Broadway is coasting through summer, with Broadway Week (aka discount tickets!) looming just around the corner. But who says you can’t enjoy some fresh air with that showtune? Regional theaters and summer playhouses across the country have plenty to offer this August, with some of our favorite Broadway stars getting out of the concrete jungle for a few weeks of theater-making magic.
‘High Society’ at Ogunquit Playhouse, Maine
Broadway’s loss is Ogunquit Playhouse‘s gain this summer, with a starry cast appearing in Cole Porter’s High Society. Wasn’t it just a blink of an eye since Robyn Hurder (Smash) and Andrew Durand (Dead Outlaw) were hustling to their respective Broadway theaters? Unfortunately, the business of show shuttered them prematurely. We say “C’Est Magniguqe” for the Maine playhouse that’s been producing summer theater for nearly a century.
Performances through August 23, 2025. Ogunquit, ME
‘La Cage aux Folles’ at the Muny, St. Louis
The Muny in St. Louis has long been a home for Broadway actors to cut their teeth on dream roles, with a time commitment that won’t inhibit other projects. With an 11-day rehearsal period, everyone brings their A-game. But that doesn’t mean scripts are in hand or the sets are still wet (well, maybe a bit if it’s humid). The American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League presented the Muny with the 2025 Regional Theater Tony Award, so all eyes are on this monumental season, including an exciting revival of La Cage aux Folles. The production stars Norm Lewis (Porgy and Bess, The Phantom of the Opera) as Georges, and Michael James Scott (Aladdin) as Albin, the longtime lovers and cabaret owners who face a family reckoning when their son becomes engaged to a politician’s daughter.
Performances August 8 through 14, 2025. St. Louis, MO
‘Play On!’ at Signature Theatre, Arlington
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is having a moment. In New York City, the Public Theater presents the comedy as a spectacular reopening of the Delacorte Theater in Central Park after nearly two years of renovations. But down the Patomic River in Arlington, Virginia, Signature Theatre offers a rarely seen musical gem. Play On! features the music of Duke Ellington, setting Shakespeare’s comedy about love and mistaken identity in 1930s Harlem.
Performances from August 12 through October 5, 2025. Signature Theatre, Arlington, VA
‘A New Brain’ at PrideArts, Chicago
The theater world mourned the passing of celebrated composer William Finn this spring. But his work lives on, including PrideArts‘ staging of Finn and James Lapine’s A New Brain. Finn based the musical on his real-life experience surviving AVM, an abnormal jumble of arteries and veins in the brain. The result? A witty exploration of the value of time, relationships, and the power of creative expression.
Performances from August 25 through September 14, 2025. Chicago, IL
‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland
Director Desdemona Chiang transports Oscar Wilde’s sharp-tongued comedy of manners to the British Malay Peninsula, incorporating cultural and social cues from the region’s South Asian, Chinese, and English communities. “Like Wilde’s original conception, this is lighter fare, playful and fun and frothy,” wrote Ashland.news, “but the zing of critique adds a little spice to this confection, and these players serve it up well.” The fresh take on Victorian-era courtship provides a much-needed boost of AAPI visibility, given the casting firestorm surrounding Broadway’s Maybe Happy Ending.
Performances in repertory through October 25, 2025, Ashland, OR
‘Ginger Twinsies’ turns ‘The Parent Trap’ into high camp heaven
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