Get excited for these 12 new shows opening in D.C. this fall. From musicals to straight plays to comedy, D.C.’s fall theatre has something to offer for everyone. Find out when, where and what they are about.
1. “Come From Away”
Opens Sept. 2 at Ford’s Theatre— Catch the pre-Broadway engagement about the stories of the 6,579 passengers stranded in a remote town in Newfoundland after the 9/11 attacks. Told through Celtic pop and dance, the musical features a small cast switching in and out of over 40 characters.
2. “Collective Rage: A Play in Five Boops”
Opens Sept. 12 at Woolly Mammoth- Get ready to laugh while watching the stories of five women named Betty unfold in a play-within-a-play that Betty stages called “Summer’s Midnight Dream.” The absurdist romantic comedy takes the audience on a journey about female identity, anger, sex and theatre.
3. “Sense and Sensibility”
Opens Sept.13 at Folger’s- What happens when two sisters facing financial troubles move to a cottage in the country and find themselves swept into romances complicated by English socio-economic roles and etiquette? Jane Austen’s classic story of sisterhood comes to the stage in conjunction with the Folger Shakespeare Library’s exhibition Will & Jane: Shakespeare, Austen, and the Cult of Celebrity.
4. “The Little Foxes”
Opens Sept. 23 at Arena Stage- Greed, betrayal, sibling rivalry, and financial scheming come alive on the stage as a woman and her brothers desperately devise conniving plans towards their pursuit of wealth. The production stars Emmy-winning Marg Helgenberger from “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”
5. “Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time”
Opens Oct. 5 at the Kennedy Center- Experience the world of an English teenage math genius who leads an investigation on the neighbor’s dog’s mysterious death. The hit Tony-winning Broadway musical is based on the bestselling book of the same name.
6. “Kiss”
Opens Oct. 10 at Woolly Mammoth- Get ready for a double date like never before as four friends reveal their secrets and passions as war rages around them. Then, fast forward to a video chat with what appears to be an exiled author evading persecution. Is anything what it seems? Discover broken cultural barriers and the effects of an oppressive and omnipresent regime.
7. “Freeze Frame”
Opens Oct. 27 at the Kennedy Center- A mixture of dance, music, and film explore the current climate of gun violence, drugs, poverty, and race relations in the United States. Calling for social progress and the value of human life, “Freeze Frame” brings a vibrant intersectionality of artistic genres to tell the story of the streets of Los Angeles.
8. “Carousel”
Opens Oct. 28 at Arena Stage- Experience Rodgers and Hammerstein's’ famous musical about bad boy Billy who wins the heart of a small town girl Judy but ultimately causes a tragedy with his criminal ways. Can Billy have a shot at redemption and save the ones he loves? Get swept along in the show’s catchy old-fashioned songs that will have you singing the whole way home.
9. "A Christmas Carol"
Opens Nov.17 at Ford’s Theatre- Get festive with Charles Dickens’s timeless tale of a greedy old man who is visited by three ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. The “musical-infused” production will be sure to bring the magic and joy of the holiday season to life. The show is a tradition for Ford’s Theatre: it has been an annual production for 35 years.
10. “A View From the Bridge”
Opens Nov. 18 at the Kennedy Center- What happens when an obsessive love is complicated by family connections and turns toxic? Arthur Miller’s story of a family’s complex relationships in an Italian American neighborhood in New York is brought to the stage by renowned Belgian director Ivo van Hove. The production won two Tony Awards this year for Best Director and Best Revival of a Play.
11. “Moby Dick”
Opens Nov. 18 at Arena Stage- The classic American story by Herman Melville of a sailor who tells the tale of a captain’s obsessive quest for revenge on a huge white whale. The adventure jumps from the page to stage in a production that incorporates trapeze and acrobatic work into the storytelling.
12. “Once”
Opens Nov. 25 at the National Theatre- The eight-time Tony Awards winner brings its ensemble of actors and musicians who play their own instruments to tell the story of a Dublin street musician who almost gives up on his music before a young woman takes an interest in his talents. “Once” is a soaring Broadway musical about the intersection of romance and music told through haunting songs. Discover the language of love through the power of music like never before.
