Welcome to The Scene, your bi-weekly round-up of theatre news you may have missed.
In this issue’s Big Idea, we celebrate school involvement, exploring ways to get other school departments, faculty and students involved in your production. In The Spotlight, we celebrate National Puppetry Day with some exciting shows featuring puppetry. We’re also bringing back our “Shows You Should Know” feature, honoring Mother’s Day with Conversations with Mother by Matthew Lombardo.
So, raise the curtain and shine the spotlight as we dive into another thrilling week in the theatre world.
Welcome to The Scene.
2026 Drama Desk Award Nominations; Read the Full List Here by Logan Culwell-Block, Playbill | Winners will be named in a ceremony hosted by Titaníque star Marla Mindelle, set for May 17. Read…
2026 Drama League Awards Nominations Are Out; Read the Full List by Logan Culwell-Block, Playbill | The annual event, honoring the best of Broadway and off-Broadway, will be held May 15. Read…
2026 Outer Critics Circle Awards Nominations: The Full List by Stephi Wild, BroadwayWorld | Shows with multiple nominations include The Lost Boys, Schmigadoon! and more. Read…
Jamie Lloyd-Directed Evita Will Transfer to Broadway With Rachel Zegler in 2027 by Logan Culwell-Block, Playbill | Zegler won a 2026 Olivier Award for her performance in the Lloyd Webber-Rice musical. Read…
Playlists: The Songs of the 2025/26 Broadway Season by Sidney Paterra, BroadwayWorld | As the Tony Awards approach, music from our favorite shows slowly becomes available to stream. Listen…
Watch Caissie Levy Record “Back to Before” from Ragtime:
The Plays You Need to Know from the Last 100 Years by Juan Ramirez, The New York Times | Five American playwrights and a director list the most important and influential plays of the past century. Read…
J. Harrison Ghee, Bonnie Milligan and More Will Be Featured on ERNXST Cast Recording by Stephi Wild, BroadwayWorld | The musical, from Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk, will release is cast recording in June. Read…
Spring School Musicals and Educator Impact by Allison Considine, American Theatre | Creating space for reflection and traditions for celebration in high school and college theatre. Read…
Octet musical film – Everything You Need to Know by Alex Wood, WhatsOnStage | What exactly is Octet? Learn about Dave Malloy’s chamber choir musical, soon coming to screens. Read…
Video: What Is the State of the Theater Industry? Experts Weigh In by Nicole Rosky, BroadwayWorld | The panel discusses the actor’s experience, current state of financing on Broadway, and more. Read…
Play Club, a National Book Club with a Theatrical Twist by Amy Wheeler, Breaking Character | The club celebrates the unifying power of reading plays as a community. Read…
One of the greatest benefits of theatre is its palpable sense of community. We all work together towards one goal, and in our striving and achieving, we somehow form a cooperative. A tribe. A family. But how broad is our definition of “community”?
Sometimes, it can feel as if the theatre department, or the school play, functions in its own ecosystem, operating in a bubble far removed from the rest of the school. How can we make our next production an event for the entire campus? How can we rally support from all corners of the school?
Here are some simple tools and ideas to get the rest of the school on board, making your next show a true community event.
First off, make sure you give your colleagues the same respect you’d expect from them. Choose your show well in advance so you know what you’ll need and what to ask for. (That means planning for your fall show now!) Narrow your choices and get in touch with your licensing company to ensure that the title you’re considering is available.
Once you’ve locked your choice in place, start thinking about ways to incorporate other teams, departments and clubs into your rehearsal, performance and marketing calendars.
First, consider the subject matter of the play or musical and ask yourself:
How does this content overlap with our social studies or history department curriculum? Is the show’s time period/setting worth exploring with them?
Do the themes of the show link to our English curriculum? How can we link this work to the literature our students are already exploring?
In what way does this play or musical connect with any aspect of our school experience?
Then ask:
Who are the people in this building who can help make those connections to enhance our rehearsal, performance and audience experience?
Use your connections. Or strive to forge new ones. The strength of your relationships may determine the size of your ask!
Your colleagues in academia will certainly have their own ideas regarding how to support the school show, but here are some suggestions for connections with various departments, in no particular order:
Visual Arts – No matter the content of your show, the art department can help in a host of ways. They can hold a design competition for promotional artwork (whether you use it or not!). A public display of the winner and runners-up will provide free advertising. They can design, build and/or paint sets, props or costumes. They can enhance the audience experience by decorating your theatre lobby in the theme of your production.
English/Literature – Ask your English department to help create a study guide, with historical information about the setting of the play, along with background information about the period in which the play was written. They can also promote an essay competition exploring specific themes of the show, with the winning essay published in the school paper or shared on your school’s website or social media.
Robotics – Are there moving elements to your set? Are you in need of puppets? Enlist the robotics team to design and build puppets, special effects or moving set elements.
Math/Business – Theatre is a business, and business involves math! The math department can help with front of house, budgeting and ticketing. If your school has business classes, enlist them to help with fundraising events for your show.
Marketing/Media – If your school offers any classes in marketing and media, take full advantage of their skills. They can do PR, signage, program design and social media posts. Plus, this team would be great for planning a fundraising event. Doing Rock of Ages? Let them organize a Parents & Educators Night where they dress up like it’s the ’80s.
History/Social Studies – Consider the three time periods related to your show: the time in which the narrative takes place, the time when the show was written, and today. With the help of your history or social studies departments, you can create a lobby display and/or study guide exploring these three eras.
Computer/Tech – If your school has computer or tech classes, do not let them go to waste! Forge a relationship with the department to recruit key members of your tech crew. At the very least, engage your school’s tech teacher as a consultant, because their team can contribute enormously to design elements, including sound, projections, lighting and special effects, not to mention the technical aspects of marketing and promotion, including web design.
Family and Consumer Sciences (or Food/Nutrition) – Have fun with this department! If your school allows the sale of homemade baked goods, invited this department to create themed items for your concessions. (Doing The SpongeBob Musical? Serve pineapple sponge cake!)
Chances are the students at your school are involved in a wide variety of extracurricular activities. Some of them are also involved in your show! Broaden your reach by partnering with afterschool clubs. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
School Paper – This team can assist with photography, designing and laying out your program, buying/selling ad space, and handling PR with your local press.
Business clubs like DECA, FBLA, BPA or NBHS – These clubs are hungry for great business opportunities, and the school show is a perfect fit. Use them for fundraising, marketing, and partnering with local businesses to buy ad space or donate props or set elements.
Environmental Science Club – Every production generates waste. Get this club on board to manage the recycling and waste generated during your load-out/strike.
AV Club – This is a no-brainer. If your school has an AV club, get them on the theatre train! In addition to designing and running projections, members of the AV club can create promo videos for your production (in accordance with the terms of your license agreement, of course). For license-friendly content, consider “behind the scenes” or “meet the cast and crew” interviews for your social media channels.
And, finally…
Sports teams and Athletic Clubs
Theatre kids and athletes are not opposite ends of a spectrum… in many cases, they’re the same students! Don’t be afraid to harness the power and inspiration of your school’s strongest sports team. If football dominates the school culture, enlist the team’s coach to do a walk-on or cameo role. (If the show calls for a voice-over, your head coach – or principal – may be willing to record the audio.) Or get your crossover performers to recruit their fellow athletes for your ensemble – if you’re doing a dance-heavy show, you’ll need performers with stamina, and who better than your school athletes to fit the bill?
Making theatre takes a village, and you’ll need a large team to support your vision. Still, it may seem daunting to oversee so many connections with so many people. So start small: Reach out to one department or club and forge a relationship. See where that takes you, and build from there.
And remember… if you want your school show to be appreciated and championed by the whole school, make sure you’re supporting other school activities yourselves. Encourage your cast and crew to attend sporting events, concerts, fairs and competitions hosted by other departments and clubs. Support and camaraderie should go both ways. Sometimes, to build an audience, you also have to be the audience.
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 1w, 1m)
For Mother’s Day, we’re featuring this unsettling yet tender comedy tracing the five-decade relationship between an Italian-American mother and her son.
Free-spirited Bobby has a knack for getting into trouble, and his mother, Maria, never hesitates to offer her opinion, like it or lump it. As he comes of age and builds a life for himself in New York City as a struggling playwright – is there any other kind? – Maria is always there with a phone call or check-in, following her mother’s intuition. And when Bobby begins to seek independence as a gay man, Maria stretches her own beliefs to support him. Through learning curves, life’s complications and hard-won victories, their love for each other holds plenty of laughs and a few tears, but most importantly, never diminishes.
John Proctor Is the Villain to Transfer to the West End Next Year by Alex Wood, WhatsOnStage | The show is enjoying a sell-out season at the Royal Court. Read…
Actor with Alzheimer’s disease to perform Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape by Theo Bosanquet, WhatsOnStage | Actor Peter Marinker will use recordings of himself from a previous production. Read…
Michael Sheen and Callum Scott Howells to star in Amadeus revival in Cardiff and London by Alex Wood, WhatsOnStage | The show marks Sheen’s return to the West End for the first time in 20 years. Read…
Cast for Fun Home revival confirmed by Alex Wood, WhatsOnStage | The Royal Exchange Theatre has announced casting for its regional premiere of Fun Home, which will run from 3 July to 1 August 2026. Read…
“That is a ridiculous idea for a musical”: Kiss of the Spider Woman is back on UK stages by Tanyel Gumushan, WhatsOnStage | It’s impossible not to be caught in the web of Molina, Valentin and Aurora after seeing this revival. Read…
Last week, the world celebrated National Puppetry Day. In honor of the age-old art form, here’s a selection of plays and musicals featuring puppetry.
by Neil Bartram and Brian Hill (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 5w, 5m)
The traditional Italian story of a wooden puppet yearning to be a real boy springs to life with inventive and awe-inspiring puppetry. Based on Carlo Collodi’s classic tale, this family musical illuminates the bond between parents and children in a magical theatrical experience.
Opportunities for puppetry: In additional to the traditional puppet boy Pinocchio, who can be portrayed by an actor or a puppet, theatres can add any number of marionettes to fill out this puppet-palooza!
by Rick Riordan, Rob Rokicki and Joe Tracz (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 7 any gender + ensemble)
When teenager Percy Jackson discovers he’s a demigod, he and his friends embark on an epic journey to find Zeus’ missing lightning bolt and prevent a war among the gods.
Opportunities for puppetry: Monsters of myth and legend – from the three-headed dog Cerberus to the Minotaur to the mother-of-all-monsters Echidna and her chimera – can be brought to theatrical life through the dynamic use of puppets.
by PigPen Theatre Co. (US/UK) – Also available for 26 actors in a Large Cast Edition (US)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 7 any gender + ensemble)
A fantastic, grandiose and moving musical adventure about an old man who must abandon his duties of filling up the moon with light to cross the seas in search of his missing wife.
Opportunities for puppetry: Much of the travel in this show can be dramatized through use of shadow puppetry, as can a few characters like Mabelu’s precious dog, Lucy.
For dozens of additional ideas, check out Shows Featuring Puppetry on Breaking Character.
Operation Mincemeat Announces Full 2026–27 North American Tour Dates by Sophia Rubino, Broadway.com | The Broadway hit begins its North American run in September 2026, with additional international stops planned worldwide. Read…
New musical at Colony Theatre Examines Millennials, Motherhood and Social Media by Tara Lynn Wagner, Spectrum News | ”We’ve been told our entire lives that we’re killing everything,” Nico Juber said. So Juber created a brand-new musical aptly called Millennials Are Killing Musicals. Read…
Paulo Szot, Taylor Louderman, Joan Almedilla, More Will Star in Muny South Pacific by Andrew Gans, Playbill | William Carlos Angulo will direct the production. Read…
Kiss of the Spider Woman; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown Set for Encores! 2027 by David Gordon, TheaterMania | New York City Center’s 2026-27 season of programming has been announced. Read…
a.k. payne on Furlough’s Paradise: Rupture and Ritual by Amy Herzog, American Theatre | Playwright a.k. payne talks to fellow writer Amy Herzog about their new play about abolition, family and how to hold the past in the present. Read…
Coming next week… a special Tony Awards issue of The Scene!
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