The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces its 2025/26 theater season featuring Tony Award–winning Best Musicals, astounding illusions, family entertainment, and more.
“There is truly a great theater season of excitement and joy coming to the Kennedy Center,” said Senior Vice President of Artistic Programming and Executive Producer of Theater, Jeffrey Finn. “I couldn’t be more proud to feature a season filled with Best Musicals from Broadway, including three Tony–winning original Best Musicals: The Outsiders, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, and Spamalot.”
Broadway at the Kennedy Center kicks off in December when Monty Python’s Spamalot (December 16, 2025–January 4, 2026) finds its grail on the Opera House stage. Spamalot makes a triumphant return following a critically-acclaimed Broadway production that was named a New York Times “Critic’s Pick.” Audiences can then join the razzle-dazzle jazz babies of Chicago (March 31–April 5, 2026) as they take no prisoners in the record-breaking, Tony Award–winning production.
Broadway hits fill the Kennedy Center all summer, starting with the return of the spectacular musical extravaganza and winner of 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Moulin Rouge! The Musical (June 16–July 5, 2026). Great Scott! Back to the Future (July 7–19, 2026) returns by popular demand to the Opera House after being an audience favorite this past season. Then, Mrs. Doubtfire (July 14–August 2, 2026)—the hilarious and heartfelt musical comedy about the things we do to stay together — bursts onto the stage. Finally, Broadway’s thrilling 2024 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, The Outsiders (July 28–August 16, 2026), makes its highly-anticipated Washington, DC debut in the Opera House.
Beyond Broadway, drawing some of the best shows from across America and London’s West End, the Kennedy Center theater season delivers electrifying shows to defy the senses and delight the family. Direct from London comes the DC premiere of Ireland’s exciting new music sensation, Shamrock Tenors (November 25–30, 2025). Bringing together some of the world’s greatest illusionists, Champions of Magic (November 18–23, 2025) returns to the Kennedy Center with an explosive new show. Following two sold-out engagements, family audiences will delight in an all-new theatrical show starring Bluey (June 24–July 5, 2026). Additionally, what has quickly become DC’s favorite uproarious cure for the winter blues, The Improvised Shakespeare Company (November 28–December 23, 2025) will be back creating all-new Shakespearean masterworks based on audience suggestions.
Productions and titles for the 2025–2026 Broadway Center Stage series will be announced at a later date.
Subscriptions are available via the Kennedy Center website or by calling (202) 416-8500 weekdays between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
THE 2025–2026 THEATER SEASON
Shamrock Tenors: Christmas in Belfast
November 25–30, 2025 | Eisenhower Theater
Get ready for the festive season with Irish PBS favorites, the Shamrock Tenors, and their all-new show Christmas in Belfast. Described as “one of Northern Ireland’s greatest ever exports,” this groundbreaking group brings a fresh energy to Irish music. This November, the guys will bring holiday classics to life with an injection of Irish tradition and craic! With a mix of cheeky Irish charm, stellar vocals from some of the country’s most renowned stars, and electrifying multi-instrumental and dance performances, audiences of all ages are invited to experience the Emerald Isle at Christmas like never before. The Shamrock Tenors have achieved rapid success both at home and globally. The biggest highlights from their breakthrough year were performing live on NBC’s Today Show on St. Patrick’s Day! Having sold out venues worldwide, and performed for 20,000 fans at London’s Trafalgar Square, this group continues to bring high-energy Irish music to audiences worldwide.
Champions of Magic: Holiday Spectacular
November 18–23, 2025 | Eisenhower Theater
Celebrate the season with Champions of Magic and their ALL-NEW Holiday Spectacular featuring dazzling illusions, breathtaking grand-scale magic, and festive surprises for the whole family. This high-energy, interactive show blends their signature humor, jaw-dropping magic, and holiday cheer, creating a one-of-a-kind experience perfect for the season. Don’t miss this enchanting celebration filled with wonder, spectacle, and joy!
Improvised Shakespeare Company
November 28 – December 23, 2025 | Theater Lab
This beloved improv group is back by popular demand! Based on one audience suggestion (a title of a show that has never been written), The Improvised Shakespeare Company creates a brand-new, fully improvised Shakespearean masterpiece right before your eyes!
Monty Python’s Spamalot
December 16, 2025–January 4, 2026 | Opera House
Back in 2023, Broadway Center Stage’s acclaimed production of Monty Python’s Spamalot sold out its run and led to an equally beloved Broadway transfer! Now that Broadway show is touring the country, and the musical that “sets musical theater back a thousand years” is returning to the Kennedy Center.
Everything that makes a great knight in the theater is here, from flying cows to killer rabbits, British royalty to French taunters, dancing girls, rubbery shrubbery—and of course, the Lady of the Lake. Spamalot features well-known songs such as “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” “The Song That Goes Like This,” “Find Your Grail,” and more that have become beloved classics in the musical theater canon.
Chicago
March 31–April 5, 2026 | Opera House
Chicago is still the one musical with everything that makes Broadway shimmy-shake: a universal tale of fame, fortune, and all that jazz, with one showstopping song after another and the most astonishing dancing you’ve ever seen. No wonder it’s been honored with 6 Tony Awards, 2 Olivier Awards, a Grammy Award, and thousands of standing ovations. You’ve got to come see why the name on everyone’s lips is still…Chicago.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
June 16–July 5, 2026 | Opera House
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, the show that delighted and amazed Kennedy Center audiences, is back. Enter a world of splendor and romance, of eye-popping excess, of glitz, grandeur, and glory! A world where Bohemians and aristocrats rub elbows and revel in electrifying enchantment.
Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film comes to life onstage, remixed in a musical mash-up extravaganza. Directed by Tony Award winner Alex Timbers, Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a theatrical celebration of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and—above all—Love. With a book by Tony Award winner John Logan; music supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements by Tony Award winner Justin Levine; and choreography by Tony Award winner Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge! is more than a musical—it is a state of mind.
Bluey Returns!
June 24–July 5, 2026 | Eisenhower Theater
The Heelers, your favorite family from Bluey, return to the Kennedy Center next summer! More details to come.
Mrs. Doubtfire
July 14–August 2, 2026 | Eisenhower Theater
Everyone’s favorite Scottish nanny is headed to the Kennedy Center in this internationally acclaimed hit musical critics call “wonderful, heart-warming, and laugh-out-loud funny” (Manchester Evening News) and “a feel-good, family-friendly comedy that delivers” (The Hollywood Reporter). Based on the beloved film, Mrs. Doubtfire tells the hysterical and heartfelt story of an out-of-work actor who will do anything for his kids. It’s “the lovable, big-hearted musical comedy we need right now,” raves the Chicago Tribune — one that proves we’re better together.
Back to the Future: The Musical
July 7 – 19, 2026 | Opera House
Great Scott! Back to the Future, the acclaimed Broadway musical based on the classic movie of the same name, comes speeding back to the Kennedy Center.
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 88mph, it’ll change musical theater history forever.
The Outsiders
July 28–August 16, 2026 | Opera House
The winner of four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, is The Outsiders.
Adapted from S. E. Hinton’s seminal novel and Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic film, this thrilling new musical features a book by Adam Rapp with Justin Levine; music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Tony Award winner Justin Levine; music supervision, orchestration, and arrangements by Levine; choreography by Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman, and direction by Tony winner Danya Taymor. Entertainment Weekly says, “The Outsiders has the power to inspire an entire generation.”
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1967, Ponyboy Curtis, his best friend Johnny Cade, and their greaser family of “outsiders” battle with their affluent rivals, the Socs. The Outsiders navigates the complexities of self-discovery as the greasers dream about who they want to become in a world that may never accept them. With a dynamic original score, The Outsiders is a story of friendship, family, belonging… and the realization that there is still “lots of good in the world.”
Shear Madness
Ongoing Performances | Theater Lab
New clues, new laughs, and up-to-the-minute improvisation keep this audience favorite fresh and funny after over 20,000 performances at the Kennedy Center. Shear Madness is different every performance as audiences help catch the killer at this zany comedy that would be madness to miss.
