Spring Arts Preview 2025: The top 10 theater and opera events to see this season

This spring and summer, a number of plays and musicals will make their world and regional theater premieres around the county. Theater is back in a big way in 2025. Here are some of the highlights coming our way.
‘Regency Girls’
This world premiere musical comedy is a road trip adventure tale about Elinor, a young unmarried pregnant woman in England’s Regency era (1811-1820) who hits the road with her best friends on a quest to change the direction of her life. Isabella McCalla (Broadway’s “Water for Elephants”) will star as Elinor, with supporting cast members Kate Rockwell (Broadway’s “Mean Girls”), Ryann Redmond (Broadway’s “Frozen”) Nik Walker (Broadway’s “Hamilton”) and more. Lyricist Amanda Green is a two-time Tony and Grammy nominee whose credits include “Bring It On: The Musical.” Composer Curtis Moore wrote for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and the book is by Gabrielle Allan and Jen Crittenden, who are Emmy-winning writers for “Veep,” “Scrubs” and “Seinfeld.” The musical will be directed by Josh Rhodes, who helmed last summer’s stunning “Cabaret” at the Globe. April 2 through May 4. 7 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park, San Diego. $55 and up. 619-234-5623,
Verdi’s ‘La traviata’
San Diego Opera will close its 2025 season in April with Giuseppe Verdi’s classical operatic tragedy. Recognized as the most produced opera in the world, “La traviata” (an Italian phrase for “the fallen woman”) is based on Alexandre Dumas’ play and novel “La Dame aux Camélias.” It’s the story of Violetta, a Parisian courtesan who finds true love with a young man, Alfredo. But when Violetta’s reputation spoils Alfredo’s sister’s chance for a respectable marriage, Violetta sacrifices her happiness and her health. Canadian soprano Andriana Chuchman (Micaëla in 2017’s “The Tragedy of Carmen”) will star as Violetta. Making their company debuts are tenor Zach Borichevsky as Alfredo and bass-baritone Hunter Enoch as Alfredo’s father, Germont. 7:30 p.m. April 25 and 26; 2 p.m. April 27. San Diego Civic Theatre. $35-$260.
Festival season
La Jolla Playhouse’s annual Without Walls (WOW) Festival returns to the UC San Diego campus April 24-27. It will feature four days of free theater, dance, music, puppetry and spectacle events by local, national and international artists. The WOW lineup will be announced in mid-April. Also returning this spring is the San Diego International Fringe Festival, which will play May 15 to 25 in Balboa Park and a few offsite locations. Watch for updates at and
San Diego Musical Theatre will present the first professional adult-cast production of this hilarious 2016 musical about a group of washed-up, publicity-hungry Broadway stars descend on a small Indiana town to fight for a student’s right to bring her girlfriend to the high school prom. The musical features an upbeat score by Matthew Sklar with book and lyrics by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin. May 2 through June 1. 7 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. 4650 Mercury St., San Diego. $37.50-$75. /shows/the-prom
Moonlight’s regional premieres
Moonlight Stage Productions will bring a whopping three regional theater premieres to Vista’s Moonlight Amphitheatre this coming summer. The Sara Bareilles musical “Waitress,” running June 4 through 21, is the story of a diner waitress and pie-maker stuck in an abusive marriage. It came through on a national tour in 2018 but hasn’t had a local professional staging. Then comes “Anastasia: A New Musical,” playing July 9 through 26. It’s the 1920s-era story of a mysterious Russian woman trying to trace her family’s tragic past. It also visited on tour in 2019, but hasn’t been professionally produced here. And finally, Moonlight will present DreamWorks’ “The Prince of Egypt,” playing Sept. 10-27. It’s inspired by the Biblical life story of Moses. This will be the musical’s first professional adult-cast production in San Diego County. The Moonlight season will also include “Grease,” April 30-May 17, and “Fiddler on the Roof,” Aug. 13-30. Brengle Terrace Park, 1250 Vale Terrace Drive, Vista. $41-$62. 760-724-2110,
‘A Streetcar Named Desire’
Backyard Renaissance Theatre will mount Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 play in its first professional production in San Diego in more than 20 years. Widely considered one of the greatest plays of the 20th century, “Streetcar” was a dark critique on toxic masculinity and how women were marginalize and sexualized in post-WWII America. It’s about the chaos occurs when the mentally troubled Blanche comes to stay with her younger sister Stella and Stella’s brutal husband, Stanley, in steamy New Orleans. The production will star Backyard’s married co-founders Jessica John and Francis Gercke as Blanche and Stanley, along with actors Megan Carmitchel and MJ Sieber. June 19 through July 12. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Tenth Avenue Arts Center, 930 Tenth Ave., downtown. $15-$50.
‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’
Broadway San Diego will present the North American touring production of this 2019 Broadway musical in its first visit to San Diego. Inspired by the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film of the same name, with a mix of songs from the film and new originals, it’s the story of an idealistic young composer who falls in love with Satine, the courtesan-like cabaret singer at a Parisian nightclub. June 24 through July 6. 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 7:03 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., downtown. Single tickets are not yet on sale. /upcoming-events/moulin-rouge-the-musical/
‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’
In July, North Coast Repertory Theatre will present this hilarious, fast-paced Broadway musical comedy, which made its world premiere in 2013 at the Old Globe. Based on a 1907 novel, it’s the story of a poor but clever man who’s ninth in line to inherit a family fortune, so he decides to kill, one by one, all eight of the relations who stand in his way. The musical has just one actor playing all eight of the victims. At the Globe and on Broadway, the octet of roles were played by Tony-winning actor Jefferson Mays, who just finished up a 10-day run at the Globe starring in a one-man production of “A Christmas Carol.” July 16 through Aug. 10. 7 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. $69.50-$86.50. 858-481-1055,
‘The Heart’
La Jolla Playhouse will present this unique world premiere musical based on Maylis de Kerangal’s 2014 French novel “Réparer les vivants” (“Mend the Living”), which follows the life of a human heart over 24 hours, from the time it’s removed from a brain-dead patient until it’s transplanted into the body of a new recipient. Artistic director Christopher Ashley will direct the production, which will have a book by Kait Kerrigan’s (bookwriter for Broadway’s “The Great Gatsby”) who has re-set the story in San Diego, where a local surfer dies in a predawn car accident and his heart ends up saving the life of another person who had given up all hope of survival. The score will be composed by Anne Eisendrath and Ian Eisendrath, who are cowriting the lyrics with Kerrigan. Ian Eisendrath was the music supervisor for the La Jolla Playhouse-born Broadway musical “Come From Away,” which earned Ashley his Tony for direction. Ashley said the musical’s score has an electronic dance music vibe because the girlfriend of the heart donor is a nightclub DJ. Club music pulses at 120 beats-per-minute, which is twice the rate of the resting human heart. The music will be woven into other environmental sounds of the hospital and other locations. August-September. Dates and ticket information has not been released. /show/the-heart
‘Follies’ at the Joan
On September 10, Cygnet Theatre and the NTC Foundation will open the $43 million Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center at Liberty Station in Point Loma. The opening production of the inaugural season will be Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical “Follies,” running sept. 10 through Oct. 5. Nicknamed “The Joan” in honor of the late Joan Jacobs, the project will include the 280+-plus seat Joseph W. Clayes III proscenium theater, a 150-seat flexible studio space and state-of-the-art back of house and community areas. Built inside the 1942-era Naval Building 178, the Joan will be the new home for Cygnet and will also serve as a permanent performance space for some of Liberty Station’s professional dance companies. Follow the progress at