Attention, theatre buffs🎭 After a long hiatus, live performances are finally back! Now is the perfect time to get your fill of all the plays and musicals you may have missed out on over the past two years. Whether you want to see a new play at a local community theater or a popular musical at a gorgeous concert venue, the city of Philadelphia has something to offer every theatre lover and their family.

Here are some of our favorite musicals and plays premiering on Philly stages this summer:

June 2022

Cirque du Soleil Crystal

June 24 – 26, 2022

Wells Fargo Center – 3601 S Broad Street, Philadelphia

Expert ice skaters and gravity-defying acrobats wow audiences with goosebumps-inducing stunts at this Cirque du Soleil performance on ice.

By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

June 10 – 26, 2022

Stagecrafters Theater – 8130 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia

Vera Stark, aspiring film actress, is determined and talented. The time is 1933, and the place is Hollywood, USA, and Vera is Black. What awaits this young, ambitious woman is a string of roles as slaves, maids, cooks, and mammies. Public recognition of her contribution to the arts emerges only after several decades in the business, when she is invited to appear on a popular TV talk show, and years later, when she becomes the subject of a movie retrospective and an academic symposium. This life story of an actress of color in America is bitter, but also wildly humorous – a full-blown satire that takes on old-time Hollywood, latter-day pop culture, and private and public hypocrisies.

Into the Woods

Running through July 3, 2022

Arden Theatre Company – 40 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia

One of Sondheim’s most beloved musicals returns to the F. Otto Haas stage with a magical radiance. Into the Woods explores the journey to the fairy tales’ happy ending – and the responsibilities that come with happily ever after.

Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit

Running through July 3, 2022

Walnut Street Theatre – 825 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

To gather background for his new book, novelist Charles Condomine and his second wife, Ruth, invite the extremely eccentric medium, Madame Arcati, to perform a séance. But Charles’ spiritual skepticism vanishes when the ghost of his deceased first wife, Elvira, accidentally materializes—but only to him. Elvira’s still in love and wants Charles back, and is not about to let a little thing like death stand in her way! From the delightfully wicked mind of Noël Coward comes Blithe Spirit, where love and marriage devolve into laughter and mayhem – and ‘Till Death Do Us Part’ no longer applies.

July 2022

To Kill A Mockingbird

July 12 – 24, 2022

Academy of Music – 240 South Broad Street, Philadelphia

All rise for Academy Award® winner Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork. The New York Times Critic’s Pick TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is “the most successful American play in Broadway history.” (60 Minutes). New York Magazine calls it “a real phenomenon. Majestic and incandescent, it’s filled with breath and nuance and soul.” With direction by Tony Award® winner Bartlett Sher, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD — “the greatest novel of all time” (Chicago Tribune) — has quickly become “one of the greatest plays in history” (NPR). Emmy Award®-winning actor Richard Thomas will play the role of Atticus Finch in the National Tour.

August 2022

Dear Evan Hansen

August 16 – 28, 2022

Forrest Theater – 1114 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. DEAR EVAN HANSEN is the deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about life and the way we live it.

The Lion King

August 16 – September 10, 2022

The Academy of Music – 240 South Broad Street, Philadelphia

More than 100 million people around the world have experienced the phenomenon of Disney’s THE LION KING, and now you can, too, when this best-loved musical returns to Philadelphia. Winner of six Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, this landmark musical event brings together one of the most imaginative creative teams on Broadway. Tony Award®-winning director Julie Taymor brings to life a story filled with hope and adventure set against an amazing backdrop of stunning visuals. THE LION KING also features some of Broadway’s most recognizable music, crafted by Tony Award®-winning artists Elton John and Tim Rice. There is simply nothing else like THE LION KING.

Featured Image: Photo by Matthew Murphy. Image Credit: Kimmel Center Cultural Campus