By Lauren Emily Whalen
This month, find drama beyond your local elections and Thanksgiving dinner tables. Our November regional theater picks include a behind-the-scenes play set in the world of classical music, a fresh take on a contemporary song cycle, and a brand-new interactive experience focusing on radical connection and joy.
Add an original score by Cyndi Lauper and the 30th anniversary of a seminal work by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, and this month’s lineup proves theater is the ultimate escape. Because sometimes the best way to process the madness of November is by watching other people’s drama unfold onstage.
‘Amadeus,’ Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Was famous (and famously wild) composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart the original enfant terrible? His frenemy and rival, Antonio Salieri, would respond with a resounding YES. Former Goodman Theatre artistic director Robert Falls brings his vision of Peter Shaffer’s Tony and Academy Award-winning Amadeus to another Windy City powerhouse: Steppenwolf Theatre Company. With Steppenwolf ensemble member Ian Barford (Broadway’s The Minutes and August: Osage County) starring as the tortured and vengeful Salieri, this production is sure to have you asking: Is the price of genius worth it?
Performances through January 11, 2026. Chicago, IL
‘Working Girl,’ La Jolla Playhouse
With the glut of incoming movies-to-musicals (including the recent The Queen of Versailles and Romy & Michele), an adaptation of the 1988 office Cinderella story feels inevitable. La Jolla Playhouse’s Working Girl musical boasts an all-star lineup: an original score by 80s icon Cyndi Lauper, a book from acclaimed playwright Theresa Rebeck (Bernhardt/Hamlet), and direction from Tony winner Christopher Ashley (Come From Away). Don your best shoulder-padded suit, spray your hair high, and strap on your sneakers for the commute—but don’t forget your high heels!
Performances through December 7, 2025. San Diego, CA
It wants better content.
‘The Last Five Years,’ NextStop Theatre
Heartbreak feels good in Jason Robert Brown’s capable hands. The Last Five Years has been emotionally devastating theater fans for almost 25 years and has spawned all-star revivals featuring Broadway and pop culture luminaries, as well as a film adaptation starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. A London concert staging with Ben Platt and Rachel Zegler was just announced, but if you can’t make it to London, head to NextStop Theatre for this two-hander, dual-timeline song cycle about marriage, divorce, and the many moments in between.
Performances through November 23, 2025. Herndon, VA
‘The Happiness Gym,’ Mixed Blood Theatre
For a unique immersive experience (and a whole 90 minutes free of doomscrolling!), check out National New Play Network’s rolling world premiere at Mixed Blood Theatre. Based on an original concept by Ken Weitzman and driven by scientific research, The Happiness Gym embraces joy as an act both radical and essential to everyone. Put down your phone (the 24/7 news cycle will still be there after curtain call) and prepare for interactive exercises that inspire connection, gratitude, and positivity. All performances are sensory-friendly.
Performances through December 7, 2025. Minneapolis, MN
‘Crumbs From the Table of Joy,’ Crossroads Theatre Company
Crossroads Theatre Company revisits Lynn Nottage’s Crumbs From the Table of Joy 30 years after its premiere. Teenage Ernestina relocates from Brooklyn to Florida with her family after her mother’s death. While processing devastating grief in new surroundings, Ernestina and her sister must also contend with two new figures in their lives: staunchly progressive Aunt Lily and their father’s new wife, Gerte, a white immigrant from Germany. Set during the second wave of the Great Migration, this coming-of-age story still resonates.
Performances through November 23, 2025. New Brunswick, NJ
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