Published by New Jersey Stage
originally published: 03/30/2025
(PHILADELPHIA, PA) -- Lantern Theater Company has announced its upcoming 2025-26 season, which will mark the company’s 32nd year of bringing great stories from great writers to Philadelphia and beyond. The season includes The Real Thing, Macbeth, Blues for An Alabama Sky, and Franklinland - the last two being Philadelphia premieres.
Introducing the 2025-26 season, Lantern Artistic Director Charles McMahon noted, “These are stories of brilliant people driven by passion and following their hearts’ desires, sometimes blessed with success, sometimes cursed with failure, and sometimes both at once. In each play, we explore that what we love most – and what we will do to get it – are the things that shape our lives, define our character, and reveal our humanity.”
Lantern Theater Company’s 2025-26 Mainstage Season
September 4 – October 5, 2025 | The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard, directed by Peter DeLaurier. How do you know when it’s the real thing or a tragic romance? When Tom Stoppard writes a play about a playwright falling in love, you can be sure that comedy and drama will get married – or at least have a serious fling. The Real Thing is Stoppard’s masterful exploration of the human heart, at war with itself and the beloved.
October 30 – December 7, 2025 | Macbeth by William Shakespeare, directed by Charles McMahon. The Fates weave a tangled web for the Thane of Glamis and his Lady. Tempted by a tantalizing prophecy, they risk everything in pursuit of overwhelming ambition and lust for power. For the first time on the Lantern mainstage, Macbeth will bring you into the propulsive action, dazzle you with some of Shakespeare’s most indelible language, and leave you asking what you might give of yourself to achieve your heart’s desire.
February 12 – March 15, 2026 | Blues For An Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage, directed by Brett Ashley Robinson (Philadelphia Premiere). Harlem, 1930. The music is hot, and change is in the air. Angel is a talented singer looking for her big break, and her friend Guy wants to design costumes for Josephine Baker. When a southern stranger enters their lives, will he help them reach their dreams or destroy them? Pearl Cleage’s drama of the Harlem Renaissance is mesmerizing, inventive, and soulful.
May 7 – June 7, 2026 | Franklinland by Lloyd Suh, directed by Charles McMahon (Philadelphia Premiere). Benjamin Franklin played many roles: publisher, inventor, political agitator, diplomat – and he wanted his son to follow him into the sciences. When William rebels and becomes the Royal Governor of New Jersey, the stage is set for a father-son conflict of international proportions. Join them for the Philadelphia premiere of Lloyd Suh’s endearing and insightful new play of revolutionary consequences, in the city where it happened.
Season Subscriptions and Flex Packages start at $116 and are available online at www.lanterntheater.org or by calling the Lantern Box Office at (215) 829-0395. Single tickets go on sale in summer 2025.
Founded in 1994, the mission of the Lantern Theater Company is to produce plays that investigate and illuminate what is essential in the human spirit and the spirit of the times. The Lantern serves the Greater Philadelphia region with award-winning productions and education programming, notably partnering with middle schools and high schools in the Philadelphia School District to provide in-classroom residencies in support of curricular learning.
The Lantern became a national leader in streaming theater during the Covid health crisis, producing ten fully designed plays that were created and filmed in the company’s resident home at St. Stephen’s Theater, garnering coverage in national media including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and reaching more than 30,000 people in 15 countries and all 50 states.
EVENT PREVIEWS
The Mainstage Center for the Arts presents "High School Musical 2 JR."
(BLACKWOOD, NJ) -- The Mainstage Center for the Arts presents High School Musical 2 JR. on June 4-5, 2026 in the Dennis Flyer Memorial Theater. The Wildcats are back for an unforgettable summer at Lava Springs Country Club!
Mile Square Theatre presents "7th Inning Stretch" with a twist
(HOBOKEN, NJ) -- Mile Square Theatre's beloved annual fundraiser, 7th Inning Stretch, returns with a new look for this year inspired by the World Cup coming to New Jersey. This year’s edition takes place on Saturday, June 6, 2026 and trades baseball for soccer, featuring seven original short plays celebrating the passion, humor, intensity, and culture of the game.
The Broadway Theatre of Pitman presents "A Century on Stage: 100 Years in the Making"
(PITMAN, NJ) -- The Broadway Theatre of Pitman presents A Century on Stage: 100 Years in the Making from June 5-7, 2026. Join them for a once-in-a-century theatrical event as they celebrate 100 years of music, memories, and moments that have shaped The Broadway Theatre of Pitman, Broadway in New York City, and American culture itself.
Premiere Stages at Kean University Announces Semi-Finalists for 2026 Play Festival
(UNION, NJ) -- Premiere Stages, the professional theatre company in residence at Kean University, has announced the 2026 Premiere Play Festival Semi-Finalists. The Play Festival panel and literary staff reviewed 894 submissions, an increase of 89 submissions from the previous year, before choosing the 65 Semi-Finalists. An eclectic mix of plays, the Semi-Finalists explore a wide range of topics in a variety of genres.
Maurer Productions to Hold Auditions for "Midnight at the New Dawn" June 6-7
(WEST WINDSOR, NJ) -- Maurer Productions OnStage and the newly formed Maurer TheaterWorks have announced a special co-production partnership — in association with Kelsey Theatre — for the world premiere of Midnight at the New Dawn. The ensemble comedy, written and directed by Dan Maurer, will hold open auditions on June 6-7, 2026.
Bergen County Players to present "Kodachrome"
(ORADELL, NJ) -- Bergen County Players (BCP) will conclude its 93rd season with Kodachrome, a delightful and deeply moving one-act comedy by Adam Szymkowicz. Running as part of BCP's Second Stage for three exclusive performances on Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7, 2026, this production invites audiences to find extraordinary magic within ordinary lives.
Main Street Theatre Company presents "Legally Blonde, Jr."
(OLD BRIDGE, NJ) -- Main Street Theatre Company presents Legally Blonde, Jr. on Saturday, June 6 at Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 3:30pm each day. Harvard's beloved blonde takes the stage by glittery pink storm in this fun and upbeat adaptation of the hit film and award-winning Broadway musical.
Paper Mill Playhouse Announces 2026 Rising Star Awards Nominees
(MILLBURN, NJ) -- Paper Mill Playhouse has announced the nominations for adjudicated production categories of the 31st Annual Rising Star Awards for Excellence in New Jersey High School Musical Theater. Often referred to as New Jersey's version of the Tony Awards for high school musical theater, the Rising Star Awards recognize outstanding achievement in performance, direction, design, choreography, music direction, and overall production.
The Maplewood Strollers to present a Broadway Karaoke Party on June 12th
(MAPLEWOOD, NJ) -- The Maplewood Strollers present a Broadway Karaoke Party on Friday, June 12, 2026 at the Burgdorff Center for the Performing Arts. The event, which serves as a fundraiser for the theater company, begins at 7:30pm.
Mile Square Theatre presents "An Evening in the Woods: Musical Selections from Into the Woods" on June 13th
(HOBOKEN, NJ) -- Mile Square Theatre will hold its first-ever Education Program Fundraiser, An Evening in the Woods: Musical Selections from Into the Woods in Concert, on Friday, June 13, 2026 at 7:00pm, with a preshow reception beginning at 6:00pm.
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