6 Philly Shows I'm Excited for in 2026 (and one in NYC too)
The new year brings a slew of new productions throughout the city of brotherly love: these are the shows at local companies that I am looking forward to the most!
2025 was a wonderful year for theatre, and 2026 is shaping up to delight in a similar vein. Philadelphia area theaters are gearing up to announce their 2026/2027 seasons, but we still have the remainder of the current season ahead of us, with several exciting shows to look forward to. Below you’ll find six shows in the Philadelphia region that I’m personally excited for, and one from New York, for a little extra added Broadway-pizazz!
Wilderness Generation at Philadelphia Theatre Company
“A World Premiere play by the Pulitzer Prize winning James Ijames”, should be enough of a sentence to send you straight to the Philadelphia Theatre Company’s box office. Ijames’ work is chock full of amazing dialogue and richly defined characters, and this story of five cousins reuniting at their grandmothers house is sure to have both. Directed by PTC Artistic Director Taibi Magar, this production will likely be one you’ll hear talked about in the future, so it has the added hipster benefit of Philly audiences being able to say we saw it before it was super popular.
Wilderness Generation runs from April 10th-May 3rd 2026. For tickets and information click here.
Proof at Act 2 Playhouse
The 2001 Pulitzer Prize winning play, about a daughter’s obsession with her father’s legacy and her own genius, is getting a fresh production at the Act 2 Playhouse in Ambler. Kate Brennan directs the production that is stacked with a talented cast of local favorites (Jenna Kuerzi, Adam Howard, Megan McDermott and Scott Langdon). The intimate space at Act 2 is the perfect setting for this story. This fresh take will no doubt be a hit with audiences, and remind us all why this play is so good.
Proof runs from January 27th-March 1st, 2026 at Act 2 Playhouse. For more information, tickets and more visit here.
The White Chip at New Light Theatre
One of Philadelphia’s youngest theatre companies, New Light Theatre has a wonderful mission statement. For each production, they partner with a local charity that aligns with an aspect of the production. Their upcoming production of Sean Daniels’ The White Chip is no different. For this show, they’ve partnered with atTAck Addiction, whose mission is to raise awareness about substance abuse disorder, and offer aid and advice for families and individuals. The show, a frantically honest depiction of a man’s journey to sobriety, is sure to be a hit, with two of Philadelphia’s finest artists at the helm as co-directors: Charlie DelMarcelle and Allison Heishman.
The White Chip plays OperaDelaware Studios from March 6-15, 2026. Information, tickets and links to resources can be found here.
Romeo & Juliet at The Arden Theatre Company
The Arden Theatre Company in Olde City has a tried and true track record of fantastic productions. This season, they’ve decided to produce one of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays: Romeo & Juliet. This new production, directed by multiple Barrymore Award winning director Amina Robinson, will undoubtedly be a bold new take on the classic. Robinson’s work on shows such as The Color Purple at Theatre Horizon and Once On This Island at the Arden has been lauded, almost reaching a legendary status, which signals a strong and vibrant interpretation of the Shakespeare classic coming our way this year.
Romeo & Juliet runs at the Arden Theatre Company from March 5th -April 5th, 2026. For more information and a link to tickets, click here.
Blues for an Alabama Sky at The Lantern Theater Company
Philadelphia theaters have been examining the Harlem Renaissance a fair bit in recent seasons, with EgoPo Classic Theatre centering their whole 2022/2023 season around it, and Quintessence Theatre presenting the original work Fire! as their season opener in 2025. The Lantern Theater in Center City is next to explore this pivotal time in American history with the Philadelphia premiere of Blues for an Alabama Sky. Pearl Cleage’s drama is set to be directed by Philadelphia favorite Brett Ashley Robinson, and boasts an extremely talented cast (Cookie Diorio, Kash Goins, Tariq Kanu, Taylor J. Mitchell and Ebony Pullum) that are guaranteed to turn in top-notch performances.
Blues for an Alabama Sky runs from February 12- March 15th, 2026. Information and tickets can be found here.
Marsha Blovotnick & the Marvelous Magical Chicken Soup at Theatre Ariel
Playwright Dan Kitrosser has become a favorite of queer Philadelphians with their frenetic fringe solo shows including Karen Tenderness in Queer Window! and Smooth: a solo queer noir musical, bitch. Kitrosser, also an award winning screenwriter, is presenting a new play with Theatre Ariel this year. This play, about an angry Leftist, Jewish lesbian visited by a ghost with a magical soup, is sure to be a wonderful concoction of Kitrosser’s campy humor and tender reflective lens. Like soup, it sounds like a remedy for just about any ailment!
Marsha Blovotnick & the Marvelous Magical Chicken Soup runs at the Bluver Theatre at the Drake from March 7-22nd, 2026. Tickets and more information can be found here.
Cats The Jellicle Ball
I know. I KNOW. It’s Cats. But hear me out…
The show in NYC that I am most excited to try and see this year is none other than CATS The Jellicle Ball! Moving to Broadway after a sold out, extended run at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, this re-imagining of the oft-maligned Andrew Lloyd Webber musical sets the action amidst the fabulous NYC Ballroom scene. A bold new take on this material is long overdue, as the original design and concept has now become more of a joke, rather than the influential shift in musical theatre that it originally was. In addition, the centering of a show like this in a setting that has a huge amount of prominence and relevance to queer and marginalized history delights my soul.
Broadway previews begin March 18th. Tickets and more information can be found here.
There’s lots of theatre happening throughout the city in this new year, and this piece is by no means an exhaustive list of shows that I’m wanting to see. Make sure to check out the local theaters near you and support the ones closest to you! See a show you’ve never heard of: you never know what you might fall in love with!