Welcome, weary traveller. Recently the Fine Arts Department announced (almost) all of the shows for the 2025-26 theater season, including everything from short and sweet blackbox comedies to puzzling and grand murder mysteries on the main stage. Other than two Lower School acts still to be announced, here’s a look at everything this year will have to offer:
“Checking In,” a short, comedic drama will kick off the season in the black box Oct. 3-4. The play is set at the desk of a hotel bellhop, handling “emotional baggage” heavier than the guests’ suitcases—sorting out romances and learning life lessons while meeting all kinds of different people along the way.
Running from Oct. 23-25 will be Heritage’s futuristic take on the dystopian drama “The Giver,” bringing more serious themes to the blackbox. The play follows a boy living in a “perfect world” who is chosen to receive the forgotten memories of the society that came before—taking you through a thought-provoking story of someone who uncovers the dark secrets of the world he lives in.
The first big show of the year, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” will take the stage in the main theater from Nov. 20-22. The middle school-set comedy features a group of quirky, wide-ranging and competitive students trying to win the top prize of the local spelling bee, taking you through all the conflict, “winning-isn’t-everything” life lessons and all else that happens in between.
Coming back from winter break, the “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” musical for Junior High will show Jan. 29-30, also at the main theater, for a performance of the classic fairytale story.
For the fall musical this year … “Curtains”, a combination of a noir murder-mystery and a chaotic comedy play running March 12-14. The “show-within-a-show” tells the story of a murder on Broadway that happens on the opening night of an already-struggling show. Trapped in the theater as suspects, the whole cast goes through backstage antics, relationship problems and suspenseful twists all while trying to guess the killer.
Nearing the end of the year, and sandwiched between this year’s Spotlight Series (April 8-11) and Senior Showcase (May 8), “Once Upon a Mattress” will be the theater’s last musical of the season. Yet another comedy, the musical is a retelling, with a twist, of the “Princess and the Pea” fairytale, filled with catchy songs and playful romance for all ages.
This year’s shows, being everything from sad, to happy, to intense and intriguing, likely have something for everyone. Tickets for all shows are available here.
Last year’s fall musical “Into the Woods” had student judges critiquing the show. This year, “Curtains” the spring musical, has been selected to be critiqued instead. (Photo: Madeline Zhuravel)
The official announcement poster for this year’s season.
