50+ Can't-Miss Shows on Philly Stages for Fall and Winter 2024/2025

The gilded, crystal-chandeliered and velvet-curtained Academy of Music is a fixture of the Kimmel Cultural Campus, one of three venues now part of Ensemble Arts Philly. The 160-plus-year-old venue on Philly’s Avenue of the Arts plays host to Opera Philadelphia, Philadelphia Ballet (formerly The Pennsylvania Ballet), the annual Broadway Series and more.

• The Book of Mormon: Written by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, this uproarious Tony Award-winning musical comedy follows the misadventures of two missionaries tasked with spreading the good word halfway across the world (October 1-6, 2024).
• Hamilton: What more needs to be said about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway blockbuster? The hit show returns to the city of its namesake Founding Father’s greatest achievements and romantic downfall, so come be in the room where it’s happening (October 29 – November 23, 2024).
• Come From Away: One of the most uplifting and brilliantly performed musicals of the millennium, this post-9/11 charmer tells the story of the small Newfoundland town that played host to thousands of unexpectedly rerouted plane passengers in the days following September 11, 2001., A small cast carries several roles each in this touching production (February 4-9, 2025).

Noted for both world premieres and popular works, prominent regional Arden Theatre (and its eponymous theater company) presents diverse works on its main stage series for adults, as well as captivating productions for children. The troupe, established in 1988, has garnered much acclaim, including dozens of Barrymore Awards.

• POTUS (or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive): When the president spins a PR nightmare into a global crisis, the seven women he relies upon must risk life and liberty to keep the commander in chief out of trouble (September 12 – October 6, 2024).
• Holy Grail of Memphis: In this world-premiere comedy from Philly playwright Michael Hollinger, a man struggles to rebuild his life and legacy with assistance from long-lost recordings of a legendary bluesman found in his granddaddy’s rundown music studio (January 16 – February 23, 2025).
• August Wilson’s King Hedley II: The “Poet of Black America” penned this gritty story of a recently released felon struggling to take control of his life in the face of a family and community struggling with his return to the real world in 1980s Pittsburgh (February 27 – March 23, 2025).

On the first level of the historic Drake building, two renovated theaters — the intimate Louis Bluver Theatre and larger Proscenium Theatre — serve as home to InterAct Theatre Company and several resident companies, including PlayPenn, Simpatico Theatre Project, Azuka Theatre and Inis Nua Theatre under the “At The Drake” performance banner.

• Moreno: The year is 2016, and Colin Kaepernick has taken a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality. Now, running back Luis Moreno finds himself forced to choose between his game (and paycheck) and taking a stand for his community in this U.S. premiere (November 1-24, 2024).
• Drip: This wry and enchanting musical brings a story of synchronized swimming to the stage inside Fergie’s Pub in this Inis Nua Theatre Company production that sees underdog Liam and optimist Caz team up to compete for their school’s Project Prize — despite always losing (Fergie’s Pub, November 6-24, 2024).
• Quixotic Professor Qiu: From Interact Theatre Company, this true-ish (yet satirical) story of Chinese American scientists targeted for allegedly carrying out economic espionage focuses on a fictitious math professor who is scrutinized by the FBI and his own colleagues, and forced to choose between his birth country and adopted land (January 31 – February 23, 2025).

The 220-seat waterfront FringeArts Theater — built inside a century-old former riverside pumping station — hosts contemporary out-of-the-mainstream Fringe performances, experimental concerts and other events throughout the year, including the annual Fringe Festival. Before or after a show, visit the onsite restaurant Fringe Bar and its verdant outdoor Haas Biergarten space.

• Philadelphia Fringe Festival: This annual month-long celebration showcases hundreds of alternative theater, comedy, dance, gallery and film shows at venues large and small throughout the city, with FringeArts as its home base and curator (through September 29, 2024).
• POWER: Award-winning choreographer Reggie Wilson creates a whirling and rhythmic story recounting tales of a real-life Shaker community led by free Black woman Mother Rebecca Cox Jackson in 1850s Philadelphia (September 20-22, 2024).
• We Have Gone As Far As We Can Together: This modular ritual opera is best described as a “sonic conversation” told through the spirituality of musical artists like Alice Coltrane and Sun Ra, composers Butch Morris and Pauline Oliveros, and the community traditions of Vedic Kirtan and Sufi Kourel (November 1-9, 2024).

One of just two Shubert Organization venues outside of New York City, the Forrest Theatre bears the name of Edwin Forrest, a 19th-century Shakespearean actor and Philadelphia native. One of the city’s premier venues for more than 90 years, the Forrest frequently hosts touring productions of Broadway shows.

• A Beautiful Noise: The uplifting, untold true story of Neil Diamond, this Broadway jukebox memoir tells of the kid from Brooklyn who became a chart-busting music icon and features many of the Brill-Building legend’s most singalongable tunes like I’m a Believer and Sweet Caroline (December 10-22, 2024).

Uruguayan-born architect Rafael Viñoly designed Philly’s most renowned theater space, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, a gem along the Avenue of the Arts which plays host to The Philadelphia Orchestra, regional productions and international masters of music and dance. Opened in 2001, Kimmel is the cornerstone venue of Ensemble Arts Philly, previously known as Kimmel Cultural Campus. The building features two primary auditoriums: the Perelman Theater and Marian Anderson Hall, the former Verizon Hall recently renamed to honor the Philadelphia-born opera singer, humanitarian and Civil Rights icon.

• Philadelphia Orchestra Opening Night Concert: The Philadelphia Orchestra season kicks off, headlined by a world premiere resetting of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones. Opening weekend continues with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 (Marian Anderson Hall, September 26-29, 2024).
• A Philly Holiday Spectacular: It’s a rousing good time as Philly’s own Na’Zir McFadden and the No Name Pops (formerly the Philly Pops) perform traditional carols and popular newer tunes with Broadway vocalists Nikki Renee Daniels and Jeff Kready, the St. Thomas Gospel Choir, and a special jolly guest from the North Pole (Saturday, December 14, 2024).
• Messiah: A more classical Christmas presentation, The Philadelphia Orchestra (plus soloists and chorus members) offer an interpretation of the 1741 George Frideric Handel choral holiday masterwork (December 21-22, 2024)

The versatile 1,840-seat, circa-1918 Miller Theater (previously known as Merriam Theater) on the Avenue of the Arts hosts stand-up comedians, celebrity chefs, dance troupes, theater acts and much more. Intimate and enthusiastic crowds add to performances at the venue, one of the three Kimmel Cultural Campus locations now part of Ensemble Arts Philly.

• Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical: You know all the songs, from You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch to Welcome Christmas. Catch this family-friendly production based on the beloved animated special starring all your favorites, including Max the Dog and a who’s-who of Whos (November 26 – December 1, 2024).
• STOMP: You know it from just the one word: Broadway’s most famous onomatopoeia. The international percussion sensation returns to Philly as the eight-member troupe fills the grand hall with a whole-body experience of unconventional instruments and magnificent rhythms. (December 26-29, 2024)
• Where Eagles Fly: This world premiere of a new musical follows a 300-year-old journey of hope and promise as the tiny ship Eagle Wing sets sail for America bearing the first Irish immigrants to the New World in search of freedom, safety and opportunity (March 20-30, 2025).

Founded in 1966 by John E. Allen, Jr., New Freedom Theatre in North Philadelphia is Pennsylvania’s oldest Black theatrical organization and one of the nation’s most honored Black professional theater companies. Occupying the former Philadelphia Cotillion Society building, the theater has staged productions from celebrated African American playwrights like James Baldwin, Ossie Davis and August Wilson. The program’s alumni include Hamilton’s Leslie Odom Jr., Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men, Living Single’s Erika Alexander and Tony Award nominee Samm-Art Williams.

• Box: This virtual production recounts the true harrowing experience of Henry Box Brown, an enslaved Black activist who mailed himself from confinement in Virginia to freedom in Philadelphia, starring hip-hop legend Karl “Dice Raw” Jenkins of The Roots (virtual, for rent).
• The Last Jimmy: Jimmy is the last African American man in the world, on trial for past, present and future crimes in this virtual performance investigating the failures of the criminal justice system, issues of mass incarceration and the modern prison industrial complex (virtual, for rent).
• Forgotten Founding Fathers: Billed as a hip-hop dance theatrical odyssey, this untold story (presented virtually) explores the pivotal contributions made by real-life slaves and former slaves before, during and after the Revolutionary War (virtual, for rent).

Penn Live Arts at the University of Pennsylvania is one of the nation’s top urban collegiate performing arts centers. The institution offers nearly all genres of cultural performance including jazz, world music, contemporary dance and touring plays in three spaces: the Harold L. Zellerbach, Harold Prince and Bruce Montgomery theatres.

• SLAM!: The acrobats and dancers of Canada’s FLIP Fabrique present an incredible show defining a fusion of stage play and wrestling match, inspired by the sport in its many forms around the world as theatre and cirque meet on the mat (Zellerbach Theatre, October 25-26, 2024).
• Day of Absence: The Negro Ensemble Company performs a brand-new adaptation of Douglas Turner Ward’s classic for its 60th anniversary, a witty and scathing “reverse minstrel show” (with Black actors in whiteface) about a Southern town that awakens to find its Black residents have disappeared (February 6-8, 2025).
• American Street Dancer: Rennie Harris — labeled “the most brilliant hip-hop choreographer in America” and Penn Arts’ artist-in-residence — presents this world-premiere show honoring the impact of street dance on the arts world from Master Juba to Savion Glover, backed by a hip-hop orchestra, beat boxers and DJs (March 14-15, 2025).

One of the oldest continuously running theaters in the nation, the Plays & Players Theatre opened as The Little Theatre in 1913. Its location on quiet residential Delancey Place in Rittenhouse Square adds to its charm — as do the comedic antics of theater troupe 1812 Productions, whose annual romp This Is the Week That Is has been a Philly favorite for more than a decade. Upstairs, black box Skinner Studio offers additional dance, music and theater programming and access to members-only late-night bar Quig’s Pub.

• This Is The Week That Is: The Election Special: A special presentation of the long-running 1812 Production series leads up to the 2024 presidential election, de-escalating the tension of the season with comedy and sharp satire through musical parodies, improv and sketch (October 3 – November 3, 2024).
• The Play That Goes Wrong: After selling out last year, the farcical murder mystery and play-within-a-play returns as the accident-prone Cornley Polytechnic cast-within-a-cast starts to crack under the pressure as hilarious disaster after disaster ensues (November 29 – December 29, 2024).

Don’t be afraid Stephen King fans, that’s rūm as in “room.” One of Philly’s newest theaters and the brick-and-mortar home of Without A Cue Productions (located just a block from Independence Hall inside The Curtis Building), Red Rūm Theater opened in early 2023. Focusing on interactive murder mystery dinner theater shows, the audience is just as involved in the production as the cast, tasked to figure out whodunit.

• A Very Brady Murder: A Murdery Parody: Here’s the story … of the murder of a Brady. And you get to play ’70s detective and try to solve the groovy mystery. Gather your clues, get your mugshot and race to see who can take the most selfies (October 5 – November 16, 2024).
• A Dickens of a Murder: Celebrate the season with a Victorian murder mystery as Ebenezer Scrooge meets his untimely demise, unsolved until Sherlock Holmes shows up at Scrooge’s nephew’s holiday party asking for your help to uncover the mystery (November 23 – December 29, 2024).

The Suzanne Roberts Theatre along Philly’s Avenue of the Arts has been home to the half-century-old Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC) since the venue opened in 2007. The theater — named for the actress, playwright, director and television host who is also matriarch of the Comcast-owning Roberts family — is a hotspot for contemporary plays and musicals for adult audiences from the PTC and organizations like Opera Philadelphia.

• La Egoista: This equally funny and touching new play from the Philadelphia Theatre Company recounts the journey of a Philadelphia comedian coming to terms with the death of her mother and her sister’s sudden illness … just as her comedy career is taking off (October 4-20, 2024).
• The Tapcracker: The Nutcracker, but make it tap. All-female Philadelphia tap company Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble presents an all-tap modernized version of the holiday favorite set in rodent-infested Paris to Duke Ellington’s version of the classic score (December 14-15, 2024).
• Night Side Songs: Explore mortality, the intimacy of illness and the dignity of caregivers through this musical’s fictional lead character and content extracted from real interviews with doctors, staff and patients in a celebration of Philly’s “eds and meds” community (February 21 – March 9, 2025).

South Philly-based nonprofit company Theatre Exile explores the human condition through timely and thought-provoking productions meant to raise social wellbeing and community consciousness. Established in 1996, the theater focuses on contemporary works and new plays featuring local talent performing in an intimate setting.

• Nosejob: This satire from Lightning Rod Special explores how we reckon with the messiness of society’s intimate past and the legacy of women who suffered from it through college indiscretions, female bonding and a little football, plus a medieval saint who cuts off her nose to spite a pack of rapacious Vikings (September 7-21, 2024).
• Red: An abstract painter landing the biggest commission in the history of modern art comes to terms with ambition, vulnerability and the young assistant who gains the confidence to challenge him in this searing portrait of an artist struggling to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting (October 24 – November 10, 2024).

Dating back to 1808, Philly’s Walnut Street Theatre is the oldest continuously operating theater in the entire English-speaking world. During its first years, the theater hosted a horse circus and horse dramas, with its first traditional performance an 1812 production of Rivals attended by President Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette. The first theater to offer air conditioning, gas footlights and electric chandeliers (as well as the term “curtain call”), the National Historic Landmark presents productions on three stages: the Mainstage, Independence Studio on 3 and Studio 5.

• Jersey Boys: Go behind the music and inside the story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons as they rise from the streets of Belleville, New Jersey on a rocky journey to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with an original sound that radio audiecnes couldn’t get enough of (October 1 – November 3, 2024).
• Elf: The Broadway Musical: As Buddy says, “the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” Help do just that during this fun musical version of the Will Ferrell holiday film classic telling a story of family, forgiveness, redemption and identity (November 19 – December 29, 2024).
• Dreamgirls: This six-time Tony Award-winning Best Musical (later adapted into a motion picture) follows a sensational 1960s Supremes-like girl group through the trials and tribulations of surviving the rapid rise from obscurity to pop super stardom (March 25 – May 4, 2025).

Proud winner of the 2024 Regional Theatre Tony Award, Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater is an independent theater located along Philly’s Avenue of the Arts. The 50-year-old stagehouse is known for its intimate setting and adventurous live art that engages audiences in imaginative reflections on the complexities of contemporary life.

• Dog Man: The Musical: Two fifth-grade besties sit down to write a musical based on their favorite comic book character, the part-dog, part-man Dog Man. Can our hero save the city from a cyborg fish and the world’s most evil cat before the young playwrights’ lunchtime? Find out in this romp from the creator of Captain Underpants (September 26 – October 15, 2024).
• The Comeuppance: Four former classmates reminisce and pregame during a porch-side evening full of jungle juice and weed before their 20th high school reunion in this comedic meditation on impermanence, nostalgia and isolation (November 19 – December 8, 2024).
• The Half-God of Rainfall: Yoruba and Greek mythologies are blended into the story of Demi, a half-Nigerian mortal, half-Greek god who leaves his west Nigerian village to become an NBA superstar in this epic poem from Nigerian-born British poet and playwright Inua Ellams (February 11 – March 2, 2025).

Located in the Montgomery County borough of Ambler, vibrant and award-winning regional theater ACT II Playhouse regularly draws patrons from Philadelphia and beyond for its eclectic productions in an intimate setting. Founded in 1998, the venue — with 42 Barrymore Awards nominations and wins in its coffers — churns out a broad range of performances including comedies, dramas, musicals and original works.

• Christmas in the Catskills 2: A Star Is Borscht: Last year’s sold-out sensation returns for another holiday season celebrating the Borscht Belt era with jokes and bits made famous by some of comedy’s most legendary performers from Dangerfield to Youngman (December 3-29, 2024).
• Grace and Glorie: In this odd couple comedy, 90-year-old spitfire Grace returns to the mountains after checking herself out of the hospital, and New York transplant and Harvard MBA Glorie is the hospice worker assigned to her as the pair struggle to find common ground and gain new perspectives (January 28 – February 23, 2025).
• Dial M For Murder: In the classic mystery that inspired the legendary Hitchcock film (starring Philly’s own Grace Kelly), Tony is convinced that his wife Margot is being unfaithful, and his jealousy leads him down a path of revenge, deception and maybe even murder (March 25 – April 19, 2025).

Housed in a former movie house overlooking the Delaware River, Bucks County’s 300-seat Bristol Riverside Theater stages hundreds of shows each year, including Mainstage productions, a summer music fest series, a Christmas show and special events. The theater is known for its commitment to inclusivity and fostering local talent. Note: Bristol Riverside Theater is undergoing a massive revamp through Spring 2025. The show must go on, but productions will move to The Regency Room nearby during the renovations.

• The Gin Game: A friendly game of Gin Rummy between two frenemies at a nursing home escalates into an all-out senior citizen war when one side loses over and over and over again in this powerful and darkly funny Pulitzer Prize-winning play (through September 29, 2024).
• Fires in the Mirror: When a car driven by a Hasidic Jew is involved in an accident that critically injures two Black children, everyone forms their own opinion of what happened — regardless of the truth — triggering the 1991 Crown Heights riots in this true story from The West Wing’s Anna Deavere Smith (February 4-23, 2025).
• In The Heights: Before he reached stratospheric heights with Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda created this Tony Award winner for Best Musical, exploring the lives of the residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood through an uplifting sweet story, rhythmic music and lots of stellar dance moves (March 25 – April 27, 2025).

Historic Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope dates back to 1939, but previously housed an 18th-century gristmill dating back to 1751. Since then, the riverside theater has seen the likes of Grace Kelly, Dick Van Dyke, Robert Redford, Liza Minnelli and more grace its stage. Professional Broadway producers took over the venue in 2012, returning to its roots incubating soon-to-be Broadway hits and staying open year-round for local and touring productions, world premieres, original plays, musicals, live music and more. Make it a full night at the Playhouse Deck restaurant and bar.

• The Rocky Horror Show: In a fall New Hope tradition, the wild play that inspired the famed picture show returns with Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Brad, (dam-it) Janet and all their weird friends … with plenty of legendary audience interaction (but BYO rice) (October 11 – November 3, 2024).
• Anastasia: The Musical: This family-friendly musical adventure based on the hit animated feature recounts the tale of a brave young woman seeking to both discover and escape her past, transporting audiences from Soviet Russia to années folles Paris (November 22, 2024 – January 5, 2025).

The 440-seat Media Theatre opened in 1927 as Media’s largest movie theater and vaudeville house. Fast forward 100 years, and the theater now produces musicals, comedy shows and kid-friendly performances as the largest professional regional theater employing equity actors in Delaware County.

• Snoopy! The Musical: From Joe Cool to The Flying Ace to The Masked Marvel, this charming and hilarious youth series musical (and sequel to You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown) showcases all the beloved Peanuts characters, including everyone’s favorite beagle, along with Charlie Brown, Woodstock and Peppermint Patty (through September 22, 2024).
• Legally Blonde: Bend and snap, everyone! The theater’s new season kicks off with the well-loved cinematic story of confident, ambitious and always-fabulous Elle Woods on her journey from underestimated valley girl to like totally a lawyer. “What, like it’s hard?” (October 4-27, 2024).
• Winter Wonderland: The sleigh bells are ringing, are you listening? Celebrate the holiday season in this all-ages music revue-style production featuring all the most singalongable wintry tunes performed by a cast full of talent, cheer and probably a little too much hot cocoa (December 6-29, 2024).

Since 1974, professional, regional theater People’s Light has produced an eclectic mix of shows, from Macbeth and Pride & Prejudice to the world premieres of Such Things as Vampires and The Harassment of Iris Malloy. In addition to staged shows, the theater in Malvern, Chester County, also hosts classes for kids and other community engagement and educational programs.

• The Porch on Windy Hill: The power of music and family is on full display in this story of a young biracial Korean American violinist who explores Appalachia in search of her grandfather, told against a backdrop of old-time bluegrass melodies and Americana (September 18-October 13, 2024).
• Peter Panto: A Musical Panto: In a traditional panto (a type of British style theatrical performance held during the holidays), the story of Peter Pan is retold in a show full of audience participation (boos and cheers encouraged), slapstick, music and dance (November 20, 2024 – January 5, 2025).
• A Raisin in the Sun: The drama that changed theater (and conversations about race) forever, Lorraine Hansberry’s pivotal piece tells of three familial generations in one cramped apartment dealing with the fallout and generational divides after the death of patriarch Big Walter Younger in segregated 1950s Chicago (February 19 –March 30, 2025).