There’s Nothing Like Live Theater

A guide to the performing arts in Memphis.

by

The Orpheum

If you like Broadway shows, you’ll love what the Orpheum brings to town on a regular basis. The classic venue downtown will have a lively 2024–2025 Broadway season, including MJ The Musical; Moulin Rouge; Peter Pan; Hamilton; Some Like It Hot; Kimberly Akimbo; and The Wiz.

Playhouse on the Square and Circuit Playhouse

Officially known as Circuit Playhouse, Inc., the organization is a conglomerate that includes the larger Playhouse on the Square, its smaller sibling Circuit Playhouse, and TheatreWorks @ The Square, plus a vibrant theater education component. The upcoming season will have Waitress; What the Constitution Means to Me; The Wizard of Oz; Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin; Who’s Holiday!; Seussical; Freedom Train; Punk Rock Girl!; and more.

Theatre Memphis and the Next Stage

The long-running community theater (since 1921) has a knack for the popular shows, large and small. Opening this month is Grease on the big Lohrey Stage, followed by The Mousetrap and the annual presentation of A Christmas Carol. The more intimate Next Stage will start the season with A Midsummer Night’s Dream and then offer several classics, including Inherit the Wind and Ain’t Misbehavin’.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company

Tennessee’s only permanent professional Shakespeare company will soon announce its 17th season. Its 16th season had seven stage productions, the Children’s Literacy Gala, education programs in more than 30 area schools, and various outreach programs.

Hattiloo Theatre

Ten years ago Hattiloo opened its free-standing building by Overton Square and it’s been providing presentations of Black theater, film festivals, art shows, and more ever since. Upcoming shows in the new season include A Motown Christmas; Carmen Jones; and Coconut Cake.

Germantown Performing Arts Center

The venue's coming season includes intriguing performances, including Valerie June and the Blind Boys of Alabama. Acclaimed and innovative dance ensemble Pilobolus arrives in October with its re:CREATION Tour. Also scheduled are Cirque Kalabanté's high-energy dance and percussion presentation and the tap dance band Chloé Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies LIVE. Plus, there's a special jazz series will feature the Emmet Cohen Trio, the Bria Skonberg Quintet, and Tribute to Tony Bennett; that in addition to GPAC’ “Jazz in the Box Series.”

Harrell Performing Arts Theatre

Collierville has been enjoying productions at the Harrell since 1987 — some 150 shows being staged. This coming season will see presentations of Little Shop of Horrors; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; and Mystic Pizza.

The Buckman Performing & Fine Arts Center

The elegant Rose Theater at St. Mary’s Episcopal School offers top touring musical, dance, and unusual live acts such as this season's mixed media Artrageous and The Sporkful Podcast Live with Dan Pashman.

Germantown Community Theatre

Germantown’s vibrant theater scene is presenting Season 53 at GCT with a varied and ambitious program. Among the shows coming up: Ride the Cyclone; The Smell of the Kill; Annie Jr.; 12 Angry Jurors; and Cabaret.

Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center

The suburban venue offers a lot of musical acts and also stage productions, touring and local. This season, look for family fare that includes Rumplestiltskin by the Panto Company, as well as Cat Kid Comic Club The Musical and Children of Eden.

New Moon Theatre Company

Not for nothing does New Moon call itself the Mid-South’s weirdest theater. Sometimes it gets really off the wall, especially around Halloween, but it also has staged a number of classic shows. Stay weird and check out what’s upcoming: Lizzie the Musical; The Minutes; and A Particle of Dread.

Quark Theatre

This bold production company is minimalist in approach and deep in execution. As it likes to say, it produces “small plays about big ideas,” and it doesn’t disappoint. Plays typically are dramatic works that haven’t been produced in Memphis before, but this coming season, it’s doing a musical — the North American premiere of the one-woman operetta Through the Looking-Screen.

Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group

The company celebrates Latin American culture with a variety of presentations and involvement in community events. Coming soon is No, en mi Casa, NO; Tía Pancha “A Christmas Story”; and The River Bride.

A number of other smaller theater companies offer intriguing programming that’s always worthy of consideration. Many are headquartered at TheatreWorks, which has two sites, The Square on Monroe near Overton Square and The Evergreen at Poplar and Evergreen. New Moon and Cazateatro are two of the production companies, but several more include Absent Friends, Actors Renaissance Theatre, Bluff City Liars, Emerald Theatre Company, Friends of George’s, LoneTree Live, Our Own Voice Theatre Troupe, and True Believers.

Ballet has always had a strong presence in Memphis and several companies present some of the most creative movement in the region.

Ballet Memphis

Season 37 of the venerable organization has, as always, an intriguing mix of the traditional and the contemporary. A Midsummer Night’s Dream featuring Trey McIntyre’s In Dreams is coming in October. The perennial Nutcracker will bring in the holidays. And Winter Mix will be onstage in February and American Roots in April.

Collage Dance Collective

The company was founded to bring more diversity to dance and it has done spectacularly well in performance and education. The upcoming season will feature Kevin Thomas’ reimagining of Firebird; Rise, set to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final speech; Prodigal Son; and Their Eyes Were Watching God.

New Ballet Ensemble & School

The focus is on education and nationally recognized New Ballet also gives some of the most engaging performances in town. Popular recurring shows include Springloaded and NutRemix. newballet.org