USI Theatre proudly presents its 2026-27 season
University of Southern Indiana Theatre is proud to announce a five-show season for the 2026-27 academic year. This season follows one of the University’s best seasons which began with USI’s first-ever outdoor show of The Grown-Ups, and wrapping with the sold-out production and the Indiana collegiate debut of Dear Evan Hansen.
This season will see the introduction of a student-directed production in the Performance Center, complementing the three additional mainstage productions. The season will once again include a student-directed and designed production in the Mallette Studio Theatre.
USI Theatre will also be debuting a new ticket vendor for patrons. The University is partnering with Vivenu to provide ticket sales and seating reservations for the mainstage productions. Season tickets and seat reservations will still be available on the platform, as well as additional features.
More information about our new platform will be available once the site goes live in August. If interested in becoming a season patron, send contact details (name, email address, mailing address) to Theatre.management@usi.edu, and USI Theatre will make additions to the mailing list.
The 2026-27 lineup includes:
First Daughter Suite
Words and music by Michael John LaChiusa
Directed by Joshua Robinson, Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre
September 24-27 in the USI Performance Center
First Daughter Suite is a historical fantasia in four parts exploring the lives of First Ladies, First Daughters and their families as they navigate personal identity, relationships and life in the public eye.
The Old Man and The Old Moon
Book, music and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co.
Directed by Brecken Maddox ’27
October 29 through November 1 in the USI Performance Center
A fantastic, grandiose and moving musical adventure about an old man who must abandon his duties of filling up the moon with light to cross the seas in search of his missing wife.
The Women of Lockerbie
By Deborah Brevoort
Directed by Eric Altheide, Professor of Theatre
February 4-7, 2027, in the USI Performance Center
Seven years after the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 terrorist bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, a mother from New Jersey comes to Scotland hoping to find some of her son’s remains.
Pool (No Water)
By Mark Ravenhill
Directed by Car Downs ’28
March 4-7, 2027, in the Mallette Studio Theatre
Pool (No Water) is a visceral and shocking new play about the fragility of friendship and the jealousy and resentment inspired by success.
Avenue Q
Book by Jeff Whitty
Music and lyrics by Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez
Directed by Joshua Robinson, Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre
April 22-25, 2027, in the USI Performance Center
The laugh-out-loud musical tells the timeless story of a recent college grad named Princeton, who moves into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on Avenue Q. He soon discovers that, although the residents seem nice, it’s clear that this is not your ordinary neighborhood. Together, Princeton and his new-found friends struggle to find jobs, dates and their ever-elusive purpose in life.
Filled with gut-busting humor and a delightfully catch score, not to mention puppets, Avenue Q is truly a unique show that has quickly become a favorite for audiences everywhere. Although the show addresses humorous adult issues, it is similar to a beloved children's’ show; a place where puppets are friends, monsters are good and life lessons are learned.
Avenue Q is produced by special arrangement with Music Theatre International. For more information about MTI's catalogue, visit the website.
To learn more about the USI Theatre Program, visit the website.