It’s the time of the season again when theatrical thoughts turn to what’s in store between now and the deluge of “A Christmas Carol” productions.
I’ve culled through the announced season lineups for local theater companies, picked some promising productions (with the caveat that some have either not been cast yet or started rehearsals) and sprinkled that list with some visiting solo acts from the Broadway world.
The result, I hope, is a starter list for you to consider — as well as add to. Happy theatergoing.
Only Smoke Tour: Shoshana Bean
🗓️ 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14
📍 Schrott Center for the Arts, 610 W. 46th St.
🎟️ $73.50-$148.90
Fresh from her award-winning performance in Broadway newcomer “The Lost Boys,” Shoshana Bean offers a concert performance likely to feature songs from her long resume, which includes performances in “Wicked,” “Waitress” and “Hell’s Kitchen.”
“Fun Home”
🗓️ Sept.17-27
📍 Shelton Auditorium, 1000 W. 42nd St.
🎟️ $24.70-$30.90
Who’d have thought that a show based on a biographical graphic novel about a woman processing the death of her funeral home-owning, closeted homosexual father – who died by possible suicide – would turn into one of the best musicals so far this century?
Southbank Theatre Company revives the Tony award-winning Best Musical featuring an outstanding score by Jeanine Tesori and a powerful book by Lisa Kron. If the song “Ring of Keys” doesn’t move you, question your humanity.
Joshua Henry at The Cabaret
🗓️ Sept. 18-19
📍 The Cabaret, 924 N. Pennsylvania St. Suite B
🎟️ $185-$225
Having just knocked out Broadway audiences as Coalhouse Walker, Jr., in the hit revival of “Ragtime,” Joshua Henry returns to the Cabaret for a show mixing theater songs with R&B and funk. Side note: You can also catch his Ragtime costar, Cassie Levy, at the Cabaret Oct. 23-24.
‘PIPPIN‘
🗓️ Sept. 18-Oct. 4
📍 Hedbeck Theatre, 1847 N. Alabama St.
🎟️ $17-$27
Footlite Musical pays a return visit to Stephen Schwartz’s landmark musical about a young man trying to find his corner of the sky. ComedySportz Indianapolis co-founder Edward Trout plays Charlemaine with local theater stalwart Mikki Mathioudakis leading the audience sing-along “Just No Time at All” as Berthe.
‘Memphis‘
🗓️ Sept. 26-27
📍 Basile Theatre at the Athenaeum, 401 E. Michigan St.
🎟️ $20-$25
Urban Theatre and KaidyDid Productions turn the historic Athenaeum into 1950s Memphis for its production of the crowd-pleasing musical about the relationship between a white disc jockey and a Black singer. Joshua Short and Johnnetta Springer lead the cast.
Disney’s ‘The Lion King‘
🗓️ Sept. 30-Oct. 18
📍 Murat Theatre at Old National Centre, 502 N. New Jersey St.
🎟️ $97 and up
Broadway in Indianapolis brings back the national tour of what was once considered a risky attempt to put a Disney intellectual property in the directorial hands of a true theater artist. Now, of course, thanks in large part to director Julie Taymor’s vision, it’s one of the most financially successful creative properties in entertainment history.
‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow‘
🗓️ Oct. 2-11
📍 McGowan Hall, 1305 N. Delaware St.
🎟️ $47.25-$73.50
Dance Kaleidoscope potentially forges a new fall tradition in Indy with this immersive version of the Washington Irving fright classic. If the warnings are to be believed, choreographer/director Joshua L. Peugh, who is the founder of Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, hasn’t shied away from the blood and violence. The piece is suggested only for those 13 and up.
‘The House of Bernarda Alba‘
🗓️ Oct. 7-11
📍 Lilly Hall Studio Theatre, 4741 Clarendon Road E. Drive
🎟️ Free
Looking for something meaty? Vladislavs Nastavševs, Butler University’s 2026 Christel DeHaan Visiting International Theatre Artist, directs an adaptation of Federico García Lorca’s tragic 1936 play about the forced isolation of a mourning family.
‘CATS‘
🗓️ Oct. 8-Nov. 22
📍 Beef & Boards Dinner Theater, 9301 Michigan Road
🎟️ $59.50-$87.50
Sometimes you just want a nice buffet and some singing felines. It will be interesting to see if Beef & Boards sticks with the original look of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical or if it incorporates some of the pizzazz of the recent “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” Broadway revival.
‘The Rocky Horror Show Live‘
🗓️ Oct. 16-31
📍 Basile Theatre at the Athenaeum, 401 E. Michigan St.
🎟️ $20-$40
No, we didn’t forget “Picture” in the title. This is the live stage version that, under the guidance of the Zach&Zack team, has been rocking Indianapolis audiences every few years since 2014. Expect first-rate video segments and a (limited) amount of audience interaction.
‘Kim’s Convenience‘
🗓️ Oct. 20-Nov. 15
📍 Indiana Repertory Theatre, 140 W. Washington St.
🎟️ $27 and up
Before it was a CBS sitcom, “Kim’s Convenience” was a play that debuted at the Toronto Fringe Festival. IRT Live revives the show, which centers on a family-run store in a gentrifying neighborhood. This one’s co-produced with Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre and Oregon’s Portland Stage.
‘The Median Cafe‘
🗓️ Oct. 22-Nov. 25
📍 Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, 705 N. Illinois St.
🎟️ $17-$52
American Lives Theatre produces the latest from playwright Lucy Thurber, who takes audience members into an all-night diner in a play developed with Indianapolis actors. The cast features Ian Cruz, Matt Kraft, Lynne Perkins, Morgan Morton, Joshua Short and Allen Sledge.
‘The War of the Worlds‘
🗓️ 4 p.m. Nov. 21
📍 Indiana Repertory Theatre, 140 W. Washington St.
🎟️ Free-$10
The New Harmony Project brings readings of new work to Indianapolis. Among them this fall is this adaptation of the familiar H.G. Wells tale. With playwright Jessica Huang’s adapting, though, don’t expect the familiar.
‘A Very Phoenix Xmas XVIII: A Miracle on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Street‘
🗓️ Nov; 28-Dec. 20
📍 Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, 705 N. Illinois St.
🎟️ $17-$52
Jamaal McCray, who recently directed “Ain’t No Mo” for Indianapolis Black Theatre Company, penned and will direct this year’s entry in the Phoenix Theatre’s holiday tradition, which usually mixes silliness, sincerity and sentimentality.
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Lou Harry is a Mirror Indy freelance contributor who has been writing about and creating theater in Indianapolis since the mid-1990s. He also hosts the monthly Indy Actors’ Playground play reading series at Indy Reads bookstore.You can reach him at louharrywriter@gmail.com.
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