Put the phone down. Sit in the dark. Watch something real happen.
Live theater is one of the last places where we still experience emotion together. The laughter ripples across rows. The silence before a final line feels electric. The applause is felt in your chest, not typed on a screen.
Middle Tennessee has more of it than most people realize — and we go see as much of it as we can.
We cover theater across Nashville and Middle Tennessee because we’re theater kids and because nobody else is paying close attention to the full picture. We don’t just cover the big rooms downtown. We’re as interested in what a high school theater department is staging on a Friday night in Smyrna as we are in what’s opening at TPAC. Both stages matter. Both deserve an audience.
And if you’ve got a kid who wants to be on the other side of the lights — scroll all the way down. We’ve got a section on summer camps and year-round classes from the companies that train the next wave of Middle Tennessee performers.
The BIG List
Every show we’re tracking, in chronological order. Broadway national tours at TPAC are marked with [Tour] — those are the road companies of Broadway productions, presented by TPAC, not local productions. Everything else is produced locally in Middle Tennessee.
If we missed your stage, tell us at NashvilleBuyLocal@gmail.com.
MAY 2026
Seussical — Theatre for Young Audiences — Nashville Children’s Theatre — Now through May 24
Seuss for younger audiences with the runtime trimmed, but the score still does what it does. “Alone in the Universe” is one of the prettiest ballads in the children’s theater canon, and NCT treats little audiences like real audiences.
The Normal Heart — Lakewood Theatre Company, Old Hickory — Now through May 3
Larry Kramer wrote this in 1985 while bodies were still piling up, and it still reads like an act of war. The fact that it’s still being staged forty years later isn’t a comfort — it’s the point.
The Mousetrap — Springhouse Theatre Company, Smyrna — Now through May 3
Agatha Christie has had this play running in London since 1952, which is its own kind of crazy. The twist still works because the structure is airtight, and Springhouse is exactly the right size of room for a whodunit.
Into the Woods — Mills-Pate Arts Center, Murfreesboro — Now through May 3
Sondheim doesn’t let fairy tales off easy — Act One is the party, Act Two is where everyone has to live with their choices. The score is dense the way all Sondheim is dense, and the payoff when a cast pulls it off is enormous.
The Wizard of Oz: Youth Edition — Knox Doss Middle School, Hendersonville — Now through May 1
The Youth Edition trims the runtime and keeps the songs everyone actually came for. “Over the Rainbow” is one of those things you can’t fake — either it lands or it doesn’t.
The Butler Did It (Kelly) — Renaissance Players, Dickson — April 30–May 3
A spoof of every drawing-room mystery you’ve ever seen, with all the tropes piled on at once. Tim Kelly wrote dozens of these for community theater, and they reward casts who lean fully into the bit.
Disney’s Lion King Kids — Christ Presbyterian Academy, Nashville — May 1
Thirty minutes of the songs you already know. The “Circle of Life” opening alone is worth showing up for, even at this scale.
Newsies — Williamson County Performing Arts Center, Franklin — May 1–3
Newsboys, choreography that requires real stamina, and “Seize the Day” as the unofficial anthem for any high school production with ensemble talent. Williamson County tends to draw strong casts.
Disney’s Descendants — Wright Middle Prep, Nashville — May 1–3
What if all the Disney villains had teenage kids who had to go to high school together. The score is pop-radio bait and the audience knows every word, which is half the fun.
Disney’s 101 Dalmatians Kids — Shayne Elementary, Nashville — May 1–3
Cruella de Vil with a chorus of small dogs. The KIDS edition is mercifully short and the costumes make the show.
Anastasia: The Musical — Marshall County High School, Lewisburg — May 1–2
The animated movie got upgraded to Broadway with an actually great score — “Once Upon a December” deserves the reputation. The Russian history they snuck in barely registers, which is its own kind of trick.
Late Bus — Ezell-Harding Christian School, Antioch — May 1–2
A school bus, a long ride home, and the kind of conversations that happen when you’re stuck somewhere with people you didn’t choose. School theater that takes school seriously.
The Wizard of Oz: Youth Edition — Arrington Elementary School — May 1–2
Same shortened Oz, different elementary cast. The arrangement of “Over the Rainbow” survives every adaptation for a reason.
Disney’s Winnie the Pooh Kids — Nashville Theatre School — May 2
Thirty minutes in the Hundred Acre Wood with kids in honey pots. It’s hard to make this not sweet, and most companies don’t try.
Disney’s Frozen Kids — Jewish Community Center Nashville — May 3–17
Olaf, Elsa, and “Let It Go” belted by an actual eight-year-old. The KIDS edition is built to be exactly as long as a child’s attention span.
Wonderland — Tucker Theatre, Murfreesboro — May 5
Frank Wildhorn’s modern Alice — adult Alice has a midlife crisis and falls down the rabbit hole again. The Broadway production didn’t last but the score has its defenders.
Disney’s The Jungle Book Kids — Lakeview Elementary Design Center, Nashville — May 6–7
Mowgli, the songs, and a chorus of jungle animals played by elementary schoolers. The Sherman Brothers wrote “The Bare Necessities” for a reason.
Disney’s Frozen Kids — Smith Springs Elementary, Antioch — May 6–8
Same KIDS edition, different elementary cast. If you have a kid in this one, you already know.
Grease: School Version — Stewarts Creek Middle School, Smyrna — May 6–9
The School Version cleans up the lyrics and the smoking but keeps “Summer Nights” and “You’re the One That I Want.” Middle school casts don’t quite have the swagger the original demands, which is funny in its own way.
Jesus Christ Superstar — Studio Tenn, Franklin — May 7–31
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera still feels volatile fifty years later, and Judas as the protagonist remains one of the boldest creative choices in musical theater. Studio Tenn does scale, and a JCS done at full scale is unforgettable.
Disney’s Aristocats Kids — Warner Enhanced Option Elementary, Nashville — May 7–9
Cats in a Paris apartment trying to get home. The Sherman Brothers wrote the music, which is reason enough.
James and the Giant Peach (Wood) — Fairview Community Theater — May 8–17
David Wood adapts Roald Dahl’s books better than anyone, and this is the play version, not the musical. Faithful to the book, weird in the right Dahl ways.
Shrek the Musical Kids — Holy Trinity Montessori, Nashville — May 8
The KIDS edition keeps “I Know It’s Today” and “I’m a Believer” and trims the rest. Surprisingly emotional given that the lead is in face paint and donkey ears.
Seussical Kids — Franklin Theatre — May 8–9
Same Seussical, KIDS edition, in a real theater this time. Franklin Theatre is a beautiful room, and small performers getting a stage like that is its own kind of moment.
Disney’s Lion King Kids — Cumberland Elementary, Nashville — May 8–9
Another KIDS Lion King, this time at an elementary in West Nashville. The mask work is what every production lives or dies by.
Annie Kids — J E Moss Elementary, Antioch — May 8–10
Annie compressed into thirty minutes — “Tomorrow” lands the same regardless. The KIDS edition exists because elementary schools love this show.
Annie Kids — Haywood Elementary, Nashville — May 8–9
Annie again, different elementary, same orphanage. “Hard Knock Life” is choreography teachers’ favorite ensemble number for a reason.
Legally Blonde — Center for the Arts, Murfreesboro — May 8–24
Elle Woods is one of the great underrated musical theater roles — bubbly without being shallow, ambitious without being mean. The score does more work than people give it credit for.
The Butler Did It (Kelly) — Isaiah T. Creswell Middle Magnet, Nashville — May 8–10
Same Tim Kelly mystery spoof, this time at a magnet school. These plays are designed for school casts to have fun with the genre.
Urinetown — Hendersonville Performing Arts Company — May 8–10
Absurd satire disguised as musical comedy. Corporate greed and social control wrapped in catchy tunes.
Disney’s Aladdin Kids — Jones Paideia Magnet School, Nashville — May 12
Robin Williams’s Genie can’t be replicated, but the songs are still the songs. KIDS productions stand or fall on whether the Genie commits.
The Music Man Kids — Miller Hall at FCS, Franklin — May 13
76 trombones, miniature Marian, and “Ya Got Trouble” rapped by an elementary schooler doing his best. The KIDS edition keeps the structure intact.
Annie Kids — TM Productions, Nashville — May 14–16
A workshop-style production company doing Annie KIDS as a showcase. These programs are how a lot of working theater kids start.
Bloodsucking Leech — Nashville Repertory Theatre, Noah Liff Opera Center — May 14–17
Set against the early AIDS crisis, with satire and bite that doesn’t apologize. Nashville Rep is having a year of bold programming, and this is the boldest one on the slate.
Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka Kids — Inglewood Elementary, Nashville — May 14–15
“Pure Imagination,” but truncated. The Oompa Loompa songs are still funny and the moral lessons are still grim — Dahl never softened any of it.
God of Carnage — Fox Crossing Productions, Nashville — May 15–24
Two married couples meet to discuss their kids’ fight on the playground, and within ninety minutes it falls apart into something much worse. Yasmina Reza writes the most uncomfortable adult dinner parties in modern theater.
Disney’s 101 Dalmatians Kids — Community Elementary, Unionville — May 15–20
Another small-cast Cruella story. The script knows it’s silly and lets the kids run with it.
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical — Washington Theater, Murfreesboro — May 29–30
Tim Minchin wrote one of the smartest musical theater scores of the last twenty years for this — “When I Grow Up” alone is worth the ticket. Matilda is the rare kid musical that respects how complicated kids actually are.
Steel Magnolias — Watershed Public Theatre, Columbia — May 29–June 7
Six women in a Louisiana hair salon talking about everything and nothing, until the play turns. Robert Harling wrote it after losing his sister, and you can feel that in the structure.
Airswimming — Baby Teeth Performance Lab, Nashville — May 29–31
Charlotte Jones’s two-hander about two women institutionalized for having children out of wedlock in 1920s Britain. Brutal, weird, occasionally funny — and Baby Teeth is the right kind of company for it.
The Sound of Music — Backlight Productions, Nashville — May 30–31
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s last collaboration, and somehow still the one that everyone’s grandmother knows. Maria, the von Trapps, the abbey, the Nazis — every element so specific that the show survives any production.
Something Rotten! — Franklin Theatre — May 30–31
Renaissance rivalry meets Broadway parody. A love letter to musical theatre excess.
JUNE 2026
Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady — FSSD Performing Arts Center, Franklin — June 4–6
The adaptation of Pygmalion is one of the great musicals, even when the gender politics get prickly. “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “On the Street Where You Live” are perfect songs.
Ain’t Misbehavin’ — Playhouse 615, Mt. Juliet — June 5–21
A revue of Fats Waller’s music — no plot, just five performers and a band tearing through Harlem Renaissance jazz. If the cast can swing, the show works. If they can’t, no script can save it.
Elephant and Piggie’s We Are In A Play — Source One Five, Franklin — June 5–13
Mo Willems’s beloved characters get a stage adaptation. It’s for kids, but Willems’s dialogue is so sharp adults end up enjoying it too.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame — Source One Five, Franklin — June 5–13
The stage version pulls more from the Hugo novel than the Disney movie — Esmeralda dies, Frollo’s a horror show. The Menken/Schwartz score is one of Disney’s strongest, and “Out There” and “Hellfire” stand up to anything.
Disney’s Frozen Kids — Ensworth School, Nashville — June 6
Frozen KIDS at one of Nashville’s top private schools. The production values usually exceed what the runtime requires.
The Wizard of Oz: Youth Edition — Williamson County Parks and Recreation, Franklin — June 6–7
Parks and Rec running youth theater is one of the best uses of public money. The kids who go through these programs end up running their high school productions.
42nd Street — Dynamic Theater, Mt. Juliet — June 10–13
Tap-dancing, the Great Depression, and “Lullaby of Broadway” in full chorus. The Broadway revival is one of the great showstoppers — if a cast has the dancers, it sings.
The Prince of Egypt — FSSD Performing Arts Center, Franklin — June 11–13
The DreamWorks animated film became a stage musical with Stephen Schwartz expanding the score. “When You Believe” is the song everyone came for, but the show is bigger than its hits.
Hairspray — Center for the Arts, Murfreesboro — June 12–28
Marc Shaiman’s score is one of the most consistently good in musical theater — every song is at minimum a 7. The civil rights themes are real, even when the show wraps them in hairspray and big skirts.
9 to 5 — Arts Center of Cannon County, Woodbury — June 12–27
Dolly Parton wrote the score for the musical version of her own movie, and she gave it everything. The title song is the one that left the building, but the rest holds up.
Disney’s Lion King Kids — Davis Theatre, Harpeth Hall School, Nashville — June 12–26
KIDS Lion King at Harpeth Hall, which has one of the prettiest theaters in town. Sometimes the venue elevates the show.
The View Upstairs — Street Theatre Company, Nashville — June 12–27
A modern man finds himself in a 1973 New Orleans gay bar that was about to be set on fire. Max Vernon wrote it about the UpStairs Lounge arson, and it’s heartbreaking and full of glam rock. Street does this kind of work better than anyone.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s State Fair — The Keeton, Nashville — June 12–28
R&H’s most agricultural musical — literally about a county fair. “It Might As Well Be Spring” is the standout, and the Keeton’s audience eats this kind of warmth up.
Dog Sees God (Revised Edition) — Jones Theatrical Productions, Nashville — June 12–14
Bert V. Royal imagines the Peanuts characters as high schoolers dealing with depression, sexuality, and grief. Charlie Brown becomes “CB.” It’s heavy and earnest and exactly the kind of play that works in a small room.
The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition — Audience of One Productions, Lebanon — June 12–14
Yes there’s a SpongeBob musical and yes the score is somehow great — David Bowie, John Legend, Cyndi Lauper, and Panic! at the Disco all contributed songs. Youth Edition keeps the weirdness.
Disney’s Winnie the Pooh Kids — Turner Theater, Franklin — June 13
Pooh in Franklin. The KIDS edition takes about half an hour and ends with “Cottleston Pie.”
Disney’s Winnie the Pooh Kids — Arts Center of Cannon County, Woodbury — June 13–27
Same Pooh, different small town. Cannon County has a real arts scene that punches above its size.
Disney’s Descendants — Freedom Middle School, Franklin — June 13–14
Same villain-kids-go-to-school plot, this time at a middle school in Franklin. Middle schoolers are the exact target audience for this material.
The Music Man Sr. — Adonai Theatre, Nashville — June 18–27
The full Music Man, no cuts — Marian the Librarian, the Pickalittle Ladies, and “Til There Was You.” If you’ve only seen the Hugh Jackman revival, the structure makes more sense in the original form.
The Drowsy Chaperone — Freedom Middle School, Franklin — June 19–21
A man-in-a-chair narrator plays his favorite Jazz Age cast album and the musical comes alive in his apartment. It’s a show about loving musicals, written by people who clearly do.
Nunsense — Roxy Regional Theatre, Clarksville — June 19–28
Nuns staging a benefit because they accidentally killed half their order with bad soup. Dan Goggin wrote it as a bit and it became a phenomenon. Roxy knows what their audience wants.
Disney’s Finding Nemo Kids — Christ Presbyterian Academy, Nashville — June 20
The movie compressed into thirty minutes of small fish. The original Disney World production had real underwater puppetry; school versions usually go simpler.
Urinetown — Capitol Theatre, Lebanon — June 25–28
Same satire about paid bathrooms and corporate evil. The musical itself is about the form of musicals, which is part of the joke.
Disney’s Finding Nemo Kids — Brentwood High School — June 26
Brentwood high schoolers doing the elementary KIDS edition is a curious choice — usually older students do the Broadway Junior version. Worth seeing what they do with it.
Fantastic Mr Fox (Wood) — Williamson County Parks and Recreation, Franklin — June 26–27
David Wood adapting Dahl again. Fantastic Mr Fox is one of Dahl’s most quotable books and the play keeps the voice.
Here We Are — Shade Tree Orchard LLC, Springfield — June 26–27
Shade Tree does small-room work outside the usual Nashville circuit. Worth a drive if you’re looking for theater off the beaten path.
I’m Herbert — Shade Tree Orchard LLC, Adams — June 26–27
Robert Anderson’s one-act about an elderly couple looking back on their lives, often paired with other Anderson short plays. Quiet, character-driven, sentimental in a way that earns it.
JULY 2026
Annie Kids — Donelson Christian Academy, Nashville — July 3
One-day Annie KIDS production. These short-format showcases are how a lot of theater kids start performing.
Drinking Habits — Williamson and Maury Performing Arts, Spring Hill — July 10–12
Tom Smith’s farce about nuns who secretly make wine, two reporters posing as priests, and a lot of doors. Built for community theater audiences who want to laugh and not think too hard.
Once Upon A One More Time — Carpe Artista, Smyrna — July 10–11
The Britney Spears jukebox musical. It only ran on Broadway briefly but the songs are the songs, and Carpe Artista takes these workshop-style productions seriously.
Spring Awakening — Mills-Pate Arts Center, Murfreesboro — July 10–19
Adolescence, repression, and Duncan Sheik’s rock score that still cuts. Wedekind wrote the original play in 1891 and got it banned; the musical brought it back to a generation that needed it again.
The Unexpected Guest — Playhouse 615, Mount Juliet — July 16–August 2
Agatha Christie’s two-act mystery — a man enters a house in fog, finds a dead body, and gets pulled into the cover-up. Less famous than Mousetrap but tighter.
The Wizard of Oz: Youth Edition — Rockvale Middle School — July 17
One-day Oz at a Rutherford County middle school. Youth Edition keeps the songs and runs about an hour.
The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical — ClassAct Dramatics (Street Theatre Company youth company), James Lawson High School, Nashville — July 17–18
Rob Rokicki’s score is sneakily great — full of teen-anger rock that doesn’t talk down to its audience. ClassAct is Street’s youth company, which means the kids are getting trained by the company that does A Strange Loop and Silence!
Little Women (Hamill) — Williamson County Parks and Recreation, Franklin — July 17–18
Kate Hamill’s adaptation, the play version (not the musical). Sharper and more theatrical than the novel suggests, and Jo’s anger gets the room it deserves.
Annie Kids — Dynamic Rehearsal Hall, Mount Juliet — July 23–25
Mt. Juliet’s Dynamic does a lot of these short-format productions as workshops. Annie KIDS ends up the most-produced show on this list for a reason.
The Prince of Egypt — Capitol Theatre, Lebanon — July 23–August 2
Same Stephen Schwartz score, this time in Lebanon. The Capitol Theatre is one of the more interesting smaller venues in the region.
Guys and Dolls Sr. — Arts Center of Cannon County, Woodbury — July 24
Frank Loesser’s score is one of the few from that era that still feels alive — “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat” is a perfect 11 o’clock number. The Sr. designation means full-length.
School of Rock: Young Actors Edition — The Gift of Song, Franklin — July 24–26
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glenn Slater wrote this for Broadway and it actually rocks — the kids in the show have to actually play their instruments. The Young Actors Edition is built for performers who can.
Disney’s The Jungle Book Kids — Dynamic Ballroom and Performing Art, Mt. Juliet — July 30–August 1
Same Sherman Brothers songs, different small cast. Mt. Juliet’s Dynamic studios produce a lot of youth work.
Hadestown: Teen Edition — Hendersonville Performing Arts Company — July 31–August 9
Anaïs Mitchell’s Orpheus and Eurydice retelling, scaled down for teen casts but with the score intact. “Wait For Me” and “Why We Build the Wall” will do their thing regardless of who’s singing them.
Six the Musical — ClassAct Dramatics (Street Theatre Company youth company), James Lawson High School, Nashville — July 31–August 2
The six wives of Henry VIII as a pop concert, each one styled after a contemporary pop star. Ridiculously fun, the kind of show built for teen casts who can sell the concert energy. Belting required.
AUGUST 2026
Catch Me If You Can — Franklin Theatre — August 1–2
Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote the score, same team as Hairspray, and it has that big-band Vegas-show energy. Less famous than the movie but plays well live.
Come From Away — Pull Tight Players, Franklin — August 5–22
Twelve actors playing the entire population of Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11 and the days after. The structure is dazzling and the show earns every emotion it asks for.
And Then There Were None — Bravo Boro, Murfreesboro — August 7–16
Christie’s most-adapted novel — ten strangers on an island getting picked off one by one. The play version has a different ending than the book, and both work.
The Woodsman — Street Theatre Company, Nashville — August 14–29
The mostly-wordless puppet-and-movement piece about how the Tin Man got his metal heart, drawn from Baum’s Oz mythology. Off-Broadway audiences fell hard for it. Built for the kind of risk Street takes on.
Come From Away — Donna Getzinger Driver, Donelson — August 14–30
Same Come From Away, different room. Two productions of the same show in the same season is a sign that audiences want it.
Shakespeare in the Park — Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Centennial Park, Nashville — August 20–September 20
Blankets, lawn chairs, cicadas, the Bard. One of Nashville’s most democratic theater experiences — show up early, bring a picnic, sit on the grass.
Next to Normal — Center for the Arts, Murfreesboro — August 21–30
Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s rock musical about a suburban family dealing with bipolar disorder. It won the Pulitzer for a reason — the score never lets up and the writing doesn’t soften the illness.
Die Mommie Die! — Playhouse 615, Mount Juliet — August 27–September 13
Charles Busch’s homage to 1960s Hollywood melodramas, traditionally with Busch himself in drag as the lead. High camp executed seriously, which is harder than it sounds.
Nunsense — Renaissance Players, Dickson — August 28–September 6
Same nuns-with-bad-soup, different small town. The fact that this show keeps going is its own kind of miracle.
SEPTEMBER 2026
13 — Center for the Arts, Murfreesboro — September 11–27
Jason Robert Brown wrote one of his best scores for this — about a thirteen-year-old planning his bar mitzvah after his parents’ divorce. The Broadway production featured an entirely teen cast and the songs are written for those voices.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame — Springhouse, Smyrna — September 11–20
Same dark Disney/Hugo musical, different room. Springhouse tends to take the heavier shows seriously.
Into the Woods — Williamson County Performing Arts Center, Franklin — September 12–13
Same Sondheim, this time at a bigger room. The show scales up surprisingly well — Act Two needs space.
Jersey Boys [Tour] — TPAC, Nashville — September 16–20
Broadway national tour. Back in Nashville for the first time in eight years, with the Four Seasons biography that turned every “Sherry” and “Walk Like a Man” into a structural beat.
Fiddler on the Roof — Williamson County Performing Arts Center, Franklin — September 18–20
Sholem Aleichem’s stories with a Jerry Bock score that knows exactly when to use “Tradition” as the foundation everything else has to break against. “Sunrise, Sunset” is the song that always gets parents.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! — Stage Local, Lebanon — September 18–27
The original integrated musical — book, score, and dance all telling the same story. Almost ninety years later it still works because the structure was right from the beginning.
A Year With Frog and Toad — TYA — Nashville Children’s Theatre — September 19–October 18
Robert and Willie Reale’s adaptation of Arnold Lobel’s books, which was nominated for a Tony in 2003 — wild for a children’s show. Sweet and small and beautifully built.
Little Shop of Horrors (Broadway Version) — Wilson Central High School, Lebanon — September 24–27
Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s score is one of the great 80s scores, and the original off-Broadway version is sharper than the movie. High schools rarely tackle the actual Broadway book — Wilson Central is brave.
The Phantom Tollbooth — Maury County Arts Guild, Columbia — September 24–27
Norton Juster’s book turned into a play. The Doldrums, the Mountains of Ignorance, Tock the watchdog — it’s a nerdy kid’s perfect entry into theater.
Little Women (Hamill) — Summit High School, Spring Hill — September 24–26
Same Hamill adaptation, this time with high schoolers. Jo’s monologue about loneliness is one of the best monologues a young actress can play right now.
OCTOBER 2026
Guys and Dolls — Davis Theatre, Harpeth Hall School, Nashville — October 1–3
Full Guys and Dolls at a top private school. Harpeth Hall has the resources to do classic musicals at scale and they usually do.
Rock of Ages — The Gift of Song, Murfreesboro — October 2–11
80s rock jukebox musical that knows it’s a jukebox musical. “Don’t Stop Believin'” as the closer is the kind of choice that always lands.
Silence! The Musical — Street Theatre Company, Nashville — October 9–24
The Silence of the Lambs, but a musical, and the chorus is a flock of singing lambs. It is exactly as deranged as that sentence makes it sound and it’s one of the funniest things in the modern parody catalog. Pure Street.
The Curious Savage — The Keeton, Nashville — October 9–25
John Patrick’s 1950 play about a wealthy widow placed in a sanitarium by her grasping stepchildren. It’s a comedy that earns its sentiment, and the secondary characters are unusually good.
Bonnie and Clyde — Center for the Arts, Murfreesboro — October 9–25
Frank Wildhorn musical that closed fast on Broadway but built a cult following. The score is genuinely strong — “Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad” and “How ‘Bout a Dance” deserve more attention than they got.
The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon (Full-Length) — Lakewood Theatre Company, Old Hickory — October 9–25
All 200+ Grimm fairy tales in one play, performed by a tiny cast at insane speed. Don Zolidis writes for high schools and community theaters who want to lean into chaos.
The Sound of Music [Tour] — TPAC, Nashville — October 13–18
Broadway national tour of the R&H classic. The current touring productions are more theatrical than the movie people remember — more political about the Anschluss, less postcard-Vienna.
Romeo & Juliet — Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Nashville — October 19–November 7
Nashville Shakes’s fall production runs primarily as an education tour for area schools, with public performances on November 7. Shakespeare’s most-taught play, performed by the company that’s been bringing the Bard to Middle Tennessee since 1988.
NOVEMBER 2026
Death Becomes Her [Tour] — TPAC, Nashville — November 3–8
Broadway national tour. Nashville premiere of the new musical adaptation of the 1992 Meryl Streep film. Funnier than it has any right to be — the score earns its premise about vanity and immortality.
Legally Blonde — Hume Fogg Theatre, Nashville — November 5–7
Same Elle Woods musical, this time at Hume Fogg in Nashville. Magnet schools often have the strongest musical theater programs in the city.
Frozen — St. Cecilia Academy Theater, Nashville — November 5–8
Full-length Frozen at a private girls’ school. The Kristoff role can be tricky in single-gender productions — most schools find a workaround.
Annie — Springhouse, Smyrna — November 13–22
The full musical, not the KIDS edition. “Tomorrow” belted by an actual teenager hits different than “Tomorrow” belted by an eight-year-old.
Lost Girl — Belmont University Department of Theatre & Dance — November 13–21
Kimberly Belflower’s play about Wendy Darling at sixteen, after Peter has stopped coming. Belmont takes new plays seriously, which is part of why their program is what it is.
Ken Ludwig’s ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas — Nashville Children’s Theatre — November 21–December 27
Ken Ludwig writes like a craftsman, and his plays are reliably well-built. NCT treats holiday programming like it matters.
DECEMBER 2026
The Secret Garden — Hendersonville Performing Arts Company — December 3–20
Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon’s adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett. The score is unusual — chamber-music delicate in places, full-throated in others. “Hold On” is the showstopper.
Scrooge in Love! — The Keeton, Nashville — December 3–20
A Christmas Carol sequel-musical where Scrooge falls in love. Smaller-scale and earnest, designed for community theater holiday slots.
A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol — Roxy Regional Theatre, Clarksville — December 4–20
Christmas Carol as a 1940s radio play, with Foley effects done live and commercial breaks for fictional sponsors. The conceit is strong and the format gives every actor multiple roles.
A Christmas Carol (Barlow) — Playhouse 615, Mount Juliet — December 4–20
Patrick Barlow’s adaptation, traditionally using a small cast playing many roles. Funnier and faster than the Dickens straight-text versions.
Frozen — Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville — December 4–20
Full Frozen at TPAC — this is the local-production Frozen, not a Broadway tour. Worth distinguishing because the design budget is different.
Frozen — Center for the Arts, Murfreesboro — December 4–20
And the Murfreesboro Frozen, same month. “Let It Go” will be the most-performed song in Middle Tennessee that December.
VHS Christmas Carol (3.0!) — Street Theatre Company, Nashville — December 11–19
Street’s recurring holiday show — Dickens spliced through a 1980s VHS-tape lens, version 3.0 because they keep adding to it. The kind of holiday tradition that exists nowhere else in town.
JANUARY 2027
A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical [Tour] — TPAC, Nashville — January 5–10
Broadway national tour. The Neil Diamond jukebox musical, built around an older-Neil-looking-back framework that works better than that conceit usually does.
The Vagina Monologues — Roxy Regional Theatre, Clarksville — January 15–17
Eve Ensler’s 1996 monologue play. It’s almost thirty years old now but the structure still does what it was built to do, which is force conversations.
Barefoot in the Park — Hendersonville Performing Arts Company — January 29–February 14
Neil Simon’s 1963 comedy about newlyweds in a fifth-floor walkup. Simon’s plays read more dated every decade but the dialogue still has the rhythm.
FEBRUARY 2027
The Phantom of the Opera [Tour] — TPAC, Nashville — February 3–14
Broadway national tour. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s longest-running Broadway show, now back on the road. The chandelier crash and “The Music of the Night” deliver the same way they have for forty years.
The Pajama Game — Larry Keeton Theatre, Nashville — February 12–28
Adler and Ross’s score from 1954 — “Hey There” and “Steam Heat” are still standards. The labor-dispute plot is dated but the songs aren’t.
The Importance of Being Earnest — Nashville Shakespeare Festival & Belmont University, Nashville — February 18–27
Wilde’s most perfect comedy, co-produced with Belmont. The wordplay is so precise that the play hasn’t aged in a hundred and thirty years — it just keeps being right.
The Mad Ones — Austin Peay State University, Clarksville — February 18–21
Kerrigan and Lowdermilk’s contemporary musical about graduation, friendship, and the weight of choices. “Run Away With Me” became a cabaret standard for a reason.
Clue — Backlight Productions, Franklin — February 20–21
The 1985 movie became a play and it’s almost as fun. The trick is pacing — the comedy lives in the timing of doors slamming.
The Wizard of Oz (Townley) (Non-Musical) — CenterStage Performing Arts Academy, Gallatin — February 20–21
L. Frank Baum’s book adapted as a play, no songs. Different texture without the score — closer to children’s literature than spectacle.
Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight — Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro — February 25–March 4
Lauren Gunderson’s play about Émilie du Châtelet, the 18th-century mathematician and physicist who was Voltaire’s longtime partner. Gunderson is the most-produced living American playwright and her plays about historical women are her strongest work.
Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical — Nashville Children’s Theatre — February 27–April 30
A children’s show about civil rights through the lens of Lyle the polka-dotted boy. NCT’s TYA work is some of the best programming in town.
MARCH 2027
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat — Columbia Academy — March 4–7
Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s first musical, written when they were young. The Megamix of styles is part of the charm — there’s no reason “Benjamin’s Calypso” should work next to “Pharaoh’s Story” but it does.
The Great Gatsby [Tour] — TPAC, Nashville — March 5–14
Broadway national tour. The 2024 musical adaptation takes the jazz-age glamour seriously, and “For Her” is the emotional center.
The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals — Street Theatre Company, Nashville — March 12–27
Starkid’s musical about a guy who thinks musicals are stupid, until everyone in his town starts singing and he realizes something’s terribly wrong. Cult-favorite material that Street is exactly the right company to stage.
August Wilson’s Fences — Roxy Regional Theatre, Clarksville — March 19–28
Wilson’s 1987 Pulitzer winner — Troy Maxson, the trash collector with a baseball career that should have been. One of the great plays of the American century. Roxy taking it on is a real choice.
Dial M for Murder (Hatcher) — Hendersonville Performing Arts Company — March 19–April 4
Jeffrey Hatcher’s recent reworking of the 1952 Frederick Knott play. Hatcher genderbends one of the central roles in a way that activates the material differently.
Hell’s Kitchen [Tour] — TPAC, Nashville — March 30–April 4
Broadway national tour. Alicia Keys’s Tony-winning musical about her own coming of age in the actual Hell’s Kitchen. Maleah Joi Moon’s original-cast performance is the kind that legitimately changes how a role gets played going forward.
APRIL 2027
Urinetown — Tucker Theatre, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro — April 8–11
Same musical satire, this time at MTSU’s main stage. College productions of Urinetown tend to lean into the political-theater conceit harder than community ones.
Dear Evan Hansen — James K. Polk Theatre, Nashville — April 9–18
Pasek and Paul’s score is a generation-defining one — “Waving Through a Window” was the song theater kids used as a college audition piece for years. The book has gotten more controversial over time, which makes the show more interesting to watch now.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child [Tour] — TPAC, Nashville — April 27–May 9
Broadway national tour. The eight-Tony-winning play, now touring in a one-evening reduced version. The stagecraft is the reason to see it — wand effects done live in front of you.
MAY 2027
A Room In The Castle — Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Nashville — May 6–23
Nashville premiere. A new play that turns Hamlet sideways and looks at the women — Ophelia, Gertrude, and a maid — who get to talk to each other when the men aren’t watching. Exactly the kind of work Nashville Shakes should be premiering.
Something Rotten! — Turner Theatre, Franklin — May 6–23
Same Renaissance brothers, different production. “A Musical” might be the best opening number written in the last twenty years.
Tuck Everlasting — The Arts at Center Street, Old Hickory — May 14–17
Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen’s adaptation of Natalie Babbitt’s novel. The closing sequence — a wordless ballet of a life — is one of the most affecting endings in modern musical theater.
Buena Vista Social Club [Tour] — TPAC, Nashville — May 18–23
Broadway national tour. The 2024 musical built around the Cuban band that Wim Wenders documented in 1999. The music is the reason — the band is on stage, playing live.
JUNE 2027
Disney’s The Little Mermaid — Soli Deo Center, Nashville — June 4–6
Full-length Mermaid, Alan Menken score. The show is bigger than it looks because Howard Ashman’s lyrics keep doing what Howard Ashman’s lyrics do.
A Strange Loop — Street Theatre Company, Nashville — June 11–26
Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer- and Tony-winning meta-musical about a Black queer playwright writing a musical about a Black queer playwright writing a musical. Brutal, hilarious, deeply self-aware, and as Street as theater gets.
Hello, Dolly! — The Keeton, Nashville — June 11–27
Jerry Herman wrote the score and Thornton Wilder’s Matchmaker became the book. Dolly Levi is one of the great American musical roles — Carol Channing, Bette Midler, and now whoever’s stepping in next.
Beetlejuice [Tour] — TPAC, Nashville — June 15–20
Broadway national tour. The Tim Burton movie became a Broadway musical that should not have worked but did. Lydia’s “Dead Mom” is the song people don’t expect, and Eddie Perfect’s score is funnier than it had any right to be.
AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2027
The Winter’s Tale — Shakespeare in the Park — Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Centennial Park, Nashville — August–September 2027 (dates TBD)
One of the late romances — a play that turns from tragedy into something stranger and more forgiving partway through. “Exit, pursued by a bear” is the most famous stage direction in English. Bring blankets.
Where we look
We follow theater across Middle Tennessee. The companies and venues we keep closest tabs on:
The companies that anchor the season
Four professional companies do the heaviest lifting in Middle Tennessee theater. If you’re new to the scene, start here.
Nashville Repertory Theatre — Nashville’s flagship professional theater company. Bold programming, strong ensembles, and a willingness to stage work that other companies won’t touch. Based at the Noah Liff Opera Center.
Studio Tenn — Franklin’s resident professional company, known for cinematic scale and tight, intelligent productions of classic and contemporary work. They consistently turn the Franklin Theatre into one of the best rooms in the region.
Street Theatre Company — Nashville’s home for bold contemporary musicals and plays that refuse to be polite. Pop-driven, queer-forward, and unafraid of the hard material. If you want to see what’s next in musical theater, you watch Street. Their youth company, ClassAct Dramatics, trains the next wave.
Nashville Shakespeare Festival — The company that’s been bringing Shakespeare to Middle Tennessee since 1988. Free Shakespeare in the Park every summer, an education tour reaching thousands of students each year, and an indoor winter season that takes on Wilde, premieres of new work, and partnerships with Belmont and other local universities.
Other professional and resident companies
Lakewood Theatre Company, IS Productions, Elemental Actors Studio, Roxy Regional Theatre (Clarksville), Hendersonville Performing Arts Company, Playhouse 615, Springhouse Theatre Company, The Theater Bug.
Major venues
Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC), Franklin Theatre, The Keeton, Williamson County Performing Arts Center, Noah Liff Opera Center, Center for the Arts (Murfreesboro), Capitol Theatre (Lebanon), Arts Center of Cannon County.
University and college theater
Vanderbilt, Belmont, Lipscomb, MTSU, Austin Peay State University.
High school and youth theater
Montgomery Bell Academy, Hillsboro, John Overton, Nolensville, Smyrna, Stewarts Creek, Goodpasture, Ensworth, Franklin Christian Academy, Centennial High, Summit High, Blackman, The Gift of Song, Mills-Pate Arts Center, Nashville Children’s Theatre.
Why we cover it
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.
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.
Want to be in the show, not just the audience?
Every kid you’ve ever seen in a Broadway tour started somewhere — usually a summer camp or a community drama school. Middle Tennessee has a deep bench of programs that train young performers, from week-long camps to year-round conservatories. Here are the ones we’d point a parent toward.
Summer camps and intensives
Belmont University Summer Theatre Camps — Belmont’s College of Music and Performing Arts runs intensive theater camps taught by college faculty and guest artists. The kind of program where serious teen performers go to get pushed.
Camp TPAC — TPAC’s summer day camp, run through their Inclusive Arts education department. Real teaching artists, real stage time, real costumes. For kids who want their first taste of what a professional theater building feels like.
Nashville Children’s Theatre Drama School — NCT’s year-round drama school plus summer camps. They’ve been doing this longer than most companies have existed, and the curriculum is built by people who actually program children’s theater for a living.
Metro Parks Theater Classes & Camps — Nashville’s Parks Department runs theater classes and camps year-round at multiple community centers. Affordable, accessible, and exactly what public arts funding should look like.
Nashville Theatre School — A dedicated training school running summer programs and showcase productions throughout the year. Built around the idea that kids who want to perform should have a school structured to help them perform.
Little Blue Theatre Summer Camps — Smaller, scrappier, and built specifically for younger kids who want to be on a stage. The kind of program that’s about discovery, not pre-professional pressure.
Year-round classes and youth companies
The Theater Bug — One of the most respected youth theater organizations in the city. They run year-round classes, mainstage productions written specifically for young performers, and the kind of programming that takes kids’ artistic voices seriously. Also worth following for their main season of shows, which are written and performed by Theater Bug ensembles.
ClassAct Dramatics — Street Theatre Company’s youth company, putting up real productions at real venues with real direction from Street’s artistic team. Their summer 2026 lineup includes The Lightning Thief in July and Six the Musical end of July/early August, both at James Lawson High School.
Nashville Children’s Theatre Drama School — NCT runs classes throughout the school year alongside the summer camps. The pipeline from class to the actual NCT mainstage is real.
If your kid’s program isn’t on this list and should be, tell us at NashvilleBuyLocal@gmail.com.