Grand Theatre announces 2026/27 Season of plays, musicals, concerts – and a new comedy series

It’s the eleventh hour. Last minute stitches are being placed. Stage management and crew are running through their checks – lights, sound, set, wardrobe, props. Cast are in their pre-show rituals, tuning themselves for the marathon performance ahead. It’s opening night, and everything has been building towards this precise moment. And then the curtain lifts. For the audience, time stands still as they are whisked away to another world, another time, another life.

Now, imagine four unforgettable plays, two spectacular musicals, five symphonic rock concerts, and a new live comedy series. Time ticks to a different beat inside the rehearsal halls, Prop shop, Wardrobe department, and Scene shop of the Grand Theatre. At any given moment, there could be one show in rehearsal while two more are on our stages, and a third or even a fourth are being designed and built in the shops – all while the artistic director has an eye to what’s next.

What’s next, indeed! The Grand Theatre has unveiled its 2026/27 Season: All in Grand Time. “Through the course of the season, we’ll take audiences to visit 1640, 1897, the late 1940s, 1959, 1979, and even travel ahead in time to the spring of 2035,” reveals Grand Theatre Artistic Director, Rachel Peake.

Starting in modern day with an immortal favourite, the season will open with Off-Broadway and the West End’s campy, clever Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors. For the holidays, a new musical take on A Christmas Carol, written by Canadian David van Belle, re-set in a 1940s department store, and featuring everyone’s seasonal favourites including “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, “Walking in a Winter Wonderland”, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”, and more.

In the New Year, the Grand will welcome cicadas, an eerie eco-thriller by one of Canada’s most dynamic and exciting writers, David Yee. In partnership with the National Arts Centre and Tarragon Theatre, this world premiere is fully-scored by composer Chris Thornborrow, performed by a live orchestra on stage, and imagines a haunting reckoning with nature in the not-so-distant future.

Next to the main stage is Somewhere – a love letter to mid-century New York City, the golden age of Broadway, and all things West Side Story – by Tony Award-winner Matthew López (The Inheritance, Some Like It Hot). In this heartfelt, poignant family-drama laced with dance, the Candelaria family has the talent for fame beyond their cozy Puerto Rican neighbourhood and yet gentrification – and the building of the Lincoln Centre – threaten home as they’ve always known it.

To warm us into Spring, the classic love story of Cyrano de Bergerac and his very large nose will take to the Grand’s Spriet Stage in a new modern-verse adaptation by Jessy Ardern. Loosely based on the real life of the infamous 17^th century novelist and playwright, this period costume drama promises duels, poetry, romance, and conflict all written in lively rhyming couplets.

The clock keeps ticking towards the end of the season, and there is one more title yet to come. 9 to 5, the musical based on the hit 1980 film with chart-topping music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, the Queen of Country herself. This hilarious office revenge plot gone wrong will bring the house down and send us off to summer singing with the top down.

“In an age when life can often feel difficult, stepping into another time can be a way to take some space, find freedom, and go on a welcome adventure,” shares Peake. “And yet, every show in this season has been chosen for what it has to say about right here, right now, about our lives and the present day.”

Meanwhile, as the weeks and months of the season tick by, the Grand will also be staging its always sold-out Jeans ‘N Classics rock symphony concert series – and has also announced Grand Laughs, a new comedy series that will bring top name stand-up and cutting edge improv to Downtown London all season long. This season’s Jean ‘n Classics series will begin with “Peter’s Playlist”, in memory of creator and musician Peter Brennan, followed by concerts spotlighting iconic female voices that shaped rock music (think Pat Benatar, Stevie Nicks, Janis Joplin …), first-wave British artists (The Who, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Queen, and more), Tom Petty’s timeless blend of Southern storytelling and rock n’ roll, and ‘90s Power Chords (Nirvana, Counting Crows, REM, Alanis Morrissette). For Grand Laughs, the new comedy series, audiences will need to stay tuned for exciting news to be announced.

Subscriptions for the Grand Theatre’s six-show Spriet Series, Jeans ‘n Classics, and the Grand Laughs comedy series are on sale now, with Early Bird pricing offering steep savings between now and May 5. Subscribe online at grandtheatre.com, call the Box Office at 519.672.8800, or stop by the theatre at 471 Richmond Street.