Show time

Your fall & winter performing arts guide

Every Saturday
The Drunkard & The Olio
Spotlight Theatre
Tulsa Spotlighters

AUG. 12- Sept. 4
Oklahoma!
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
​Theatre Tulsa

AUG. 19- Sept. 3
The Will Rogers Follies
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
​Theatre Tulsa

AUG. 19-21
​TBII: On Your Radar
Studio K
Tulsa Ballet

AUG. 26-Sept. 4
Heathers: The Musical
​Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
​Theatre Pops

Before the Plastics, there were the Heathers: the ultimate in high school queen bee meandom. Heather McNamara, Heather Duke, and Heather Chandler make up the power squad at Westfield High School. Beautiful, bored and bitchy, they are thrice the Heather, and thrice the hell for their fellow classmates, with the exception of Veronica Sawyer, who just barely toes the line between inner circle and outcast. 

So goes the premise of the cult-classic, “Heathers,” and while most of the classic characters make a reprise in the musical (darkly dream J.D. included), the theater adaptation puts more of an after school special spin on the 80s hit, positioning brooding Veronica as more of a justice-seeking martyr (think Cady Heron in “Mean Girls”) than a (SPOILER!) moody menace-turned-accidental mean girl murderer.  

Tulsa’s Theatre Pops troupe will bring “Heathers: The Musical” to life this August with Direction from Jana Ellis, music direction from Catherine Ratliff, and choreography from Kathy Grufik. Critics say “Heathers: The Musical” manages to retain the film’s signature acerbic humor without feeling too watered down. 

Diagnosis: if you loved “Heathers,” you’ll love “Heathers: The Musical”—cafeteria song and dance routines and all. With any luck, the flamboyance of live theater will make it easier to stomach the Heathers being terribly cruel to Martha Dumptruck, but probably not. Either way, you know it will be very.

SEPT. 7
Brown Bag It: Dean DeMerritt Jazz Trio
Kathleen Westby Pavilion, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
PAC Trust

SEPT. 8-11
Blue Whale Comedy Festival
The Brady Arts District

SEPT. 9-10
Symphony of Tango
​VanTrease PACE 
Signature Symphony

SEPT. 9-18 
The Who’s Tommy
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Tulsa Project Theatre

SEPT. 10
TSO Classics: Gala Anniversary Concert featuring Josh Bell
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Tulsa Symphony

SEPT. 11
Dover Quartet
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Chamber Music Tulsa

SEPT. 13-18
Disney’s Newsies
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Celebrity Attractions

SEPT. 16
Vicki Lawrence & Mama: A Two-Woman Show
Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center

SEPT. 16-25
Creations in Studio K
Studio K
Tulsa Ballet

For a company that’s getting up there in years—it’s celebrating its 60th anniversary this season—Tulsa Ballet remains one of the most future-focused organizations in the region. This is perhaps its most ambitious year yet, with a state-of-the-art expansion into Broken Arrow (the Hardesty Center for Dance Education) and a made-from-scratch original ballet (new story, new music, new choreography, sets, and costumes) inspired by Frank Baum’s tales from Oz, premiering next spring. 

The company’s “Creations in Studio K” event has become an annual affirmation of this forward-thinking approach, with director Marcello Angelini bringing in up-and-coming contemporary ballet choreographers to create short new works for performance in the intimate Studio K theater on Brookside. 

This year’s crop of dancemakers includes audience favorite Nicolo Fonte (whose dance is set to the songs of Nina Simone), beloved TB resident choreographer Ma Cong (who has been in high demand this past year by companies across the globe), and Joshua L. Peugh, a young dynamo whose Dark Circles Contemporary Dance company has seriously amped up the dance scene in the state to our south, and whose “Slump” was a hit for Tulsa Ballet II last year. 

SEPT. 23
Soledad O’Brien
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Tulsa Town Hall

SEPT. 23-Oct. 2
​Glengarry Glen Ross
​Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
​Theatre Tulsa Next Stage

SEPT. 23-Oct. 2
Anne of Green Gables
Spotlight Theatre
Spotlight Children’s Theatre

SEPT. 25
​Grupo Corpo
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
​Choregus Productions

SEPT. 27-28
Once
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Celebrity Attractions

Too often, live theatre gets a bad rap for being over the top and flamboyant, attracting a niche crowd of ritzy theatregoers hungry for extravagance and razzle-dazzle. “Once” takes this idea and turns it on its head. 

As the 2012 Tony selection for Best Musical, along with seven other Tony awards, “Once” tells the story of an Irish street musician near to abandoning the craft who suddenly finds himself face to face with an enigmatic female musician. The encounter sparks his creativity and as the two begin playing together they find that their connection runs much deeper than creative pursuits. 

Punctuated by a breathtakingly beautiful score of violins, mandolins, accordions, guitars and pianos that comes together more like a wall of sound than a backdrop. With a simple set, no orchestra, and a small, intimate cast, “Once” utilizes its company of actor-musicians who play live throughout the production to carry the show’s steady, heartfelt pace. The result is a captivating part musical, part intimate listening session.

Based on the 2007 film starring Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of “The Swell Season,” “Once” boasts the same original score the Irish-Czech duo wrote for the film, including the folky, heartstrings-tugging tune, “Falling Slowly.” 

SEPT. 30
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
PAC Trust

OCT. 5
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood – Live!
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
35 Concerts

OCT. 5
Brown Bag It: Margaret Sewell
Kathleen Westby Pavilion, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
PAC Trust

OCT. 6-8
C.S. Lewis Onstage: The Most Reluctant Convert
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Fellowship for Performing Arts

OCT. 7-16
Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein – The Musical
Broken Arrow Community Playhouse

OCT. 7-16
All The Way
​Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
​Theatre Pops

OCT. 8
Carol Burnett: An Evening of Laughter and Reflection Where the Audience Asks Questions
Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center

Lifelong comedienne Carol Burnett will bring her signature charm to the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center this October with Carol Burnett: An Evening of Laughter and Reflection Where the Audience Asks Questions. 

The one-night-only event is straightforward: a question-and-answer comedy show where the incomparable Burnett engages viewers with anecdotal comedy inspired by the audience’s own curiosities and whims, complemented by a few prepared bits and video. The result is an off-the-cuff show that, according to critics, never portrays even a sliver of dishonesty or rehearsal. Burnett’s signature banter and command of impromptu speech give this show its sparkle.  

A natural evolution of the quintessential Q&A sessions Burnett shared with audiences of The Carol Burnett show, ”An Evening of Laughter and Reflection” will be familiar territory to classic Carol fans. Burnett’s variety show nabbed her such accolades as being in the upper echelon of the “100 Best Television Shows in History,” and has cemented her standing as one of the most revered and universally loved performers in entertainment—comedy, television, Broadway, and otherwise.

OCT. 8
TSO Classics: Rachmanninoff’s 2nd Symphony
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Tulsa Symphony

OCT. 8
​Octonauts Live – Deep Sea Volcano Adventure
Brady Theater

OCT. 9
Trio Solisti
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Chamber Music Tulsa

OCT. 13-23
HAIR – The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical
Chapman Theatre, Kendall Hall
University of Tulsa

OCT. 14-16
Pryor Rendering
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
American Theatre Company and CityRep

​It’s been a while since someone created a new musical set in our state—73 years, in fact. “Pryor Rendering” is a very different animal than Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”, though they both originate in a story written by a native son. 

Tulsan Gary Reed’s acclaimed novel by the same name follows Charlie Hope, a gay teenager coming of age in 1960s Pryor in the “care” of a hard-drinking, woman-chasing grandfather and a Pentecostal mother—not the strongest supports for a young man who’s struggling to come out as well as grow up. 

Adapted for the stage by Shawn Churchman of the University of Oklahoma, with an elegaic country/bluegrass musical score by Frank Schiro, and directed by Stephen Nachamie (pictured; whose show “She Loves Me” is currently on Broadway), “Pryor Rendering” is a co-production of American Theatre Company and the Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre (CityRep). 

If musicals about Oklahoma are rare, such a collaboration is maybe even rarer. According to ATC’s Richard Ellis, “as far as we know, there’s never been anything like two major theater companies in two cities combining to produce a world-premiere musical.” It premieres first in OKC, then in Tulsa, with ambitions for a long life beyond that. 

OCT. 14-22
Mary Poppins
Muskogee Little Theatre

OCT. 21
The Man who Planted Trees
​Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
PAC Trust

OCT. 21-22
Big Band Broadway
Van Trease PACE
Signature Symphony

OCT. 21-23
The Pearl Fishers
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Tulsa Opera

OCT. 28-Nov. 6
Cabaret
​Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
​Theatre Tulsa

OCT. 28-30
Onegin
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Tulsa Ballet

NOV. 2
Brown Bag It: Vintage Voices
Kathleen Westby Pavilion, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
PAC Trust

NOV. 4
Dave Barry
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Tulsa Town Hall

NOV. 4-12
The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
The Playhouse Tulsa

NOV. 5
TSO Pops: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Tulsa Symphony

NOV. 6-13
​WomenWorks – Black Super Hero Mama
​Theatre II, Kendall Hall
University of Tulsa

NOV. 13
​Modigliani Quartet
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Chamber Music Tulsa

NOV. 15-20
Elf: The Musical
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Celebrity Attractions

NOV. 20
Kelli O’Hara
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
​Choregus Productions

NOV. 29
Annie
Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center

NOV. 29-30
Cirque Dreams Holidaze
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Celebrity Attractions

DEC. 2-4
TSO Pops: Home for the Holidays
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Tulsa Symphony

DEC. 2-10
A Christmas Carol
Muskogee Little Theatre

DEC. 4
Brian Regan
Cox Business Center Ballroom

DEC. 7
Brown Bag It: Tulsa Festival Ringers
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
PAC Trust

DEC. 8-18
A Christmas Carol
John H. Williams Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
American Theatre Company

DEC. 9-10
Christmas In Tulsa
​VanTrease PACE
Signature Symphony

DEC. 9-18
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Broken Arrow Community Playhouse

DEC. 10-23
The Nutcracker
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Tulsa Ballet

DEC. 12
David Phelps Christmas
Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center

DEC. 16-22
Elf Jr.
​Liddy Doenges Theatre, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Theatre Tulsa Family

DEC. 28
​Manheim Steamroller Christmas by Chip Davis
Chapman Music Hall, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
Celebrity Attraction

Venues

Brady Theater | 105 W. M.B. Brady St. | bradytheater.com

Broken Arrow Community Playhouse | 1800 S. Main St., Broken Arrow | bacptheatre7471.wix.com/bacp

Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center | 701 S. Main St., Broken Arrow | brokenarrowpac.com

Cox Business Center | 100 Civic Center | coxcentertulsa.com

Muskogee Little Theatre | 325 E. Cincinnati Ave., Muskogee | muskogeelittletheatre.com

Tulsa Performing Arts Center | 110 E. 2nd St. | tulsapac.com

Spotlight Theatre | 1381 Riverside Dr. | spotlighttheatre.org

Studio K | 1212 E. 45th Pl. | tulsaballet.org

VanTrease PACE | 10300 E. 81st St. | signaturesymphony.org