2026 Fall Arts Preview

Summer’s over, alas, and yeah, we’re bracing ourselves for the onslaught of nastiness surrounding the mid-term elections. But don’t despair. Keep your heads up, your hopes higher and when you need some additional uplift, just look at what’s ahead entertainment-wise this fall in Connecticut.

From The Wiz to Hell’s Kitchen, from Sting to Graham Nash, from Samara Joy to Mt. Joy, Connecticut has a cornucopia-full of performing artists that will add even more color to our autumn foliage. The range is enormous and covers all regions of the state so get your calendars out and get ready to circle some prime dates. 

Go to ‘Hell’

The hit Broadway musical on tour is now called Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen—and why not, since the singer-songwriter composed the score for the musical’s story, which was based on her own life growing up in Manhattan. The tour of the Tony Award-winning show lands at The Bushnell’s Mortensen Hall (hartfordhall.net) in Hartford December 8 to 16. Fans of Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson can catch him in concert with his The Guy from That Thing show. Jackson is a popular draw for anyone who loves Broadway and sexy male crooners. There is one more can’t-miss event; the hysterical Broadway comedy Oh, Mary! will prepare to launch its national tour with performances September 19 to 23.

Nobody beats The Wiz

Early October has two terrific shows at the Shubert Theatre (shubert.com) in New Haven: one that will make your heart soar and the other that will make your sides split with laughter. First up from October 1 to 4 is the national tour of the latest Broadway revival of The Wiz. The 1975 musical—an African American take on the The Wizard of Oz— has a first-rate score of funk, pop, R&B, soul, gospel and rock that will have audiences, yes, easing down the road. Then on October 5, David Sedaris, a humorist who has a unique and irreverent point of view, will share his latest twisty and very funny stories.

No Anchovies, Please

A musical with Connecticut roots— kind of —comes to Waterbury’s Palace Theatre (palacetheaterct.org). Mystic Pizza is a musical based on the 1988 rom-com film, which was shot and set in Mystic, and launched the career of Julia Roberts. The show centers on three working-class girls who navigate the complexities of life, love and family in a small-town pizza joint serving everyone from the townies to the privileged country club set. The touring show plays October 2 to 4.

More than Potatoes

Samuel D. Hunter has made most of his career exploring his home turf of Idaho. His latest work is Little Bear Ridge Road, which was recently nominated for a Tony Award for outstanding new play. Following its off-location successes with Circus Fire and Sweeney Todd, TheaterWorks Hartford (twhartford.org) fans return to its Pearl Street stage with this play about a razor-tongued aunt and her long-estranged gay nephew navigating their new relationship. The production runs from October 8 to November 8.

The Original ‘Lost Boy’

It seems that Hartford Stage (hartfordstage.org) is on a bloody good run. Following this summer’s ‘Sweeney Todd,” the theater will next sink its teeth (sorry) into the American premiere of Morgan Lloyd’s new adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The London hit was praised for its nerve-shredding tension and striking contemporary lens, stripping the legendary myth to its psychological core. Sounds like a perfect pre-Halloween treat. The production runs from October 9 to November 1.

A Legendary Session

It already looks like a million-dollar hit. West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park (playhouseonpark.org) has already extended its fall production of the rock and roll musical Million Dollar Quartet from September 24 to now November 2. The musical tells the real-life tale when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins were brought together on a December evening in 1956 at Sun Records. The result? One of the greatest jam sessions of all time. The tunes? Oh, how about a score of chart-topping hits, like “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Fever,” “Walk the Line” and “Great Balls of Fire,” for starters. Toes tapping yet? 

Coming Full Circle

Need another recording session? Well, this one is also a kind of a homecoming. August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom returns to New Haven’s Yale Repertory Theatre (yalerep.org) where the play had its world premiere in 1982. This work began Wilson’s relationship with the “Rep” and its artistic director Lloyd Richards. It also was a high-profile launch of Wilson’s 10-play, decade-by-decade cycle chronicling the 20th century African American experience. Set in a Chicago recording studio in 1920s with real-life blues singer Ma Rainey recording her latest song, the play explores issues of race, art, religion and the exploitation of Black recording artists by white producers. The production runs from October 2 to 24. 

A Historic Return

Has it really been 50 years since the world premiere of the musical Annie at the Goodspeed Opera House (goodspeed.org) in East Haddam? navigating their new relationship. The production runs from October 8 to November 8.

The Original ‘Lost Boy’

It seems that Hartford Stage The Original ‘Lost Boy’

It seems that Hartford Stage (hartfordstage.org) is on a bloody good run. Following this summer’s ‘Sweeney Todd,” the theater will next sink its teeth (sorry) into the American premiere of Morgan Lloyd’s new adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The London hit was praised for its nerve-shredding tension and striking contemporary lens, stripping the legendary myth to its psychological core. Sounds like a perfect pre-Halloween treat. The production runs from October 9 to November 1.

A Legendary Session

It already looks like a million-dollar hit. West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park (playhouseonpark.org) has already extended its fall production of the rock and roll musical Million Dollar Quartet from September 24 to now November 2. The musical tells the real-life tale when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins were brought together on a December evening in 1956 at Sun Records. The result? One of the greatest jam sessions of all time. The tunes? Oh, how about a score of chart-topping hits, like “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Fever,” “Walk the Line” and “Great Balls of Fire,” for starters. Toes tapping yet? 

Coming Full Circle

Need another recording session? Well, this one is also a kind of a homecoming. August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom returns to New Haven’s Yale Repertory Theatre (yalerep.org) where the play had its world premiere in 1982. This work began Wilson’s relationship with the “Rep” and its artistic director Lloyd Richards. It also was a high-profile launch of Wilson’s 10-play, decade-by-decade cycle chronicling the 20th century African American experience. Set in a Chicago recording studio in 1920s with real-life blues singer Ma Rainey recording her latest song, the play explores issues of race, art, religion and the exploitation of Black recording artists by white producers. The production runs from October 2 to 24. 

A Historic Return

Has it really been 50 years since the world premiere of the musical Annie at the Goodspeed Opera House (goodspeed.org) in East Haddam? The musical went on to become a Broadway and worldwide phenomenon—and a bonanza for the nonprofit theater. Goodspeed Musicals notes the special anniversary with a greatly anticipated revival. It even has famed animal trainer Bill Berloni — who began his career with Annie in 1976 — returning to find the latest pound dog to star as Annie’s pooch Sandy. The show runs from October 30 to December 27. Goodspeed continues the tradition of premiering musicals with The Snow Goose, based on the beloved novel by Paul Gallico, which is now running through October 18.  

A Different Price

Arthur Miller’s The Price will be seen through the lens of an Asian-American family in a Long Wharf Theatre production presented at Branford’s Legacy Theatre November 5 to 22. Ralph B. Pena, who staged Long Wharf’s impressive The Chinese Lady, returns to direct this American classic. (longwharf.org)

Happy Feet

Dance lovers can catch Ailey II–The Next Generation of Dance at the Westport Country Playhouse (westportplayhouse.org) on September 24. Early-career dance talent—both as exciting performers and as emerging choreographers—are featured in a company whose history goes back decades. Francesca Harper sits at the helm in her sixth season as artistic director of the young company from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, bringing fresh perspectives to Ailey’s legacy, while nurturing new creative talent.

Nice Ice

Montreal-based Le Patin Libre is an ice capade of an entirely different sort. The group has spent years reimagining what skating can be—stripping it of competition and showmanship and turning it into something tender, unexpected, and deeply human. The group plays the Yale Schwarzman Center in New Haven, transforming the epic Commons into a roller rink, “blurring the line between performer and audience in a way that is equal parts dance, theater, and pure joy.”   All levels of skating ability and ages are welcome to become part of the show.
This special event takes place
September 10. (schwarzman.yale.edu)

Norm!

Want to catch Broadway stars performing in an intimate setting? Following on the heels of such Tony-licious stars as Matt Doyle and Beth Leavel is Emmy, Grammy, Tony and SAG Award nominee Norm Lewis, (Porgy and Bess, The Phantom of the Opera, TV’s Scandal) performing at the 75-seat Legacy Theatre (legacytheatrect.org) in the Stony Creek section of Branford on October 25.

Not Forgotten, Dramatically

More than 11,000 women served in some capacity during the Vietnam war. Shirley Lauro’s A Piece of My Heart—which plays at Ivoryton Playhouse (ivorytonplayhouse.org) in Essex October 1 to 25—is a poignant drama. It follows the true stories of six women—nurses, a Red Cross volunteer and an entertainer—who served in Vietnam. Their stories and their music are powerful and remind us
of the human cost of war and the scars that remain.

The Famous Singers You’ve Never Heard Of

Singer-songwriter Barry Manilow spent years working on his musical Harmony and it finally it opened on Broadway a few years back. I saw it and it was terrific, though short-lived. It’s a richly melodic—and yes, harmonic—show telling of the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, a groundbreaking six-man vocal group that rose from obscurity in 1920s Berlin to become one of the world’s most celebrated musical acts—only to be torn apart as the shadow of the Third Reich closed in. Westport’s Music Theatre of Connecticut (musictheatreopfct.com) presents its production running September 11 to 27.

Where is Thy Sting?

Want to hear Sting more intimately? His Sting 3.0 tour—his long-running concert series launched in 2024 and continuing through this year—is built around a stripped-down trio format (with Dominic Miller and Chris Maas). Songs from his The Police era (“Roxanne,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Message in a Bottle”) as well as his solo hits (“Fields of Gold,” “Englishman in New York”) are re-imagined in a more personal and rhythm-driven way. It’s less a nostalgia show and more like a modern reinterpretation of his entire catalog. The tour will stop at Wallingford’s Toyota Oakdale Theatre (toyotaoakdaletheatre.com) on November 9.

Reggaeton’s King

Don Omar, Puerto Rican reggaeton pioneer, singer and performer—widely considered one of the key architects of the genre’s global rise in the 2000s—brings his arena tour to Hartford’s People’s Bank Arena (peoplesbankarena.com) on September 27. Omar’s shows aren’t so much concerts as high-energy reggaeton productions. This legacy tour highlights Omar’s role in shaping reggaeton from its early underground era into a global mainstream genre.

Family Reunion, Kind Of

The real-life inspiration behind the hit television series The Partridge Family were The Cowsills—teen siblings Bill, Bob, Barry, John, Susan and Paul in tandem with mom Barbara—who were from Newport, R.I. They were one of the biggest pop acts of the late ‘60s, scoring a series of hits with their gorgeous harmonies and sunny melodies, including “The Rain, the Park and Other Things,” “Indian Lake,” “Hair,” and the theme song for the TV show “Love, American Style.” The Cowsills Trio Show plays September 22 at Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center (theKate.org) in Old Saybrook.

Eurovision Meets Disney

English singer, songwriter and actress Freya Skye first gained international attention at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with her song “Lose My Head,” winning the online public vote. Then the teen became a Disney-signed recording artist and Disney TV/film actress, making her film debut in Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires. (She’ll reprise her role as Nova Bright in “Zombies 5” in 2027.) Now she’s on tour singing songs from her latest EP and will be at the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheatre (hartfordhealthcareamp.com) on October 9.

Linger Awhile More

Joy abounds, especially when the sublime Samara Joy sings. The young artist has emerged as one of the great singers of the 2020s. She earned praise for her 2021 debut solo album. The next year, she won a Grammy not only for best jazz vocal album, but as best new artist—the first time a traditional jazz singer has won that category. “A Joyful Holiday” last year earned her a few more Grammy awards. Her latest Verve album, “Portrait,” showcases the intimate, soulful chemistry she’s developed with her touring band. She and her septet will be at the Ridgefield Playhouse (ridgefieldplayhouse.org) on September 20.

Yet More Joy

The breakout single “Astrovan” in 2017, which spread widely on streaming platforms, launched the touring career of Mt. Joy, the American indie rock/indie folk band. Its touring life continues and the group will be performing on September 22 at the Westville Music Bowl (westvillemusicbowl.com) in New Haven. The group’s live shows are known for their energetic, extended performances that often lean into jam-band territory so be prepared to get in the groove.

Not So Far Away

Another kind of music is celebrated in the musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical running from September 22 to October 22 at A Contemporary Theatre (actofct.org) in Ridgefield. The jukebox musical, which had a five-year run on Broadway, depicts King’s songwriting career from her hiring at Aldon Music in 1958 to her debut performance in 1971, and includes her marriage to collaborator Gerry Goffin and their friendships with collaborators Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.

The Perfect Strum

Could the ukulele finally be getting it’s due? Jake Shimabukuro thinks so. After all, the ukulele virtuoso has pushed the instrument far beyond its traditional boundaries and has collaborated with such musical legends as Bette Midler, Yo-Yo Ma and Jimmy Buffett. (His jaw-dropping rendition of George Harrison’s “While my Guitar Gently Weeps” went viral.) He returns to the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts (jorgensen.uconn.edu) on the UConn campus in Storrs on October 10. (Leis are optional.)

That Signature Grrrrrowl

Tom Jones—make that Sir Tom Jones—brings his throaty baritone and trunk-load of hits (“It’s Not Unusual,” “What’s New Pussycat,” “Delilah,” “She’s A Lady,” “Green Green Grass of Home”) from his six-decade-long, 100-million-records career to Foxwoods’ Premier Theater (foxwoods.com) on September 27. The New York Times called the Welsh superstar “a musical shapeshifter…with a voice as husky as it was pretty,” noting his massive range which encompasses pop, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, soul and gospel. At 86, the man still has the moves, growl and charisma.

Rush Tickets

When drummer Neil Peart died in 2020, the hard/progressive rock group Rush, formed in 1968 in Toronto, looked like it was finis. But Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson recently reunited to reform the group, known for its virtuoso musicianship and smart lyrics. Its Fifty-Something Tour, celebrating more than a half-century of the band’s music—while honoring Peart’s legacy, arrives at Mohegan Sun Arena (mohegansun.com) on October 30 and November 1. The men will be joined by Anika Nilles on drums and Loren Gold on keyboards and no doubt playing “Tom Sawyer,” “Limelight” and “The Spirit of Radio,” a few of its most popular songs. 

Generational Rock Mix

Musical reunion tours fill the fall and New Haven’s College Street Music Hall (collegestreetmusichall.com) has one great gathering of stars from the ‘60s and ‘80s: the English group and MTV fixture The Fixx (“One Thing Leads to Another”), Colin Blunstone (lead singer of The Zombies, think “Time of the Season”) and Peter Asher on September 26. Asher was half of the British Invasion duo Peter & Gordon (“A World Without Love”), but his greatest impact came later as a Grammy-winning record producer and manager. (Bet the backstage stories are something.)

Details of a Life Remembered

Multiple Obie Award-winning theater artist Ain Gordon and composer-writer Josh Quillen will bring their extraordinary theater-music work “Relics and Their Humans” to Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts (quickcenter.fairfield.edu) on November 13 and 14. The show is a theatrical and musical journey to the Quillen family home in Dover, Ohio. It covers a three-year odyssey of caregiving following a diagnosis of ALS for Josh’s father, Jerry. As The New York Times’ Ben Brantley wrote: “Gordon haunts the margins of history…conjuring the sort of distant lives that don’t make it into textbooks, processed into oblivion by what he calls history’s ‘ruthless editing machine.’”

Killer Comics

Stars from the wildly popular live podcast Kill Tony hit the road and arrive with Killers of ‘Kill Tony’ at Stamford’s Palace Theatre (palacetheaterct.org) on October 23. The show is a standup lineup featuring fan favorites from one of the top live podcasts in the world. This gathering showcases the diverse talent pool of comedians—David Lucas, Martin Phillips, Ahren Belisle and David Jolly—who have enlivened the podcast with their wit, humor and unique comedic styles. 

Randy Travis Redux

Randy Travis is one of country music’s biggest stars but, in 2013, he suffered a massive stroke. Technology has helped him release new music using carefully supervised AI recreations of his voice. The Randy Travis: The More Life Tour features Travis and James Dupré, his co-star in “The Price.” Travis’ long-time touring band will rejoin Travis on the road for the first time since 2013. Their show, which will play October 1 at Garde Arts Center (gardearts.org) in New London, will consist of Dupré and the band performing all 16 of Travis’ hits. Travis will make a special appearance, engaging with the audience and taking part in the show, though not singing.

More Close Harmonies

Think Woodstock, Laurel Canyon and the Summer of Love and Graham Nash will be one of the legendary figures that will come to mind. First with The Hollies, then with Crosby, Stills and Nash (“Marrakesh Express,” “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”), then with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (“Our House,” “Ohio”), Nash has also had an impressive solo career. The two-time inductee of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame returns to Connecticut in concert on September 20 at Torrington’s Warner Theatre (warnertheatre.org). 

Good Rap

R&B / hip-hop singer-rapper Bryson Tiller returns to large-scale touring behind new music and the 10-year legacy of TRAPSOUL for a stop at Hartford’s Meadows Music Theatre (meadowsmusictheatre.com) on September 23. The rapper and R&B singer from Louisville, Ky. has had quite the career trajectory. His career began with a 2011 mixtape, followed in 2014 by a single “Don’t,” which was recorded in his living room. That became a surprise online success leading to his 2015 debut album which earned him the first of his four Grammy Award nominations.