If you’re a theater fan who hasn’t made it to Manhattan in recent years to see the latest Broadway plays and musicals, you’re in luck. Broadway is coming to you.
Broadway San Diego’s just-announced 2026-27 season will include seven currently playing Broadway musicals and plays that have opened since 2024, including Cole Escola’s hilariously naughty smash “Oh, Mary!” and the past two Tony-winners for Best Musical: “Maybe Happy Ending” and the La Jolla Playhouse-born “The Outsiders.” Also heading this way are the currently running hits “Death Becomes Her,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Buena Vista Social Club” and “Operation Mincemeat.” All will play at the San Diego Civic Theatre.
A scene from the Broadway production of “Oh, Mary!” The play will be presented Sept. 29-Oct. 4 at the San Diego Civic Theatre as part of Broadway San Diego’s 2026-27 season. (Emilio Madrid)
There are also four optional season add-ons: “The Phantom of the Opera,” Disney’s “The Lion King” and “Mamma Mia!,” all at the Civic Theatre, and the toddler-friendly “Bluey’s Big Play,” which will presented at the Balboa Theatre.
Broadway San Diego Vice President Vanessa Ybarra Davis describes the 2026-27 season as a major coup for theater-lovers.
“For the first time in our history, every show in Broadway San Diego’s new seven-show season package is currently playing on Broadway, marking a significant milestone as we launch our 49th season,” Ybarra Davis said, in a statement.
The new season will kick off in September with “Oh, Mary!” Until then, there are still seven season shows and add-ons to come from Broadway San Diego’s 2025-26 season: “The Notebook,” April 14-19; Riverdance May 1-3; MJ: The Musical,” May 5-10; “The Sound of Music,” May 26-31; Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” July 7-12; Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen,” Aug. 11-16; and “Water for Elephants,” Aug. 18-23.
Tickets for the 2026-27 season are now on sale by subscription only, with seven-show packages starting at $335. Single tickets will go on sale at a later date. For details, call 888-937-8995 or visit broadwaysd.com.
Here are he seven shows in the 2026-27 season:
“Oh, Mary!” — Sept. 29-Oct. 4
Playwright Cole Escola won a Tony Award for his performance in his outrageously naughty comedy that imagines Mary Todd Lincoln as a miserable first lady near the end of the Civil War in 1865 Washington, D.C. Mary has turned to alcohol and other men after her husband, the distracted Abe Lincoln, has trampled on her dream of becoming a cabaret singer. The R-rated play won the Drama League Award for Outstanding Play and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The rain rumble in the Broadway production of “The Outsiders,” which will play Nov. 3-8, 2026, at the San Diego Civic Theatre, as part of Broadway San Diego’s 2026-27 season. (Matthew Murphy)
“The Outsiders” — Nov. 3-8
Based on S.E. Hinton’s classic 1967 young-adult novel and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film adaptation,” The Outsiders” musical made its world premiere in 2023 at La Jolla Playhouse. After opening on Broadway the following year, with the financial support of co-producer Angelina Jolie, it won the 2024 Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical. Set to a folk-rock score by Jamestown Revival and Justin Levine, it’s the story of Ponyboy Curtis, a junior member of the impoverished Greasers gang in Tulsa, Okla. Ponyboy wants to prove his manhood but also aspires to be a writer. The musical is famous for its high-intensity choreography and its famous gang battle in the pouring rain. This marks “The Outsiders” first visit back to San Diego since its local premiere.
Scenes from the Broadway production of “Buena Vista Social Club,” which plays April 13-18, 2027, at the San Diego Civic Theatre, as part of Broadway San Diego’s 2026-27 season. (Matthew Murphy)
“Buena Vista Social Club” — April 13-18, 2027
This 2025 Broadway musical was inspired by the lives of four real-life Cuban musicians, including now-95-year-old Omara Portuondo, who came together in 1997 to make the landmark danzón/bolero album “Buena Vista Social Club.” It won five Tony Awards, including for choreography.
A scene from the Broadway production of “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical” which will play April 20-25, 2027, at the San Diego Civic Theatre as part of Broadway San Diego’s 2026-27 season. (Matt Crockett)
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical” — April 20-25, 2027
The sleeper hit of the 2025 Broadway season, this import from London’s West End features five actor-singers playing dozens of roles in this comic and touching real-life story of a group of British intelligence workers who fooled the Nazis by hiding fake documents on a soldier’s corpse about where Allied forces would invade Sicily. Hitler took the bait and the Allied landing took place on another Sicily beach with no lives lost.
Scenes from the Broadway production of “Maybe Happy Ending” which will play June 1-6, 2027, at the San Diego Civic Theatre as part of Broadway San Diego’s 2026-27 season. (Matthew Murphy and Ethan Zimmerman)
“Maybe Happy Ending” — June 1-6, 2027
Winner of six 2025 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Score and Book, this heartwarming musical premiered in Seoul, South Korea, in 2016. An English-language version arrived on Broadway in 2024. It’s the futuristic story of Oliver and Claire, humanoid “Helperbot” robots who have been declared obsolete and retired to a housing complex in Seoul. They unexpectedly fall in love, but as Claire’s internal systems gradually erode and go offline, they face the wipeout of all the memories together.
Scenes from the Broadway production of “The Great Gatsby,” which will play June 22-27, 2027, at the San Diego Civic Theatre as part of Broadway San Diego’s 2026-27 season. (Matthew Murphy and Ethan Zimmerman)
“The Great Gatsby” — June 22-27, 2027
Inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel about a tragic love triangle in New York City’s Jazz Age, this 2024 musical features a book by Kait Kerrigan, jazz-pop score by Jason Howland and lyrics by Nathan Tysen. The dazzling show tells the story of the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a World War I veteran who lives in splendor on Long Island, but can’t have the one thing he most treasures, another man’s wife.
A scene from the Broadway production of “Death Becomes Her,” which will play Aug. 10-15, 2027, at the San Diego Civic Theatre as part of Broadway San Diego’s 2026-27 season. (Matthew Murphy and Ethan Zimmerman)
“Death Becomes Her” — Aug. 10-15, 2027
This big-cast 2024 musical comedy is based on the 1992 film of the same name about hyper-competitive frenemies Helen Sharp and Madeline Ashton, whose rivaly leads them to drink a magic potion promising eternal life and beauty, but with unexpected consequences. The musical, which has become one of Broadway’s biggest hits, is known for its hilarious book, eye-popping special effects and “the fall,” where one character tumbles theatrically down a massive staircase.
A scene from the new touring production of “The Phantom of the Opera,” which will be offered as an add-on to Broadway San Diego’s 2026-27 season. It plays Sept. 2-13, 2026, at the San Diego Civic Theatre. (Matthew Murphy)
Added season events that can be purchased separately:
“The Phantom of the Opera” — Sept. 2-13, 2026.
“Bluey’s Big Play” — Nov. 13-15, 2026.
Disney’s “The Lion King” — Feb. 18-March 7, 2027
“Mamma Mia!” — June 15-20, 2027.
A scene from Disney’s “The Lion King,” returning to the San Diego Civic Theatre Feb. 17-March 7, 2027, as a season add-on to Broadway San Diego’s 2026-27 season. (Ethan Zimmerman)