Yes, I know, I am a bit behind on this one too. But better late than never and I bet you forgot what they are offering by now, SO, here’s a reminder:
Next Act Theatre Announces 2026-27 Season
Includes First-Ever New Play Commission, Two Wisconsin Premieres and a Modern Favorite
Milwaukee, WI – Next Act Theatre announced its 2026-27 season on Monday, February 9, 2026. With the overall season tagline “PURE ENTERTAINMENT,” this is the fourth Next Act Theatre season chosen and overseen by Artistic Director Cody Estle and Managing Director Libby Amato. The upcoming season boasts a World Premiere, Next Act’s first-ever commissioned new play, two Wisconsin Premieres never before seen on local stages and a modern favorite returning to Milwaukee for the first time in more than a decade. New season tickets alongside renewals of existing season tickets are now on sale. Single tickets will go on sale July 13, 2026. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Next Act Ticket Office at 414-278-0765 or through the Next Act website at www.nextact.org.
The lineup for the 2026-27 season includes:
- TRAYF by Lindsay Joelle, September 16 – October 4, 2026
- THE BOYS FROM BARABOO by Heidi Armbruster, December 2 – 20, 2026
- IN THE NEXT ROOM or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl, February 17 – March 7, 2027
- AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN by Terry Guest, April 21 – May 9, 2027
“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 … Together, these four productions create a season that is joyful, daring, entertaining and unmistakably Next Act,” said Artistic Director Cody Estle.
The 2026-27 season opens with the Wisconsin Premiere of TRAYF by Lindsay Joelle (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. Next Act Artistic Associate Elyse Edelman will make her Next Act directorial debut – her Next Act acting credits include CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION, a staged reading of MRS. CHRISTIE and SWING STATE. She has directed at Renaissance Theaterworks, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Third Avenue PlayWorks, and others. Rachael Zientek will return as an actor, having previously appeared in ALMOST, MAINE at Next Act, and A.J. Magoon, also seen at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks and Theatre Gigante,will make his Next Act debut.
Next Act will present its first-ever commissioned new play, the World Premiere of THE BOYS FROM BARABOO by Heidi Armbruster (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. Next Act Artistic Director Cody Estle (previous direction: CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION, THE TREASURER; SWING STATE) will direct. THE BOYS FROM BARABOO will be presented as part of World Premiere Wisconsin, a statewide festival celebrating new plays and musicals running throughout 2026.
After the new year, Next Act will stage IN THE NEXT ROOM or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl (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. Laura Rook will make her Next Act directorial debut – in addition to being a Core Company Actor at American Players Theatre, Rook directed ONCE UPON A BRIDGE at APT, co-directed SUMMER, 1976 at Forward Theater Company with Laura Gordon, and will direct AS YOU LIKE IT at APT in the 2026 summer season. Elyse Edelman will return after directing TRAYF earlier in the season to play Sabrina Daldry. Dee Dee Batteast, an actor, playwright and director who has appeared in three seasons at APT, including acting in PICNIC and THE WINTER’S TALE this past summer, five productions at the Goodman Theatre and her self-produced one-woman show NO AIDS, NO MAIDS, will make her Next Act debut as Elizabeth. Playwright Ruhl is a MacArthur Foundation Fellow and Pulitzer Prize nominee – IN THE NEXT ROOM is widely hailed as one of her seminal works. The play received three Tony Award nominations, including Best Play. Next Act’s production will be the first production in Milwaukee in more than a decade.
To close out the season, Next Act will produce the Wisconsin Premiere of AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN by Terry Guest (April 21 – May 9, 2027). Courtney Berringers would like to welcome you to her wake! But—make no mistake—this ain’t your grandma’s funeral. From African Gods and Goddesses to Judy Garland and Whitney Houston, AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN uses legends, icons, camp and drama to tell the story of a pair of drag queens living (and dying) in rural Georgia in 2004. Terry Guest’s whirlwind play explores identity and illness while unapologetically celebrating Black, queer life with all of its sorrows and joys. Come party at the wake – bring your own heels! Dee Dee Batteast will return to direct after acting in IN THE NEXT ROOM at Next Act in February and March.
More casting will be announced for all four shows at a later date.
Next Act will reduce the length of all four productions in the 2026-27 season from four weeks to three weeks. Current subscribers with tickets to performances in the fourth week will be contacted with options for their subscriptions.