The Long Beach Shakespeare Company is stepping boldly into 2026 with a theme as sweeping as the stories it plans to tell.

Artistic Director Holly Leveque has unveiled “The Stuff of Legends,” a season built around characters and tales that, she says, are “too big to fade and too iconic to be forgotten.”

It’s a year designed not just to experience legends, but to question the very basis of legend itself.

“We want to explore how these legendary stories speak to us now,” Leveque said in a recent press release. “They’ve stood the tests of time, and now they offer new expectations for our present and future.”

The season’s first two productions dive straight into the deep end of the classical canon.

“Julius Caesar,” running Jan. 23 through Feb. 7, will set the tone with political intrigue and ambition pushed to its breaking point. Caesar’s very name may be shorthand for power, but it’s the play’s timeless moral conflicts and philosophical musings that keep this story alive.

Next, LBSC will feature one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, “Antony and Cleopatra,” from March 7 to March 22.

If “Romeo and Juliet” is about puppy love, this is epic love — love that disregards borders, reason, empire, and even the notion of legacy itself.  It’s a romance so outsized, Leveque notes, “it becomes the stuff of legend.”

Summer lightens the mood with two beloved classics celebrating wit, wordplay, and the beauty of human longing. “The Importance of Being Earnest,” will bring Oscar Wilde’s comedy of manners to LBSC’s stage — a crowd-pleaser whose sparkle hasn’t dulled in more than a century.

“Cyrano de Bergerac,” will continue deep into the summer with a story of honor, poetry, and unrequited love.

If you’ve heard of this play but never seen it performed, you’re in for one of theater’s most irresistible tales.

The character of Cyrano, Leveque says, proves that the heart of a legend lies “not in outward appearance, but in the power of words and the nobility (or ignobility) of the soul.”

The fully staged season will conclude next November and December with a new holiday adaptation of “Sleeping Beauty,” reimagining the familiar fairytale as a winter celebration of magic and renewal.

In addition to its mainstage productions, LBSC continues its popular radio-style performances — five shows that evoke the nostalgic crackle of old-time broadcasts, complete with live foley effects and original music.

The series begins with Charlotte’s Web in April, capturing E.B. White’s famous portrait of friendship. October turns toward the macabre with a trio of classic horrors — Edgar Allan Poe, “Frankenstein,” and “War of the Worlds” —before the season closes with a warm familiar glow: “A Christmas Carol” in December.

LBSC’s New Works Festival will also return next year with three weekends of emerging voices in May, June, and September, offering audiences the thrill of seeing future legends take shape. And in early October, the company once again will launch its 2026 Poetry Series, honoring verse, the Bard, and LBSC’s founder and poetry advocate, Helen Borgers.

Founded in 1990, the Long Beach Shakespeare Company continues on a mission rooted in literacy and community. Leveque sees this season’s theme as an extension of that purpose.

“Join us in 2026,” she says, “as we bring legends of theater, history, prose, and poetry to our stage — honoring the unforgettable stories and voices that shape our lives and communities.”

For more info, go to lbshakespeare.org.

Act Out

Act Out Theatre Company is kicking off the holiday season with one of Broadway’s most beloved family musicals.

From Dec. 5 to Dec. 14, audiences of all ages are invited to step into 1930s New York City as “Annie” returns with all its heart and  hope intact.

With a book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strause, and lyrics by Martin Charnin, this timeless tale — based on the classic Little Orphan Annie comic, itself based on a late 19th century poem — remains a joyous reminder that optimism can be a superpower in the face of turmoil.

At the center, of course, is Annie: a plucky orphan with red hair, fierce resolve, and an unwavering belief that “the sun’ll come out tomorrow.”

Try, if you will, to get that song out of your head today.

From the drab walls of Miss Hannigan’s tyrannically run orphanage to the glittering possibilities of the city, Annie’s memorable escape sets the stage for a whirlwind adventure.

It’s a story that keeps winning hearts because of its irresistible charm, bright songs, and blend of sincerity and spectacle.

Families can expect a full two hours of musical fun (plus a 15-minute intermission), making it a nice, plump seasonal outing.

Performances take place at the Hamilton Middle School Auditorium.

Check out actoutlb.com/event-2 for tickets and more info.

Gaslamp

Gaslamp Long Beach is closing out the year with a trio of tribute concerts honoring some of the most influential voices in modern music, each iconic in their own ways.

First up is a Selena tribute dubbed Dreaming of You — a celebration of the Tejano superstar whose voice, warmth, and charisma made her a cultural beacon.

Selena’s catalog remains a bridge between genres and generations, and this tribute brings this spirit to the stage with the heartfelt energy that Selena fans know and cherish.

Expect big hits, big emotion, and the big joy of a too-short career.

Then, next Saturday, Dec. 13, Gaslamp will host The Winehouse Experience featuring Mia Karter, a tribute to the singular talent of Amy Winehouse.

Winehouse’s artistry — raw, soulful, timeless — left an imprint on music that continues to deepen with distance.

Her tragic passing in 2011 cut short one of the most distinctive voices of a generation, but tributes like this help bring that soul back into the room.

Mia Karter channels Winehouse’s smoky vocals and rich emotional texture, offering a performance that honors the artist’s brilliance instead of (or perhaps, in addition to) her heartbreak.

The evening also includes a special guest set from Soul Venture, adding even more groove to a night steeped in blues.

Rounding out the celebration of legends is Bee Gees Fever, a high-energy tribute to the brothers who helped define an era, on Saturday, Dec. 20.

Falsettos, harmonies, glittering arrangements, and disco spirit — you know exactly what you’re in for with Bee Gees.

Three nights, three icons: Get immersed in soul this December at Gaslamp.

Full details and tickets for all three shows are available at gaslamplongbeach.com.