)
Bridget and her grandmother are about to become roommates. However, her sweet grandma is running an illegal boutique from her apartment, selling handmade naughty knickers to every senior citizen in the five-borough area! Will Bridget be able to handle all the excitement? Will her nana get arrested – or worse – evicted? The sequel Nana Does Vegas (US/UK) is also available for licensing.

Our Town (Bilingual) by Thornton Wilder with translated passages by Michel Hausmann (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 7w, 10m)
Thornton Wilder’s iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning play is reimagined for the 21st century in this new English/Spanish translation. In this bilingual version, Emily and the Webb family speak Spanish at home and English with their neighbors, some of whom also speak Spanish. The Stage Manager, the Gibbs family, and most other characters speak English only. The play’s stage directions are written in English, and an English translation is provided for all dialogue in Spanish.  

2023 Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of POTUS (Michael Brosilow)

POTUS by Selina Fillinger (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 7w)
An uproarious Broadway hit, POTUS Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive is a riotous comedy about the women in charge of the man in charge of the free world. When the President unwittingly spins a PR nightmare into a global crisis, the seven brilliant and beleaguered women he relies upon most risk life, liberty and the pursuit of sanity to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble.  

Ripcord by David Lindsay-Abaire (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 3w, 3m)
A seemingly harmless bet between two senior living residents escalates into a dangerous game of one-upmanship in this wickedly funny play. When cantankerous Abby is forced to share her quarters with new arrival Marilyn, she has no choice but to get rid of the infuriatingly chipper woman by any means necessary.

Rumors by Neil Simon (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5w, 5m)
In Simon’s crowd-pleasing hit, the Deputy Mayor of New York has just shot himself in a large, tastefully appointed townhouse. Though it’s only a flesh wound, Ken Gorman’s self-inflicted injury sets off a series of events causing four couples to experience a severe attack of Farce. As the confusions and miscommunications mount, the evening spins off into classic farcical hilarity. 

Shakespeare in Love by Lee Hall, Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 6w, 18m)
Based on the Academy Award-winning film, this enchanting, hilarious, romantic stage play reimagines William Shakespeare’s creative process – and explores his inspiration – as he writes Romeo and Juliet. A special High School Edition (US/UK) for high school performers and audiences is also available. 

Sweet Bird of Youth by Tennessee Williams (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 7w, 15m)
This dark exploration of youth and fame follows Chance Wayne, a hustler who was once the heartthrob of his hometown, and an aging Hollywood actress who’s taking refuge from the reaction to her latest screen disaster. The role of Alexandra del Lago – traveling incognito as Princess Kosmonopolis – is a strong role for a mature actress to showcase her dramatic abilities. For more strong leading women in Tennessee Williams plays, consider The Night of the Iguana (US/UK) or The Rose Tattoo (US/UK).

The Cemetery Club by Ivan Menchell (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 1m)
In this heartwarming dramatic comedy, three Jewish widows meet once a month for tea before going to visit their husbands’ graves. Sweet-tempered Ida is ready to begin a new life, Lucille just wants to have fun, and Doris is priggish and judgmental – particularly when Sam the butcher enters the scene, sparking a potential romance with Ida. 

The Cottage by Sandy Rustin (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
Sylvia and Beau find themselves in an English countryside cottage for their yearly rendezvous. When their spouses unexpectedly arrive at the cottage, she realizes that this home-away-from-home offers a new path forward. With a tip of the hat to Noël Coward and sex comedies of the past, this six-actor farce features endless laughs, hilarious twists, daring physical comedy and a happy ending for lovers everywhere. 

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 7m)
In this thrilling stage adaptation of Dan Brown’s international phenomenon, Professor Robert Langdon is called to the Louvre in the dead of night, where he unwittingly becomes the center of a murder investigation. Suddenly, he and cryptologist Sophie Neveu must race against time to clear his name and decipher a labyrinthine code before a shocking historical secret is lost forever.

The Girl on the Train by Rachel Wagstaff, Duncan Abel and Paula Hawkins (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 4m)
This new stage adaptation based on Paula Hawkins’ international bestseller and the blockbuster film is a gripping mystery/suspense thriller. Longing for a better life, Rachel Watson looks through the train window every day, watching a young couple, seemingly happy and in love. When the woman she’s been watching suddenly disappears, Rachel is caught up in a thrilling mystery revealing more than she could ever have anticipated. 

The Grown-Ups by Simon Henriques and Skylar Fox (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 3w, 2m)
Following a group of camp counselors trying to mold the leaders of tomorrow when tomorrow is looking bleaker and bleaker, The Grown-Ups explores the traditions that change us, what it takes for us to change them, and how to change yourself when you’re hopelessly, tragically not prepared for this.

The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 7w, 9m)
Wilder’s uproarious farce about love and money stars the irrepressible busybody Dolly Gallagher Levi, who inspired the Broadway musical Hello, Dolly!  Through Dolly’s subtle machinations, several unlikely couples come together to find happiness in 19th-century New York. 

The Mirror Crack’d by Agatha Christie (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 7w, 4m)
In 1960s England, in the sleepy village of St. Mary Mead, a glamorous American film star has bought the Manor House. Miss Jane Marple, confined to a chair after an accident, wonders if life has passed her by. When a vicious murder occurs, Miss Marple must unravel a web of lies, tragedy and danger.

The Revlon Girl by Neil Anthony Docking (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 5w)
Eight months after the Aberfan Disaster of 1966, in which 144 people were killed (116 of them children), a group of bereaved mothers meet weekly above a local hotel to talk, cry and even laugh without feeling guilty. In the vulnerability of these meetings, the women admit how much they’ve let themselves go and secretly arrange for a representative from Revlon to come and give them a talk on beauty tips in this “remarkably warm, sorrowful and at times even funny drama about survivors, small-town bickering and make-up” (The Independent).

2023 Broadway production of The Shark Is Broken (Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)

The Shark Is Broken by Joseph Nixon and Ian Shaw (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 3m)
In this behind-the-scenes comedy, Jaws stars Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider take center stage as they bond, argue, drink, gamble and pray for an end to the film shoot, not knowing it will change their lives forever. 

The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 3w)
A whirlwind tour of a forbidden zone, this Obie Award-winning play features personal monologues from women of various ages, races and sexualities. With honesty, humor and pathos, The Vagina Monologues explores consensual and non-consensual sexual experiences, body image, genital mutilation, sexual reproduction, menstruation, prostitution and other topics to be brought to life by three women onstage.

The White Chip by Sean Daniels (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 2m)
Told with humor and compassion, The White Chip is about living with addiction and coming alive through recovery. Despite spending more time drunk than sober, Steven McAlister has managed to graduate from college, get married, and thrive in a dream job at a prestigious regional theatre. It’s a careful balancing act, and he keeps it all together – until it all falls apart.

This Much I Know by Jonathan Spector (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 2m)
Jumping through space and time, this brilliant new drama explores decisions, control, power and understanding. Juxtaposing the experiences of contemporary professor Lukesh, his estranged wife, and his student (the son of a white supremacist) with the story of Stalin’s daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva, This Much I Know explores how a person changes their mind, if we are responsible for things we can’t control, and whether something that was once submerged can still float.

Tiny Beautiful Things by Nia Vardalos and Cheryl Strayed (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 3 any gender)
When a struggling writer is asked to take over the unpaid, anonymous position of advice columnist, she uses empathy and her personal experiences to help those seeking guidance for obstacles both large and small. This inspiring play is about reaching when you’re stuck, healing when you’re broken, and finding the courage to take on the questions that have no answers. 

True West by Sam Shepard (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 1w, 3m)
This well-known American classic and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama explores alternatives that might spring from the demented terrain of the California landscape when sons of a desert-dwelling alcoholic and a suburban wanderer clash over a film script. Shepard’s masterwork features two compelling, layered roles for its leading men, playing brothers Austin and Lee.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang (US)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 4w, 2m)
In this riotous comedy, siblings Vanya and Sonia live a quiet life in the family farmhouse in Pennsylvania caring for their parents. Their peaceful routine is disrupted when their movie star sister, Masha, visits for the weekend with her young lover, Spike, and announces her plans to sell their childhood home. A weekend of rivalry, regret and raucousness follows.

Waiting in the Wings by Noël Coward (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 14w, 4m)
Coward’s tribute to theatre is set in a retirement home for actresses, all former stars. Jealousies abound, especially between Lotta and another actress who was also married to her former husband. A tragedy brings them to their senses, and a new solarium brings out everyone’s good nature. In the end, Lotta chooses to stay with her old friends rather than go live with her son. 

What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 1m, 1 girl)
Heidi Schreck’s boundary-breaking play breathes new life into the U.S. Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans. Fifteen-year-old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful and achingly human new play, she resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives. 

What to Send Up When It Goes Down by Aleshea Harris (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 4m)
A community ritual created in response to the deaths of Black people as a result of racialized violence. As lines between characters and actors – as well as observers and observed – blur, a dizzying series of vignettes builds to a climactic moment in which performance and reality collide, highlighting the absurdity of anti-Blackness in our society. Through facilitation and dialogue, we must decide how to cope, resist and move forward.

Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 9m)
This Agatha Christie classic is a thrilling courtroom drama of murder and passion in three acts. Leonard Vole stands accused of murdering a rich widow. The stakes are high with shocking witness testimony, impassioned outbursts from the dock and a young man’s fight to escape the hangman’s noose. Widely regarded as one of Christie’s most accomplished plays, this suspenseful thriller keeps audiences guessing until the very end.

You Make My Frame Shake by Luigi Jannuzzi (US/UK)
(Collection of Short Plays, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
Twelve charming romances come to life at the Metropolitan Museum of Art – everyone from tour guides and curators to statues and fertility gods thrill with their troubles of the heart in this fast-paced series of vignettes. Using a variety of theatrical styles and rhythms on a single set, the play can be done with three women and three men or up to 40 actors.

MUSICALS

2016 Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Chad Batka)

42nd Street by Harry Warren, Al Dubin, Michael Stewart, Mark Bramble & Bradford Ropes (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 7w, 6m + ensemble)
The ultimate show-biz musical! 42nd Street celebrates Broadway, Times Square and the people who make the magic of musical theatre. This toe-tapping stage spectacle was adapted from the 1933 film directed by Lloyd Bacon. 

A Taste of Things to Come by Debra Barsha and Hollye Levin (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 4w)
A laugh-out-loud, fabulously fun romp exploring women’s history and celebrating the friendships of four very different women from middle America. In 1957, four friends enter a Betty Crocker Cooking Contest in hopes of changing their lives. When they meet up again in 1967, they get more than what they bargained for… just a little taste of things to come. The show’s original score reflects the chart-topping songs from the 50s & 60s, incorporating the pop, soul, folk and R&B grooves of the era. 

Cheek to Cheek: Irving Berlin in Hollywood by Irving Berlin, Barry Kleinbort and Randy Skinner (US/UK)
(Musical Revue, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
This charming musical revue, featuring some of Irving Berlin’s starriest hits, celebrates the prolific composer’s glorious dance numbers written specifically for the silver screen. 

Fly By Night by Will Connolly, Michael Mitnick and Kim Rosenstock (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dark Comedy / 2w, 5m)
A star-crossed prophecy. A lot of music. Just not a lot of light. In this darkly comic rock-fable, a melancholy sandwich maker’s humdrum life is intersected by two entrancing sisters. A sweeping ode to young love set against the backdrop of the Northeast blackout of 1965, this is a musical tale about making your way and discovering hope in a world beset by darkness. 

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County by Stephen King and John Mellencamp (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 2w, 6m)
A blues-inflected country score by legend John Mellencamp and a fractured parable from the master of thrills Stephen King combine to create this spooky, cautionary tale. In an eerie cabin in the woods, a young couple comes across its caretaker, the Troubador, who reveals to them an almost biblically violent story that took place in that very house about a pair of brothers and the bitter rivalry that sparked between them.

Gypsy by Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Gypsy Rose Lee (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 6w, 2m + ensemble)
The Mother of All Musicals! This jewel of Broadway’s Golden Age reveals the world of vaudeville and burlesque with an incomparable score, a brilliantly conceived book and one of the greatest leading roles in theatre history. Stage mother Rose will do anything to make her girls stars, but when fearless Baby June quits the act, Rose sets her sights on shy Louise, who blossoms into Gypsy Rose Lee, the most famous stripper in the world. 

Mid-Life! The Crisis Musical by Bob Walton and Jim Walton (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 3w, 3m)
This series of scenes and sketches pokes fun at the frustrations of mammograms, love handles, weekend warriors and proctology exams. The cleverly crafted songs celebrate forgetfulness, reading glasses and menopause but also touch on the sentimental wisdom that the later years afford us. A hilarious romp with an honest humor about the trials and tribulations of the unavoidable aging process. Welcome to Mid-Life! 

Murder for Two by Kellen Blair and Joe Kinosian (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 2 any gender)
One fateful night, shots ring out at the surprise birthday party of Great American Novelist Arthur Whitney, and the writer is killed. With the nearest detective an hour away, Marcus jumps at the chance to prove his sleuthing skills – with the help of his silent partner, Lou. But whodunit? In this hilarious 90-minute show, two performers play 13 roles – not to mention the piano – in a witty and winking homage to old-fashioned murder mysteries. 

Mystic Pizza by Sandy Rustin, Amy Holden Jones & Carmel Dean (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 8w, 8m)
Based on the beloved 1988 MGM romantic comedy, this high-spirited new musical is about three working-class girls who navigate the complexities of life, love and family in a small-town pizza joint. The infectious score features megahits of the 80s and 90s, from “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” to “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” 

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 5w, 5m, 6 any gender)
This award-winning electropop opera is based on a scandalous slice of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Young and impulsive, Natasha Rostova arrives in Moscow to await the return of her fiancé from the front lines. When she falls under the spell of the roguish Anatole, it is up to Pierre, a family friend in the middle of an existential crisis, to pick up the pieces of her shattered reputation. 

Nice Work If You Can Get It by George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin and Joe DiPietro (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5w, 5m + ensemble)
This screwball comedy is a surefire crowd-pleaser with classic Gershwin tunes, romance, exuberant production numbers, and a hilarious script poking fun at class snobbery in the Prohibition era. 

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 5w, 5m)
This musical theatre classic is a stunning tale of hope, redemption and the power of love, all set to one of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s greatest scores. Billy Bigelow, a swaggering, carefree carnival barker, falls in love with and marries the sweet but naive Julie Jordan. But when he makes a desperate and foolish choice to save his family, Billy must come to terms with his mistakes and make amends with his loved ones.

The Marvelous Wonderettes ’58 by Roger Bean (US/UK)
(Short Musical, Comedy / 4w)
Wonderettes ’58 invites you to meet four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts! Plus, make it home by curfew in this one-act, prom-only version of the smash off-Broadway hit. In 1969, the four women reunite in the hilarious and tuneful sequel, The Marvelous Wonderettes: Dream On (US/UK). For still more adventures with the Wonderettes, visit The Wonderettes Collection (US/UK).

Vanities: The Musical by Jack Heifner and David Kirshenbaum (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 3w)
This charming musical celebration of friendship chronicles the life-affirming journey of three vivacious Texas teens from cheerleaders to sorority sisters to housewives to liberated women and beyond. This musical captures a snapshot-sharp portrait of the lives, loves, disappointments and dreams of these young women growing up during the turbulent sixties and seventies and reconnecting in the late 1980s.

For more great ideas, check out Community Theatre: Your 2026 Guide to Season Planning or visit Concord Theatricals in the US or UK.