The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces its 2023–2024 Theater season, featuring thrilling Broadway hits and the fifth season of its critically-acclaimed, star-studded Broadway Center Stage series. Subscriptions are now on sale via the Kennedy Center website or by calling (202) 416-8500.
Broadway Center Stage has proved a smash hit with critics, audiences, and artists alike, drawing Broadway’s brightest talent to the National Cultural Center for once-in-a-lifetime productions of musical favorites created exclusively for the Kennedy Center. For the coming season, the Center will produce Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Larson’s (RENT) tick, tick… BOOM!; the 1960 Tony Award®–winning Best Musical, Bye Bye Birdie; and the 1982 Tony Award®–winning Best Musical, Nine.
“I am deeply humbled by the way Kennedy Center audiences and the entire theater community have embraced these productions. They are a labor of love for all involved,” said series Artistic Director and Kennedy Center Vice President and Executive Producer of Theater, Jeffrey Finn. “It has been an incredible experience to see Broadway Center Stage evolve in these first five seasons from semi-staged concerts to full productions still centering the fantastic Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra on stage. I look forward to where we go next!”
The Kennedy Center continues to be D.C.’s home for the best of Broadway with a season featuring the Washington, D.C. premieres of the Olivier Award–winning Best Musical, Back to the Future: The Musical; the Tony Award®–winning Broadway revival of Kennedy Center Honoree Stephen Sondheim’s Company; Disney’s Tony Award®–nominated Best Musical, Frozen, based on the Academy Award®–winning film; the hit Broadway revival of Funny Girl; and The Kite Runner, the powerful new Broadway play based on the best-selling novel.
MAMMA MIA!, the musical sensation based on the hits of ABBA, makes its Kennedy Center debut in the 2023–2024 season, and the Tony Award®–winning musical Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations, which played a pre-Broadway engagement at the Kennedy Center, makes an electric return. The season also features special engagements of Message in a Bottle, the new dance-theater piece inspired by the iconic hits of Kennedy Center Honoree Sting, and the uproarious Dixie’s Tupperware Party.
Inspiring works for Young Audiences, including the continuation of acclaimed MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship recipient and New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Woodson’s residency, along with four world premiere Kennedy Center commissioned theatrical works are also announced today. For more information, see the Performances for Young Audiences season announcement here. Additionally, families will delight in the return of Bluey’s Big Play, which enjoyed a sold-out engagement at the Kennedy Center in 2022.
The 2023–2024 Theater Season
Broadway Center Stage: tick, tick… BOOM!
Oct. 6–15, 2023 | Eisenhower Theater
Before there was RENT… there was tick, tick… BOOM!, Jonathan Larson’s explosive musical about life, death, and the necessity of art. The semiautobiographical story follows Jon, a composer struggling to break into New York City’s theater scene. This intimate, three-actor production boasts unforgettable songs including “30/90,” “Johnny Can’t Decide,” and the Sondheim-inspired “Sunday.”
Recommended for ages 12 and up.
Bluey’s Big Play
November 22–26, 2023 | Eisenhower Theater
When Dad feels like a little bit of Sunday afternoon time out, Bluey and Bingo have other plans! Join them as they pull out all of the games and cleverness at their disposal to get Dad off that bean bag. Bluey’s Big Play is a theatrical adaptation of the Emmy® Award–winning children’s television series, with an original story by Bluey creator Joe Brumm and new music by Bluey composer Joff Bush. Featuring brilliantly created puppets, this is Bluey brought to real life as never seen before.
Suitable and enjoyable for all ages.
Girl From the North Country
December 12–31, 2023 | Eisenhower Theater
Girl from the North Country is the Tony Award®–winning new musical that the Chicago Tribune declares is “a Broadway revelation.” Written and directed by celebrated playwright Conor McPherson and featuring Tony®–winning orchestrations by Simon Hale, Girl from the North Country reimagines 20 legendary songs of Bob Dylan as never heard before, including “Forever Young,” “All Along the Watchtower,” “Hurricane,” “Slow Train Coming,” and “Like a Rolling Stone.” It’s 1934 in Duluth, Minnesota, and we meet a group of wayward travelers whose lives intersect in a guesthouse filled with music, life, and hope. Experience this “profoundly beautiful” production (The New York Times) brought to vivid life by an extraordinary company of actors and musicians.
Recommended for ages 12 and up.
Disney’s Frozen
December 20, 2023–January 21, 2024 | Opera House
From the producer of The Lion King and Aladdin, Frozen, the Tony Award®–nominated Best Musical, is now on tour across North America—and the critics rave, “It’s simply magical!” (LA Daily News). Heralded by the New Yorker as “thrilling” and “genuinely moving,” Frozen features the songs from the original Oscar®–winning film, plus an expanded score with a dozen new numbers by the film’s songwriters, Oscar® winner Kristen Anderson-Lopez and EGOT winner Robert Lopez. Oscar® winner Jennifer Lee (book), Tony® and Olivier Award winner Michael Grandage (director), and Tony® winner Rob Ashford (choreographer) round out the creative team that has won a cumulative 16 Tony Awards®. An unforgettable theatrical experience filled with sensational special effects, stunning sets and costumes, and powerhouse performances, Frozen is moving. It’s spectacular. And above all, it’s pure Broadway joy.
Recommended for ages 6 and up.
Broadway Center Stage: Bye Bye Birdie
Jan. 26–Feb. 4, 2024 | Eisenhower Theater
The classic, lighthearted satire of the music industry! When it’s announced that Elvis-style heartthrob Conrad Birdie is being drafted into the army, teenage girls across America are dismayed—but their dismay turns to delight when they learn one lucky young lady will grant Birdie a kiss on live TV before he goes bye-bye. Featuring a songwriter, a secretary, and groupies galore, Bye Bye Birdie rings just as true today as it did in its 1960 Tony Award®–winning debut.
Recommended for ages 10 and up.
Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations
February 13–18, 2024 | Opera House
Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of The Temptations is the electrifying, new smash-hit Broadway musical that follows The Temptations’ extraordinary journey from the streets of Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. With their signature dance moves and silky-smooth harmonies, they rose to the top of the charts, creating an amazing 42 top-10 hits with 14 reaching number one. Nominated for 12 Tony Awards® and the winner of the 2019 Tony® for Best Choreography, Ain’t Too Proud tells the thrilling story of brotherhood, family, loyalty, and betrayal, as the group’s personal and political conflicts threatened to tear them apart during a decade of civil unrest in America.
Recommended for ages 13 and up.
Company
March 12–31, 2024 | Opera House
Winner of five Tony Awards® including Best Revival of a Musical, Company “strikes like a lightning bolt. It’s brilliantly conceived and funny as hell” (Variety). Helmed by three-time Tony Award®–winning director Marianne Elliott (War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Angels in America), this revelatory new production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s groundbreaking musical comedy is boldly sophisticated, deeply insightful, and downright hilarious. It’s Bobbie’s 35th birthday party, and all her friends keep asking, why isn’t she married? Why can’t she find the right man, and isn’t it time to settle down and start a family? As Bobbie searches for answers, she discovers why being single, being married, and being alive in the 21st century could drive a person crazy. Company features Sondheim’s award-winning songs “You Could Drive a Person Crazy,” “The Ladies Who Lunch,” “Side by Side by Side,” and the iconic “Being Alive.” Let’s all drink to that!
Recommended for age 12 and up.
Message in a Bottle
April 9–21, 2024 | Opera House
The peaceful village of Bebko is alive with joyous celebrations. Suddenly, under attack, everything changes forever. Three siblings, Leto, Mati, and Tana, must embark on perilous journeys in order to survive. Message in a Bottle is a spectacular new dance-theater show from four-time Olivier Award nominee Kate Prince, inspired by and set to the iconic hits of 17-time Grammy Award®–winning artist Sting, including “Every Breath You Take,” “Roxanne,” “Walking on the Moon,” and more. With a mix of exhilarating dance styles, high-energy footwork, and breathtaking athleticism, Message in a Bottle tells a unifying and uplifting story of humanity and hope.
Recommended for age 12 and up. Contains some scenes of an adult nature.
The Illusionists
April 23–28, 2024 | Opera House
Returning to the Kennedy Center after sold-out engagements in 2015 and 2018!
The Illusionists is the world’s biggest-selling magic show. It has played hundreds of cities, spawned two TV specials, and shattered box office records across the globe, dazzling audiences of all ages with a powerful mix of the most outrageous and astonishing acts ever seen on stage. This nonstop show is packed with thrilling and sophisticated magic of unprecedented proportions featuring the jaw-dropping talents of the most incredible illusionists on earth.
Recommended for ages 7 and up.
Dixie’s Tupperware Party
May 7–June 2, 2024 | Family Theater
Dixie Longate is the fast-talking, gum-chewing, ginger-haired Alabama gal who is bringing your grandma’s Tupperware party into the 21st century. Audiences howl with laughter as Dixie demonstrates the many alternative uses for the iconic plastic kitchen staple. Filled with outrageously funny tales, heartfelt accounts, audience participation, and a little bit of empowerment and homespun wisdom, Dixie’s Tupperware Party leaves your heart a little bigger and your food a little fresher.
Recommended for ages 16 and up.
Broadway Center Stage: Nine
June 7–16, 2024 | Eisenhower Theater
Based on the groundbreaking Italian film 8½, Nine takes it up (half) a notch by putting the surreal story to music. Famed director Guido Contini, suffering from “director’s block” on his latest film and from a strained marriage to the neglected Luisa, retreats into his mind, where a parade of women—lovers past and present—bombard his senses and throw reality into question. Suffused with a haunting score, the Tony Award®–winning musical blends genres and styles and asks audiences: Can a great artist also be a great lover?
Recommended for ages 14 and up.
Funny Girl
June 25–July 14, 2024 | Opera House
Welcome to musical comedy heaven! Featuring one of the most iconic scores of all time by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, an updated book from Harvey Fierstein based on the original classic by Isobel Lennart, tap choreography by Ayodele Casel, choreography by Ellenore Scott, and direction from Michael Mayer, this love letter to the theater has the whole shebang. The sensational Broadway revival dazzles with celebrated classic songs, including “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” “I’m the Greatest Star,” and “People.” This bittersweet comedy is the story of the indomitable Fanny Brice, a girl from the Lower East Side who dreamed of a life on the stage. Everyone told her she’d never be a star, but then something funny happened—she became one of the most beloved performers in history, shining brighter than the brightest lights of Broadway.
Recommended for ages 10 and up.
The Kite Runner
June 25–30, 2024 | Eisenhower Theater
Based on Khaled Hosseini’s beloved, international bestselling novel, The Kite Runner is a powerful new play adapted by Matthew Spangler that follows one man’s journey to confront his past and find redemption. Afghanistan is a divided country, and two childhood friends are about to be torn apart. It’s a beautiful afternoon in Kabul and the skies are full of the excitement and joy of a kite-flying tournament. But neither of the boys can foresee the incident which will change their lives forever. Told across two decades and two continents, The Kite Runner is an unforgettable journey of forgiveness and shows us all that we can be good again.
Recommended for ages 12 and up.
Back to the Future: The Musical
July 23–August 11, 2024 | Opera House
Great Scott! Back to the Future, the beloved, cinematic classic, is now a Broadway musical with its destination set for Washington, D.C. in 2024. Winner of the 2022 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, four WhatsOnStage Awards including Best New Musical, and the Broadway World Award for Best New Musical, Back to the Future: The Musical is adapted for the stage by the iconic film’s creators Bob Gale (Back to the Future trilogy) and Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and directed by the Tony Award® winner John Rando with original music by multiple Grammy Award® winners Alan Silvestri (Avengers: Endgame) and Glen Ballard (Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”), alongside hit songs from the movie including “The Power of Love,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “Earth Angel,” and “Back in Time.” When Marty McFly finds himself transported back to 1955 in a time machine built by the eccentric scientist Doc Brown, he accidentally changes the course of history. Now he’s in a race against time to fix the present, escape the past, and send himself…back to the future. When Back to the Future hits 88 mph, it’ll change musical theater history forever.
Recommended for ages 6 and up.
MAMMA MIA!
August 13–September 1, 2024 | Opera House
A mother. A daughter. Three possible dads. And a trip down the aisle you’ll never forget! Set on a Greek island paradise where the sun always shines, a tale of love, friendship, and identity is beautifully told through the timeless hits of ABBA. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the father she’s never known brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited decades ago. For nearly 25 years, people all around the world have fallen in love with the characters, the story, and the music that make MAMMA MIA! the ultimate feel-good show.
Recommended for ages 10 and up.
Shear Madness
Ongoing Performances | Theater Lab
Set today in the Shear Madness hairstyling salon, this record-breaking comedy is Washington’s hilarious whodunit. After more than 13,500 performances, the show has stayed in great shape—new clues and up-to-the-minute improvisation deliver a different show every night.
Recommended for ages 13 and up.
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