There’s no business like show business, and Cleveland is ready for “curtains up” this theater season. From upbeat musicals to existential scares, there’s a little something for everyone.
The orchestra pit is warming up. Time to take your seat. It’s “curtains up” in The Land.
Downtown dazzles with the return of the KeyBank Broadway Series at Playhouse Square. Follow the yellow brick road to “The Wiz” (Oct. 3–22). For all you hip, old grannies, “Mrs. Doubtfire” graces the stage Jan. 9–28, 2024. Or hop in your DeLorean to get to “Back to the Future: The Musical” (June 11–July 7, 2024).
108 looks good on you, Cleveland Play House. A resident company of Playhouse Square, celebrate over a century of excellence at America’s first professional regional theatre with ”Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” (Oct. 21–November 12) as your Halloween treat. Embrace the chaos at “The Play That Goes Wrong” (Feb.10–March 3, 2024). And temperatures rise at Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” (May 11–June 9, 2024).
Music director Franz Welser-Möst has been doing his thing with the globally-acclaimed Cleveland Orchestra for two decades — and it shows. Watch him conduct Mahler's Song of the Night Oct. 12-13, before he takes a well-deserved break to focus on his health. Renowned pianist Cyrus Chestnut performs “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on Dec. 8. Looking for a little nostalgia? Catch “The Princess Bride” on Feb. 16, 2024.
Named for the Swahili term for “joyful gathering place,” Karamu House is a vibrant performing arts hub that honors the Black experience. This season’s lineup includes “The Breakfast at the Bookstore” (Jan. 26–Feb. 18, 2024), “It Happened in Atlanta” (March 8-31, 2024), and “Choir Boy” (April 26–May 19, 2024).
In its 300-seat, state-of-the-art venue in the Gordon Square Arts District, Near West Theatre stages stunning intergenerational musicals like “The Prom” (April 12–28, 2024).
Also based in Gordon Square, Cleveland Public Theatre is well-known for adventurous, experimental stage productions such as “Alter” (Feb. 8–24, 2024), which follows a customer service rep who hypnotizes herself to be more confident. CPT also houses Teatro Publico de Cleveland, a local Latino theatre company that produces works in Spanish with English subtitles.
Over in Lakewood, Beck Center for the Arts offers theatre for all ages, from musicals and dramas to comedies on two separate stages. This season’s wrap-up is “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” which you can see Dec. 1–30 this year.
Known for premiering acclaimed contemporary plays, Dobama Theatre is Cleveland’s beloved off-Broadway stage located in Cleveland Heights. The 2023/2024 season starts with “Make Believe” (Oct. 6–29) and concludes with “Significant Other” (April 26–May 19, 2024).