Laura Benanti to Lead Signature Theatre 2026-2027 Season, Featuring Merrily We Roll Along

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The season will also feature The Secret Garden, Urinetown and more.

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Signature Theatre has revealed its 2026-2027 Season. The 37th season features six musicals and two plays, including a world premiere musical, a regional premiere musical, and a DC premiere play. The 2026-2027 season will also feature two Sondheim productions, bringing the total of Signature-produced Sondheim musicals to 37, with all new productions of Merrily We Roll Along (August 25 – November 1, 2026) and Follies (May 18 – June 20, 2027). Both productions will be directed by Signature Theatre Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner , the latter in an exciting co-production with Shakespeare Theatre Company . More information on the 2026-2027 Season is now available.

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Signature kicks off the 2026-2027 season in the MAX Theatre with Merrily We Roll Along (August 25 – November 1, 2026), Stephen Sondheim 's masterwork about friendship, ambition and the compromises that shape a life. Based on the original play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart and featuring a book by George Furth (Company, The Act), the production will be directed and choreographed by Signature Theatre Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner (Signature’s Pippin, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) with music direction by Jon Kalbfleisch (Signature’s Pippin, Fiddler on the Roof). Merrily We Roll Along will star Jason Gotay (Broadway’s Floyd Collins, HBO’s Gossip Girl) as Franklin Shepard, Jake Loewenthal (Signature’s Fiddler on the Roof, Private Jones) as Charley Kringas, and Awa Sal Secka (Signature’s Pippin, Arena Stage ’s Chez Joey) as Mary Flynn. Told in reverse chronological order, the musical follows three longtime friends as they navigate idealism, loyalty and disappointment over the course of twenty years. The successes and failures of their adulthoods unwind as the cynicism of age erases back to the glowing optimism of youth. Crackling with wit and a rich musical score, Sondheim’s gem features the gorgeous songs “Our Time,” “Good Thing Going,” and “Not a Day Goes By.”

In the ARK Theatre, Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner will direct the regional premiere of Adam Gwon ’s (Ordinary Days, Cake Off) new musical All the World’s a Stage (October 20 – December 20, 2026), a moving story about embracing who you are and the life-saving power of art by one of contemporary musical theater’s most exciting voices. The production will be music directed by Marika Countouris (Signature’s Safety Not Guaranteed, Hedwig and the Angry Inch). In 1996, a closeted high school math teacher agrees to mentor a student for a theater competition. Both outsiders in their small-town community, their exploration of Angels in America unsettles the town’s delicate balance, and the vise of intolerance begins to tighten, twisting their lives in unexpected ways. A deeply human tale with an expressive score, All The World’s a Stage is a rallying cry for authenticity and a touching tribute to all the teachers whose selfless courage uplifts and changes us all.

This holiday season, Lucy Simon (Doctor Zhivago) and Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman ’s (‘night, Mother, The Color Purple) Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of the classic Victorian novel The Secret Garden (December 8, 2026 – February 21, 2027) receives a gorgeous new production shaped for Signature's intimate stage. Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett , the production will be directed by Signature Theatre Associate Artistic Director Ethan Heard (Signature’s What Became of Us, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) with choreography by Kelly Crandall d’Amboise (Signature’s The Bridges of Madison County, She Loves Me) and music direction by William Yanesh (Signature’s Fiddler on the Roof, Ford’s Theater’s Sister Act). After losing her parents, 11-year-old Mary is sent to live with a wealthy, reclusive uncle she’s never met. As she explores the manor on the wild hills of England’s moors, Mary unearths many secrets, from the haunted inhabitants to the magic of a dormant garden. Sadness fades with the blossoms of spring as Mary’s determination to revive the garden’s beauty transforms the entire household. Enchanting and heartfelt, with a radiant score, including songs “Lily’s Eyes,” “Come to My Garden” and “How Could I Ever Know,” The Secret Garden is a life-affirming testament that seasons of loss will one day bloom into joy.

Up next in the ARK, Signature will produce the DC premiere of playwright Ngozi Anyanwu ’s (The Homecoming Queen, Good Grief) The Monsters (February 2 – March 21, 2027), a poignant, funny, and tender story of sibling rivalry and devotion directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene (Studio Theatre’s The Scenarios, Roundabout Theatre Company’s Covenant). When his little sister unexpectedly shows up at his door after 16 years, a mixed martial artist decides to take her in and eventually train her to become the next big fighter. However, when her skills progress and she develops her own ideas of the sport and its darker underside, it upsets their longstanding dynamic outside of the ring. As they fight with and for each other, the siblings grapple with hidden selves, loss and finding the strength it takes to let go in a knockout bout to become each other’s ultimate champion.

Signature will present its 62nd world premiere production this spring, a humorous and heartwarming musical meditation from the award-winning singer and songwriter Benjamin Scheuer (The Lion). Directed by Séimí Campbell (London Palladium’s Songs for a New World) and starring the musical’s author, A Mountain for Elodie (March 23 – April 25, 2027) chronicles Scheuer’s journey after the success of The Lion, from enjoying rockstar triumphs, meeting the love of his life, enduring fertility struggles and celebrating the birth of their daughter, Elodie. With every strum of his guitar, Scheuer’s lilting tenor weaves the joys and tribulations of career, marriage and fatherhood – and the game of juggling it all – into a soaring melody of unconditional love. Scheuer explores every complicated emotion: anxiety, impatience, love, astonishment and grief in this eloquent, moving and whimsical ode to the unpredictable, yet beautiful, mess that is life.

Our final ARK production this season will be Latin History for Morons (April 27 – June 13, 2027), a hilarious in-your-face show about pride and heritage written by comedic legend John Leguizamo (Freak, To Wong Foo , Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar ) and featuring Emmy and Drama Desk nominated actor Brian Quijada (Off-Broadway's Mexodus, Roundabout Theatre Company’s Bobbie Clearly). After his son experiences racially motivated bullying, “Professor” John sets out to teach real Latin history – what they didn’t teach you in school. His chaotic, revelatory and ribald lecture spans the Americas, from the Mayan pyramids through the conquistador destruction through Latine contributions in the United States. However, when things get worse for his son at school, John flails as he desperately tries to connect with his child and culture. With a chalkboard, some props and unapologetic physical comedy, this energetic and playful tour-de-force bolsters pride as it challenges preconceptions of what it means to be American.

Signature will close out the season with a production of the Tony Award-winning satirical musical Urinetown (June 1 – August 8, 2027). This smart, sardonic and engrossing musical comedy returns to Signature in a brand-new production. In Urinetown (the musical) the people can’t pee for free. A severe water shortage means the poor masses must pay exorbitant fees to a corporation to use the toilet or risk being exiled. However, when young Bobby Strong rebels against the corrupt powers-that-be, the entire system goes singing and dancing down the pipes. Featuring music & lyrics by Mark Hollmann and book & lyrics by Greg Kotis , Urinetown skewers and spoofs everything from capitalism to musical comedy itself in an enthralling and absorbing experience.

In an exciting co-production between Signature Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre Company , Stephen Sondheim ’s sumptuous and sophisticated masterpiece Follies (May 18 – June 20, 2027) glitters on the Harman Hall stage directed by Signature Theatre Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner with music direction by Jon Kalbfleisch . In 1971, a chorus of former showgirls return to their theatre to take one last look where it all began – when everything was possible, and nothing made sense. Surrounded by the glamorous ghosts of their past selves, they reminisce and face regrets as reality and memory begin to blur in ways both dazzling and devastating. With an epic cast of 32 and 14-piece orchestra, Sondheim’s incomparable score, including “Broadway Baby,” “I’m Still Here” and “Losing My Mind,” shines in spectacular style like you’ve never seen it before.

Signature’s Cabaret Series will kick off this summer with Respect: Aretha Franklin (August 11 – August 30, 2026) as the incomparable Nova Y. Payton puts her dynamic spin on Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin ’s greatest hits. Up next, "Everything's Coming Up Roses" as chanteuse Tracy Lynn Olivera toasts the transcendent leading ladies from the Golden Age of Broadway in Something Wonderful: Broadway’s Leading Ladies (September 8 – September 20, 2026). And finally, Signature closes out its 2026-2027 cabaret season with Bad Reputation: Women Who Rock (June 22 – July 11, 2027), celebrating the pulsing sound of women rock stars from Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Janis Joplin to Joan Jett and Tina Turner .

Signature’s 2026-2027 season also includes a special engagement of Laura Benanti : Nobody Cares (April 27 – May 2, 2027). Direct from an acclaimed run at Edinburgh Fringe and two sold-out Off-Broadway engagements comes Laura Benanti : Nobody Cares, a one-woman comedy show from the mind of Tony Award® winner Laura Benanti , with songs co-written with Todd Almond . Known for her dazzling Broadway performances and razor-sharp wit, Benanti takes the stage to share her hilarious, heartfelt, and sometimes brutally honest takes on motherhood, people-pleasing, and the joys of aging. Blending side-splitting storytelling with original songs, New York Times Critic's Pick Nobody Cares is a love letter to recovering ingénues, mothers, and anybody working on themselves.

Signature’s Education programming includes the 32nd year of Signature in the Schools, an award-winning arts education program provided for free to schools across northern Virginia. This season’s play, written by Helen Hayes Award-winning playwright Dani Stoller , is a chilling look at the effects of censorship and the power of art as seen through the lens of Nazi book burnings during the Second World War. Performances of Signature in the Schools will take place from February 5 – February 15, 2027. This fall will see the continued expansion of programming in Signature’s Education Studios and the return of popular programs such as Signature Conservatory, SigWorks in the Schools, and the Arlington Fine Arts Apprentices. Fall classes will include theater making for elementary school students, musical theatre skills for middle schoolers, dance technique for actors, beginning scene study for actors, and dance for adults of all levels.

Signature offers flexible subscription options for the 2026-2027 season. Season Subscription packages are now on sale for both mainstage productions and the cabaret series. Custom packages for mainstage productio

_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/washington-dc/article/MERRILY-WE-ROLL-ALONG-Laura-Benanti-and-More-Set-for-Signature-Theatre-2026-2027-Season-20260505)._