A six-time Tony winner arrives for six days as four productions take their final bows.
Coverage week: September 30–October 7, 2026
Research completed: September 30, 2026
A six-time Tony Award winner is rolling into Washington for just six days, four immigrant artists are turning the contradictions of American life into cabaret, and two witches are teaching young audiences that darkness is not always something to fear.
This is also a genuine last-chance week. Dirty Dancing, Somewhere Over the Border, Not Exactly a Nun and an Annapolis staging of Our Town all take their final bows by Sunday. Meanwhile, Ford’s Theatre is warning of limited seating for several performances of Come From Away.
One useful buying note: Theatre Week continues through October 11, with specially priced $25, $45 and $65 seats at participating productions while inventory lasts.
Here is what deserves a seat on your calendar across Washington, Maryland and Northern Virginia.
The Five Shows to Know
Zebra Best Bet: Love Finds Two Retired Robots
Maybe Happy Ending
The National Theatre
1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20004
October 6–11, 2026
Tickets: Prices vary by performance and seat; current amounts appear in the official ticket selector.
The winner of six 2025 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, arrives for a compact six-day Washington engagement. In a near-future Seoul, two obsolete helper robots discover music, friendship and a feeling neither expected to experience.
Will Aronson and Hue Park’s intimate musical carries Broadway credentials without losing its gentle, human-scale charm. The short run—and Steven Huynh and Claire Kwon leading the touring company as Oliver and Claire—makes it this week’s Zebra Best Bet.
See the official schedule and purchase tickets from The National Theatre
Gander Opens Its Doors Again
Come From Away
Ford’s Theatre
511 Tenth St. NW, Washington, DC 20004
Through October 18, 2026
Tickets start at $25; Ford’s uses dynamic pricing.
Ten years after its pre-Broadway engagement at Ford’s, the musical returns with a predominantly local company directed by Kevin S. McAllister. Its story of 6,579 airline passengers welcomed by the people of Gander, Newfoundland, remains a brisk and deeply moving account of ordinary generosity after September 11.
Ford’s official ticket calendar marked several performances from October 1 through 4, plus October 7, as limited seating when this guide was researched. The October 1 performance is ASL interpreted, and the October 3 matinee is audio described.
Check current availability through Ford’s Theatre
Shakespeare Puts Selective Justice on Trial
Measure for Measure
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St. SE, Washington, DC 20003
Through November 1, 2026
Tickets: $20–$95, depending on performance and seat.
Psalmayene 24 relocates Shakespeare’s dark comedy to the American South of the 1950s, where a newly empowered official begins enforcing neglected morality laws—and then tries to exploit the novice nun who asks him to spare her brother.
The production’s collision of government power, sexual hypocrisy and selective enforcement gives a rarely staged play an unmistakably contemporary pulse.
See the official Folger Theatre schedule and tickets
Four Immigrants Build a Cabaret From Contradictions
Coming to America: An Immigrant Cabaret
ExPats Theatre at Atlas Performing Arts Center, Lab II
1333 H St. NE, Washington, DC 20002
September 30–October 18, 2026
Tickets: $25–$49.
Artists from Germany, India, Peru and Senegal use songs, stories and satire to explore what it means to integrate into a country that can be welcoming and bewildering in the same breath.
The 90-minute production opens Wednesday and promises the specificity of lived experience rather than a single, flattened “immigrant story.”
See production information and official tickets
Two Witches Discover the Magic Between Light and Dark
Beatrice Likes the Dark
Adventure Theatre MTC
7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, MD 20812
October 2–November 1, 2026
Tickets: $27; ticketing fees may apply.
Beatrice loves the dark. Her sister Roo prefers the light. When the young witches are given their first wands, magic, music and shadow play help them discover that neither sister has to surrender what makes her different.
Dani Stoller’s new family play is directed by Patrick Flynn and recommended for ages 5 and older—a smart seasonal choice for children who enjoy Halloween atmosphere without a full fright.
See the official Adventure Theatre production page and ticket link
Opening This Week
Broadway’s Newest Robot Romance Arrives Tuesday
Maybe Happy Ending begins its six-day National Theatre engagement October 6. The 100-minute musical is performed without an intermission and is recommended for ages 8 and older.
See performance times and official tickets
An Immigrant Cabaret Opens at Atlas
Coming to America: An Immigrant Cabaret begins September 30 in Atlas Performing Arts Center’s intimate Lab II. Its four performers turn the pressure to adapt, explain and belong into a shared evening of music and storytelling.
See the official listing and ticket link
A New Family Play Finds Comfort in the Shadows
Beatrice Likes the Dark begins October 2 at Adventure Theatre MTC. The world of two young witches is created with live performance, music and shadow play rather than Halloween jump scares.
Final Curtain
Nobody Puts This Closing Weekend in a Corner
Dirty Dancing: The Musical
The National Theatre
1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20004
Closes October 4, 2026
Tickets: Prices vary by performance and seat and are displayed in the official selector.
Baby and Johnny have only a few dances left in Washington. The touring production pairs the film’s familiar story with live music and a 20-piece soundtrack that includes “Hungry Eyes,” “Hey Baby,” “Do You Love Me?” and “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”
The October 4 evening performance is audio described. The show runs approximately two hours and 20 minutes, including intermission, and is recommended for ages 12 and older.
See final performances and official tickets
Reina Reaches the End of Her Road North
Somewhere Over the Border
Mosaic Theater Company at Atlas Performing Arts Center, Sprenger Theatre
1333 H St. NE, Washington, DC 20002
Closes October 4, 2026
Tickets: $53 Thursday and Friday; $70 Saturday and Sunday; $20 student and educator tickets and $25 under-30 tickets are available with restrictions.
Brian Quijada borrows the structure of The Wizard of Oz to tell a musical story inspired by his mother’s journey from El Salvador to the United States. Cumbia, mariachi boleros, rock and hip-hop carry Reina north without disguising the dangers or the human cost of the trip.
See the final schedule and purchase official tickets
One Storyteller, Five Final Performances
Not Exactly a Nun
Story District at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
641 D St. NW, Washington, DC 20004
Closes October 4, 2026
Tickets: $40 general admission; $30 for students.
Comedian and storyteller Yasmin Elhady brings family expectations, faith, marriage, divorce and reinvention into one candid solo show. The limited run closes Sunday after performances Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
See the official schedule and ticket options
One Last Evening in Grover’s Corners
Our Town
The Colonial Players of Annapolis
108 East St., Annapolis, MD 21401
Closes October 3, 2026
Tickets: $26 adults; $21 seniors 65 and older, full-time students and active military; $2 service fee per ticket.
Thornton Wilder’s classic ends its community-theater run Friday and Saturday. The Colonial Players’ in-the-round home puts the audience close to the weddings, breakfasts and small moments that the people of Grover’s Corners understand only when it is too late.
Check the final performances through The Colonial Players
Alexandria Spotlight
Old Town’s Next Musical Is Already Selling Seats
She Loves Me
The Little Theatre of Alexandria
600 Wolfe St., Alexandria, VA 22314
October 17–November 7, 2026
Tickets: $36, plus a $4 service charge.
The Little Theatre of Alexandria is between mainstage productions this week, but tickets are now available for its next musical. In a 1930s Budapest parfumerie, combative co-workers Georg and Amalia unknowingly fall in love through anonymous letters—the romantic setup that also inspired The Shop Around the Corner and You’ve Got Mail.
Mitchell Aiello directs and choreographs the musical by the team behind Fiddler on the Roof. Performances will run Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
See the official LTA production information and select seats
Worth the Drive
Dinner Comes With a Last Dance in Columbia
SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical
Toby’s Dinner Theatre
5900 Symphony Woods Road, Columbia, MD 21044
Through November 1, 2026
Tickets: approximately $67–$96, including dinner; online fees may apply.
More than 20 Donna Summer songs trace the singer’s journey from a Boston gospel choir to international stardom. “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls,” “Love to Love You Baby” and “Last Dance” turn the in-the-round production into a complete dinner-and-disco outing.
The September 30 performance at 6 p.m. is ASL interpreted. Toby’s identifies Ticketmaster as its only authorized online ticket seller.
See the official production page and authorized ticket information
One Night Only
Eight Storytellers Take the Top Shelf
Top Shelf
Story District at the Lincoln Theatre
1215 U St. NW, Washington, DC 20009
Thursday, October 1, 2026; doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m.
Tickets: Current all-in prices and remaining seats appear in Ticketmaster’s official selector.
Story District’s 16th annual showcase brings eight standout local storytellers to one of Washington’s grandest stages. The event is unscripted in spirit but carefully shaped in practice: true stories, live, with no notes and nowhere to hide.
The performance is ASL interpreted and the Lincoln Theatre is wheelchair accessible.
See the official event details and ticket link
Family Matinee
The Alphabet Climbs a Coconut Tree
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom: The Musical
Imagination Stage
4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814
Through October 18, 2026
Tickets start at $16.
The beloved picture book becomes a 60-minute musical full of puppets, dancing, wordplay and very determined letters. Recommended for ages 3–9, it is short enough for a first theater outing but lively enough to keep accompanying adults engaged.
See the official schedule and purchase tickets from Imagination Stage
Families seeking something slightly darker can choose Beatrice Likes the Dark, opening October 2 at Adventure Theatre MTC in Glen Echo.
Coming Soon
Woody Guthrie’s Songs Return Underground
Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie
Voices Festival Productions at Dupont Underground
19 Dupont Circle NW, Washington, DC 20036
October 8–25, 2026
Tickets: $45; $20 for patrons under 30; pay-what-you-can preview tickets.
David M. Lutken returns to the role that earned him a Helen Hayes Award, using Guthrie’s songs and stories to trace the life of an American artist whose music made hardship, protest and hope inseparable.
See production details and the official ticket link
Love Like There May Be Only 100 Days
Hundred Days
The Keegan Theatre
1742 Church St. NW, Washington, DC 20036
October 10–November 8, 2026
Tickets: $40–$70.
The Bengsons’ autobiographical folk-punk musical asks how two people might love if they knew their time together could be brief. Christina A. Coakley directs the two-hour Keegan production.
See the official regional listing and ticket link
George Mason Students Put a Pay-to-Pee City on Stage
Urinetown
George Mason University School of Theater at Harris Theatre
4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030
October 28–November 1, 2026
Tickets: $35 adults; $15 students, staff, seniors and groups; October 28 preview tickets are $15. Prices include fees.
Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann’s musical satire targets capitalism, bureaucracy, environmental collapse and musical theater itself. James Gardiner directs, with the October 30 performance offering ASL interpretation, audio description and a post-show talkback.
See George Mason’s official schedule and ticket information
Schedules, prices and availability can change quickly. Confirm current information through the linked theater before traveling.
