Second Stage Theater has revealed five productions in its upcoming season, and there are some heavy hitters in the lineup, including two productions joining the Broadway season at the company’s Hayes Theater and three that will play Off-Broadway at Pershing Square Signature Center’s Irene Diamond Stage.
First on the docket is the long-awaited Broadway premiere of The Fantasticks. A new version of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt‘s record-breaking Off-Broadway musical will begin performances at the Hayes October 22, with opening night set for November 16. Directed and choreographed by Tony winner Christopher Gattelli (Schmigadoon!, Death Becomes Her, Newsies), the production reimagines the central romantic pair—traditionally Matt and Luisa—as a same-sex pair Matt and Lewis, reinterpreting the story’s allegory of love, longing, and reconciliation through a gay lens. The show’s original pair of fathers, who secretly orchestrate the clandestine love affair between their children, will now be mothers. Casting for the Broadway bow is to be announced.
The adaptation of the musical was first presented in 2022 at Flint Repertory Theatre in Flint, Michigan, in collaboration with then-Flint Repertory Producing Artistic Director Michael Lluberes. The revision has subsequently been developed at Provincetown Playhouse in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Coachella Valley Repertory in Cathedral City, California.
In the Spring, the Hayes will host the Broadway premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins‘ Gloria, a satire about ambitious, young editorial assistants at a New York magazine who seize an traumatic event to get ahead professionally. The play, a finalist for the Pulitzer in 2016, premiered Off-Broadway at the Vineyard in 2015. Directed by Second Stage Artistic Director Evan Cabnet (who also directed the Vineyard production), this production will begin performances March 17, 2027, and officially open April 5.
Off-Broadway, Second Stage will produce the world premieres of Bryna Turner‘s The Visitors (directed by Jenna Worsham), and Miranda Rose Hall‘s Work of Devotion. The Visitors will begin performances at The Irene Diamond Stage at the Pershing Square Signature Center October 21, with opening night set for November 9, and Work of Devotion will begin performances February 3, 2027, with opening set for February 22.
The final production announced is the New York premiere of Naomi Lorrain‘s how to roll a blunt. Playing the Irene Diamond Stage, the play will be directed by Colette Robert, and begin performances April 14, 2027, with opening night set for April 28.
“Second Stage Theater has always been the premiere home for contemporary works by both emerging writers and established masters, and this upcoming season is no exception,” says Cabnet in a statement. “I am incredibly proud of the five productions we’ll be bringing to life, including two world premiere plays from up-and-coming playwrights whose singular voices constantly surprise, challenge, and move me: Bryna Turner and Miranda Rose Hall; as well as a New York premiere from Naomi Lorrain, whose stunning new play was developed here at Second Stage through our invaluable Judith Champion Reading Series.”
For more information, visit 2st.com.