Enticing offerings can always be found onstage, if you’re so inclined to search, but there’s no time like the spring for an embarrassment of theatrical riches to hit the Mid-Atlantic. Revered revivals and promising premieres, A-list stars and esteemed thespians, campy shtick and intellectual exercises — all can be discovered in D.C., New York and beyond in the coming months.
‘Inherit the Wind’
Arena Stage is mounting Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee’s archetypal courtroom drama, which fictionalizes the 1925 Scopes trial and the enduring conversations it sparked around science, religion and intellectual freedom. This in-the-round revival stars the venerable Dakin Matthews (“Gilmore Girls”) as the bigwig lawyer prosecuting a schoolteacher accused of teaching evolution, while Broadway veteran Billy Eugene Jones plays the scapegoated educator’s crusading defense attorney. Feb. 27-April 5, Arena Stage, Washington. arenastage.org.
‘Death of a Salesman’
Is it ever too soon to reexamine a classic? Just three years after Wendell Pierce led a “Death of a Salesman” revival on Broadway, Nathan Lane joins the Willy Loman legacy in a starry production of Arthur Miller’s anti-capitalist critique. Laurie Metcalf — coming off a sensational turn in “Little Bear Ridge Road” last fall — makes a rapid return to the stage in a cast that also includes Christopher Abbott (“Poor Things”) and Ben Ahlers (“The Gilded Age”). March 6-Aug. 9, Winter Garden Theatre, New York. salesmanbroadway.com.
‘Dog Day Afternoon’
Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, both Emmy winners for “The Bear,” step into Al Pacino and John Cazale’s sizable shoes as flailing bank robbers in this stage spin on Sidney Lumet’s famed film. “Judy” director Rupert Goold oversees the sweltering hostage drama, which has been adapted by Stephen Adly Guirgis, the Pulitzer-winning playwright of “Between Riverside and Crazy.” Although the play retains the 1972 setting, Guirgis has updated the text to more deeply explore the source material’s themes of queer and transgender identity. March 10-July 12, August Wilson Theatre, New York. dogdayafternoon.
‘Jonah’
Rachel Bonds wrote this mind-bender about a boarding school student (Ismenia Mendes) whose encounter with the titular classmate (Rohan Maletira) sends her on a time-hopping, decades-spanning exploration of fury and fortitude. Director Taylor Reynolds, whose credits include deft productions of “Fat Ham” at Studio Theatre and “Primary Trust” at Signature Theatre, oversees the D.C. premiere of a play that earned critical acclaim for its 2024 off-Broadway run. March 11-April 19, Studio Theatre, Washington. studiotheatre.org.
‘1776’
The semiquincentennial has prompted dueling productions of Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone’s 1969 musical about the political jockeying that preceded the Declaration of Independence. At Ford’s Theatre, Luis Salgado directs a revival whose cast of D.C. regulars includes Jonathan Atkinson as John Adams, Jake Loewenthal as Thomas Jefferson and Derrick D. Truby Jr. as Benjamin Franklin. And the Founding Fathers will also belt their hearts out at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse, with director Mark S. Hoebee at the helm. March 13-May 16, Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C., fords.org; April 1-May 2, Paper Mill Playhouse, Milburn, New Jersey. papermill.org.
‘Hamnet’
Days after Chloé Zhao’s heartstring-tugging film adaptation competes at the Oscars, Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall will welcome a stage version of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel about the death of William Shakespeare’s only son. “Life of Pi” playwright Lolita Chakrabarti penned this meditation on artistry and grief, which is touring the United States — shifting from Chicago to D.C. to San Francisco — after premiering in 2023 at London’s Royal Shakespeare Company. March 17-April 12, Harman Hall, Washington. shakespearetheatre.org.
‘Titaníque’
Expect no shortage of glorious camp on Broadway this spring, as the drag show-inspired “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and a Luke Evans-starring revival of “The Rocky Horror Show” hit the Great White Way. But the most unlikely entry must be “Titaníque,” a “Titanic”-lampooning, Celine Dion-worshiping jukebox musical that morphed into an off-Broadway darling and an Olivier Award-winning West End hit. Marla Mindelle, a co-creator of the show, reprises the role of Dion, while Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”) and Deborah Cox (“The Wiz”) headline a leveled-up supporting cast. March 26-July 12, St. James Theatre, New York. titaniquebroadway.com.
‘Proof’
With the pre-Tony Awards deluge comes the usual surge in star power. Among the big names arriving on Broadway this spring: Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson (“The Fear of 13”), Taraji P. Henson and Cedric the Entertainer (“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”), John Lithgow (“Giant”), Rose Byrne (“Fallen Angels”) and Alden Ehrenreich (“Becky Shaw”). The most intriguing of them all, however, may be Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle, who team up in the Thomas Kail-directed revival of “Proof.” David Auburn’s wrenching play, about a woman confronting mental illness and processing the death of her mathematical genius father, hasn’t been mounted on Broadway since its heralded 2000 premiere. March 31-July 19, Booth Theatre, New York. proofbroadway.com.
‘Schmigadoon!’
A light season for new Broadway musicals culminates with a trio of screen-to-stage reinventions: “The Lost Boys,” “Beaches” and, perhaps most promisingly, “Schmigadoon!” Adapted by Cinco Paul from the Apple TV+ series he co-created, this warm hug of a show sends up — and lovingly satirizes — such Golden Age musicals as “Oklahoma!,” “The Music Man” and “Carousel.” Alex Brightman and Sara Chase reprise the roles they originated in last year’s Kennedy Center staging, as a bickering couple who stumble into a musical fantasyland, while “Saturday Night Live” alum Ana Gasteyer headlines the cast’s newcomers. April 4-Sept. 6, Nederlander Theatre, New York. schmigadoonbroadway.com.
‘Pippin’
Director Matthew Gardiner, whose recent triumphs include revivals of “Hair,” “Ragtime” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” tackles another canonical classic when he helms Stephen Schwartz’s coming-of-age musical about a young prince and his weaving quest for self-fulfillment. As with most Signature endeavors, expect pristine music direction — with steady hand Jon Kalbfleisch at the reins — and a blend of intimacy and grandiosity that few other companies can attain. May 12-July 26, Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia. sigtheatre.org.
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