West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park will begin its 17th season this fall.

Submitted

Playhouse on Park is thrilled to announce its 2025-26 season.

Subscription renewals for current subscribers and new subscriber subscriptions have been underway, and individual ticket sales began Monday, Aug. 25. Subscribe to save 20% over individual ticket prices, along with additional perks such as right of first refusal on seats each season, same day/seats guaranteed for every Main Stage show, advanced ticket offers, and invitations to special events/activities, exchanges with no fees, and more.

About the season, Co-Artistic Directors Sean Harris and Darlene Zoller said, “We are thrilled to present this exciting lineup of plays and musicals for our 17th season. Our Mainstage series promises excitement, energy, and unforgettable storytelling! We cannot wait to share our passion for these shows with you!”

We kick off the season with Million Dollar Quartet, the electrifying smash-hit musical that transports us back to 1956 for an impromptu jam session with legends Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash. The fun continues with Gutenberg! The Musical!, a wildly clever and high-energy comedy about two friends attempting to pitch a musical – with hilariously unexpected results.

Next up, The Mountaintop offers a gripping reimagining of the night before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blending realism and symbolism, this play by Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall promises to be a powerful theatrical experience that is not to be missed. We follow with The Lifespan of a Fact, a blisteringly relevant new comedy based on the true story of a fact-checker, a writer, and the high-stakes battle between truth and narrative. Our highly anticipated summer musical, Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, brings the season to a roaring close with a raucous, pulse-pounding tale of 1920s decadence, jazz, danger, and desire.

You can make the most of your subscription by adding our holiday production of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 at the same 20% savings. This moving, true story tells of the remarkable Christmas Day when WWI soldiers laid down their arms and found common humanity in the middle of No Man’s Land. You may recall that this show was scheduled to be produced in December of 2020, but was instead filmed at Auerfarm due to the pandemic. You won’t want to miss this extraordinary play live and in-person this holiday season!

MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux. It’s December 4, 1956. In an extraordinary twist of fate, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley find themselves together at Sun Records in Memphis for what would be one of the greatest jam sessions in history. Million Dollar Quartet boasts powerhouse performances with an incredible score of rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, and country hits, including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Fever,” “Walk the Line,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” and more. MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET runs Sept. 24-Oct. 19, 2025.

ALL IS CALM: THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914 by Peter Rothstein. The Western Front, Christmas, 1914. Out of the violence, a silence, then a song. A German soldier steps into No Man’s Land singing “Stille Nacht.” Thus begins an extraordinary night of camaraderie, music, peace. A remarkable true story, told in the words and songs of the men who lived it. Running Dec. 5-21, 2025.

GUTENBERG! The Musical! by Anthony King and Scott Brown. Get ready to laugh until your cheeks hurt! This wildly clever, high-energy musical spoof takes you on a joyfully absurd ride through one of history’s most unlikely Broadway pitches. Bud and Doug, a pair of aspiring playwrights, perform an audition for investors to fund their new, ill-advised project: a big, splashy musical about none other than the inventor of the printing press – Johann Gutenberg! Armed with hats, props, and unshakable enthusiasm, Bud and Doug perform every role in their crass historical epic with the hope that one of the producers in attendance will give them that elusive Broadway contract. It’s art imitating life imitating art! Running Jan. 21-Feb. 8, 2026.

THE MOUNTAINTOP by Katori Hall. It’s April 3, 1968, and an exhausted Dr. King retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis after delivering one of his most memorable speeches. When a mysterious young maid named Camae delivers room service, the two engage in humorous conversation that progresses into a soul-searching discussion about their mutual hopes and fears. When Camae reveals a secret, King is forced to confront his destiny and his legacy. This Olivier Award-winning play offers an intimate and empathetic portrait of one of history’s most consequential leaders told by one of today’s most important writers, Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall (The Hot Wing King). Running March 4-22, 2026.

THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT by Jeremy Kareken & David Murrell and Gordon Farrell. An eager intern at a top literary magazine is given a career-making assignment: fact-checking a new work by celebrated author John D’Agata, who has just written a groundbreaking magazine essay. But is the story true? When the world’s most neurotically precise fact-checker starts dissecting the author’s work, it begins to split at the seams. As the final deadline looms, hard facts square off against emotional truths in a funny and searing high-stakes showdown. Running April 15-May 3, 2026.

Closing the 2025-2026 season from July 8-Aug. 9, 2026 will be THE WILD PARTY Book, Music, and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa, Based on the Poem by Joseph Moncure March. The Wild Party plunges audiences into the heart of the roaring 1920s, where jazz, lust, and danger collide. Queenie and Burrs are a dysfunctional couple of vaudeville performers whose relationship teeters on the brink. In an attempt to salvage their passion, they throw a lavish, anything-goes party in their Manhattan apartment. The parade of colorful and unpredictable guests includes a provocative stranger who catches Queenie’s eye and ignites Burrs’ jealousy. What begins as a night of carefree indulgence turns into a tense and dangerous game where loyalties are tested, secrets come to light, and relationships spiral out of control. This darkly brilliant show offers a captivating look at the dangers of excess, love, and betrayal, set to a sensational score of jazz, vaudeville, and gospel-inspired music.

PTG, Inc. produces award-winning theatre year-round, including a Main Stage Series consisting of plays and musicals; a Theater for Young Audience Series, which is part of their Literature Alive Field Trip Program; Comedy Nights; Dance; Music; Improv, an extensive educational program, and more.

Managed under the direction of Playhouse Theatre Group (PTG) Inc., Playhouse on Park is Greater Hartford’s award-winning destination for the performing arts. Playhouse on Park offers a wide range of thought-provoking, inspiring, and thoroughly enjoyable professional productions that leave audiences often smiling, sometimes crying, and always talking about what they have just experienced.

To learn more about Playhouse on Park’s 2024-25 Season, Comedy Nights, Theatre for Young Audiences touring production, special events, and more, call the Box Office at 860-523-5900 x10 or visit www.PlayhouseOnPark.org. Playhouse on Park is located at 244 Park Rd. West Hartford, CT 06119.

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