Announcing Our 2026-27 Season

Friends,

This year’s season features a wonderful mix of new voices, Next Act veterans and theatrical powerhouses. Each of the four plays we have chosen leads with heart while engaging complex issues and thought-provoking themes.

We will kick off our subscription slate with a funny and heartfelt play about two passionate teenagers navigating the trials and tribulations of finding yourself in the world, something audiences of all ages can relate to. We are also thrilled to mount a World Premiere play by Wisconsin playwright Heidi Armbruster that chronicles the rise and fall of the Ringling Brothers. This play with music is, I believe, a can’t-miss experience for Milwaukee audiences.

Additionally, I am delighted to revive a Tony Award-nominated contemporary classic that is provocative, hilarious and deeply touching. We will close out the season with a brilliant script by an up-and-coming voice in the American theatre that offers jaw-dropping performances in a play celebrating the fine art of drag.

Together, these four productions create a season that is joyful, daring, entertaining and unmistakably Next Act.

Yours,

Cody Estle

Trayf

By Lindsay Joelle | Directed by Elyse Edelman

Wisconsin Premiere

September 16 – October 4, 2026

In 1990s New York City, Orthodox Jewish teens and lifelong best friends Zalmy and Shmuel are intent on saving the world from behind the wheel of their “Mitzvah Tank” van. But when a curious outsider deepens Zalmy’s interest in the secular world of rock and roll and roller skates, Shmuel will have to do everything in his power to keep his and Zalmy’s dreams intact. This road-trip bromance is a funny and heartwarming ode to the turbulence of youth, the universal suspicion that we don’t quite fit in and the faith and friends that see us through.

Featuring A.J. Magoon and Rachael Zientek

More casting to be announced!

The Boys from Baraboo

By Heidi Armbruster | Directed by Cody Estle

World Premiere

December 2 – 20, 2026

Comedy! Songs! Entertainment! Step right up as Heidi Armbruster chronicles the rise and fall of the Ringling Brothers: five boys from Baraboo, Wisconsin. The story of their circus—the greatest show on Earth—is bookended by the brothers’ scrappy beginnings and difficult ends. THE BOYS FROM BARABOO tells the uniquely American story of a death-defying entertainment empire: music, storytelling, grit and charm create a tale that’s equal parts vaudeville revue and prestige drama.

Featuring Laura Gordon and Brian Mani

More casting to be announced!

This production is part of World Premiere Wisconsin, a statewide festival celebrating new plays and musicals running throughout 2026. To learn more visit www.worldpremierewisconsin.com.

In The Next Room or the vibrator play

By Sarah Ruhl | Directed by Laura Rook

February 17 – March 7, 2027

In a seemingly perfect, well-to-do Victorian home, proper gentleman and scientist Dr. Givings has innocently invented an extraordinary new device for treating “hysteria” in women (and occasionally men): the vibrator. Adjacent to the doctor’s laboratory, his young wife tries to tend to their newborn daughter—and wonders what exactly is going on in the next room. From Sarah Ruhl, one of the most influential playwrights of this century, comes a smart, classy and electrifying comedy about longing, intimacy and what it truly means to love someone.

Featuring Dee Dee Batteast, Maggie Cramer and Elyse Edelman

More casting to be announced!

At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen