Put the phone down. Sit in the dark. Watch something real happen.
We are living in an age of endless refresh buttons. Notifications that never stop. Opinions that evaporate in twenty-four hours. Entire evenings can disappear into doom-scrolling and autoplay without leaving a single lasting memory.
Live theatre interrupts that cycle.
It demands attention. It rewards patience. It gives you something unrepeatable — a shared, imperfect, human moment that only exists once. Middle Tennessee in 2026 is overflowing with those moments. Here is every one of them (We’re human and not AI so let us know if we missed your show).
FEBRUARY 2026
Fat Ham
Nashville Repertory Theatre – Nashville, TN
February 2026 (Currently Playing)
James Ijames flips Hamlet into a Southern backyard cookout and finds something electric inside it. It is funny, sharp, queer, and deeply contemporary without losing its Shakespearean backbone. Nashville Rep opens the year by reminding audiences that classical theatre can still feel urgent.
Deathtrap
Studio Tenn – Franklin, TN
February 5–22, 2026
A struggling playwright meets a student with a script worth stealing — or worse. Ira Levin’s thriller is built on deception, ego, and perfectly timed reversals. Studio Tenn thrives on tight, intelligent suspense, and this one delivers.
Our Town
Montgomery Bell Academy – Nashville, TN
February 19–21, 2026
Thornton Wilder’s meditation on ordinary life grows quietly devastating by its final act. It asks audiences to notice the beauty in daily rituals before they disappear. MBA students stepping into this piece means young performers taking on one of the most emotionally honest plays in American theatre.
Birthday Candles
Lakewood Theatre Company – Old Hickory, TN
February 20–March 8, 2026
A woman celebrates ninety years of birthdays in one sweeping story. This intimate comedy-drama moves through time with humor and poignancy. Lakewood continues its tradition of character-driven storytelling.
One for the Road
IS Productions – Nashville, TN
February 20–March 1, 2026
A tense political drama centered on power, silence, and control. The writing is spare and confrontational. This is theatre designed to unsettle.
Fairy Tale Courtroom
Ensworth School – Nashville, TN
February 21, 2026
Classic fairy tale characters defend their reputations in court. It’s clever, playful, and built for ensemble fun. Youth theatre at its most creative.
Smart People
Elemental Actors Studio – Nashville, TN
February 26–28, 2026
Four Harvard intellectuals wrestle with race, identity, and bias. The conversations are sharp and uncomfortable in productive ways. Intimate theatre with big ideas.
Hello, Dolly!
Hillsboro High School – Nashville, TN
February 27–March 2, 2026
Golden Age Broadway spectacle filled with big ensemble numbers and bigger personality. Dolly Levi still knows how to command a room. When high school performers commit to the scale, this show shines.
Hadestown: Teen Edition
Goodpasture Christian School – Madison, TN
February 28–March 1, 2026
Mythology meets folk-infused modern music. The Orpheus and Eurydice story never stops resonating. Teen performers tackling this score means real vocal ambition.
MARCH 2026
The Drowsy Chaperone
Williamson County Performing Arts Center – Franklin, TN
March 5–7, 2026
A musical about loving musicals, told by a narrator obsessed with his record collection. Tap shoes meet affectionate satire. It feels like theatre celebrating itself.
Falsettos
Vanderbilt University – Nashville, TN
March 5–7, 2026
A modern musical about family, love, and complicated relationships. Intimate and emotionally layered. College performers stepping into this material means maturity on stage.
Grease
Hendersonville Performing Arts Company – Hendersonville, TN
March 12–29, 2026
Leather jackets, harmonies, teenage bravado. Nostalgia sells, but it only works if the cast brings real chemistry. HPAC rarely plays small.
Mean Girls
Belmont University – Nashville, TN
March 13–14, 2026
Pink glitter meets sharp satire. High school politics never felt so Broadway-ready. Beneath the gloss is real commentary.
We Are The Tigers
Street Theatre Company – Nashville, TN
March 13–28, 2026
Cheerleaders. A murder. Pop-driven chaos. Street Theatre Company leans into bold contemporary work that refuses to be polite.
Disney’s The Little Mermaid
Smyrna High School – Smyrna, TN
March 18–23, 2026
Underwater spectacle anchored by strong vocals. Ariel’s longing fuels the show. When the anthem lands, it lands.
Boeing Boeing
Studio Tenn – Franklin, TN
March 19–April 4, 2026
A farce built on romantic chaos and perfectly timed entrances. Doors slam. Secrets unravel. Studio Tenn understands how to pace comedy.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Stewarts Creek High School – Smyrna, TN
March 20–22, 2026
Massive choral writing and darker themes elevate this Disney adaptation. It demands serious musicianship. When it works, it feels epic.
Into the Woods
Nolensville High School – Nolensville, TN
March 26–29, 2026
Fairy tales collide and unravel. Sondheim refuses easy endings. This one rewards nuance.
Little Shop of Horrors
Hendersonville – Taylor Swift Auditorium
March 26–29, 2026
Boy meets plant. Plant demands blood. Dark comedy wrapped in doo-wop harmonies.
APRIL 2026
Pippin
John Overton High School – Nashville, TN
April 9–13, 2026
A prince searching for meaning in a world selling spectacle. Circus-style staging meets existential questions. Flashy and philosophical.
Sister Act
Tennessee Performing Arts Center – Nashville, TN
April 10–19, 2026
Choir robes meet disco rhythms. Big vocals. Big joy. Broadway energy downtown.
Newsies
Franklin Christian Academy – Franklin, TN
April 16–19, 2026
High-kicking choreography and underdog energy. If the ensemble locks in, this show explodes.
The Normal Heart
Lakewood Theatre Company – Old Hickory, TN
April 17–May 3, 2026
A searing drama about activism and the early AIDS crisis. Raw, urgent, and deeply human. Theatre that insists on remembrance.
MAY 2026
Jesus Christ Superstar
Studio Tenn – Franklin, TN
May 7–24, 2026
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera still feels volatile. Political tension and betrayal drive it forward. Studio Tenn gives it scale.
Urinetown
Hendersonville Performing Arts Company – Hendersonville, TN
May 8–10, 2026
Absurd satire disguised as musical comedy. Corporate greed and social control wrapped in catchy tunes. Weird and smart.
Bloodsucking Leech
Nashville Repertory Theatre – Noah Liff Opera Center, Nashville, TN
May 14 – 17, 2026
Set against the backdrop of the early AIDS crisis, Bloodsucking Leech blends satire and social commentary with a bite. It examines fear, stigma, and the stories we tell ourselves about who is dangerous and who deserves compassion. Nashville Rep continues its run of bold programming with a production that is uncomfortable in all the right ways and impossible to ignore.
Something Rotten!
Franklin Theatre – Franklin, TN
May 30–31, 2026
Renaissance rivalry meets Broadway parody. Big dance numbers and self-aware humor. A love letter to musical theatre excess.
JUNE 2026
The View Upstairs
Street Theatre Company – Nashville, TN
June 12–27, 2026
A modern man confronts queer history inside a 1970s bar. Glam rock meets cultural reckoning. It demands attention.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s State Fair
The Keeton – Nashville, TN
June 12–28, 2026
Classic Americana with sweeping melodies. A nostalgic musical about family and ambition. Old-school Broadway warmth.
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Playhouse 615 – Mt. Juliet, TN
June 5–21, 2026
Fats Waller’s music drives this high-energy revue. Jazz-infused joy fills the stage. It swings hard.
Shakespeare in the Park
Nashville Shakespeare Festival – Centennial Park, Nashville, TN
Summer 2026
Blankets. Lawn chairs. Cicadas. Shakespeare under open skies remains one of Nashville’s most democratic theatre experiences.
JULY 2026
Spring Awakening
Mills-Pate Arts Center – Murfreesboro, TN
July 10–19, 2026
Adolescence, repression, and rebellion. Duncan Sheik’s rock score still cuts. It is intimate and volatile.
School of Rock: Young Actors Edition
The Gift of Song – Franklin, TN
July 24–26, 2026
Electric guitars meet youthful defiance. High-energy ensemble work drives this adaptation. Loud in the best way.
Why It Matters
You can stream something tonight. You can scroll until midnight. You can watch highlights of someone else’s life and call it entertainment.
Or you can sit in a dark room with your neighbors while something unfolds in real time.
Live theatre is one of the last places where we experience emotion together. The laughter ripples across rows. The silence before a final line feels electric. The applause is not typed — it’s felt in your chest. No filters. No buffering. No algorithm deciding what you see next.
Yes, seeing a show supports local actors, musicians, designers, and technicians. It keeps stages lit and programs alive. But it also does something else.
It reminds us what it feels like to be present. To share space. To react at the same moment as the person sitting beside you. To feel something live, together, in our own community.
We have more shows coming this fall and winter. We’ll give you that list in the summer.
For now, make a promise to yourself: go see at least one of these each month if you can.
Not just to support the arts.
But to remember what it feels like to be in a room where something real is happening — and you are part of it.
