- Introducing the "OCUPerforms Pick Four" package, letting patrons build a personalized schedule by selecting any four shows across dance, theatre, musical theatre, and music (okcu.edu/ocuperforms).
- Upcoming season features an eclectic mix of Broadway hits, classic operas, and dance showcases, including "Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812," "Pirates! The Penzance Musical," the 75th anniversary Opera Gala, and the 47th annual Christmas Vespers.
- Season highlights OCU's cooperative production model, pairing student performers with professional regional organizations such as Oklahoma Shakespeare for "Much Ado About Nothing" to deliver industry-level experience.
BY ROD JONES
OCU MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Anchored by an eclectic lineup ranging from jazz-age pirates to electropop Tolstoy, Oklahoma City University is announcing its primary shows for the upcoming 2026–27 performing arts season. The lineup includes a mix of new premieres and beloved classics, all performed by the talented students of OCU’s Wanda L. Bass School of Music, School of Theatre and Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment.
The operetta comedy “Pirates! The Penzance Musical” opens the mainstage schedule the first weekend of October. Later this year, OCU goes all out for the holiday season with a festive choir and orchestra tradition (Christmas Vespers) and dance show (Holiday Spectacular). A Shakespeare classic (“Much Ado About Nothing”), dance extravaganza (“MOVE!”) and innovative opera (“Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812”) will close out the academic year in the spring.
“This year’s lineup is a celebration of storytelling, spanning classical grand opera, fresh adaptations of literary masterpieces, and groundbreaking contemporary theatre,” said Julia Montag, dean of the Wanda L. Bass School of Music and School of Theatre. “Between our 75th-anniversary opera celebration and collaborative productions alongside regional icons like Oklahoma Shakespeare, we’re offering the community a front-row seat to the future of the performing arts.”
New this year, OCU’s dance, music and theatre schools are teaming up for a collaborative performing arts schedule (okcu.edu/ocuperforms) and the OCUPerforms Pick Four season-ticket bundle, giving arts lovers the freedom to mix, match and curate their own cultural calendars across dance, theatre, opera and musical theater. Pick Four purchases also give arts supporters an advanced opportunity to select their preferred seats, with single-show tickets going on sale later.
Melanie Shelley, dean of the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment, said the new ticket package provides an opportunity for patrons to explore a variety of productions at an affordable rate.
“The new OCUPerforms Pick Four bundle gives dance lovers the flexibility to experience our signature shows on their own terms while exploring everything else OCU’s vibrant arts community has to offer,” Shelley said. “This season highlights the breadth and dynamic energy of our dancers, from the festive, high-stepping traditions of our ‘Holiday Spectacular’ to the genre-spanning vibrancy of ‘MOVE!’”
More information about OCU’s 2026-27 performing arts season and the Pick Four ticket bundles are available now at okcu.edu/ocuperforms.
The season also features smaller productions including “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Amelie” and “Octet” in addition to almost a dozen theatrical plays. For specific dates, times and ticket information, visit the OCUPerforms website. For information on the many choir, orchestra and band concerts, including faculty and student recitals, please visit the performing arts calendar on the OCU website.
Fall 2026 season lineup
- Oct. 2–4, Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates! The Penzance Musical”
This spirited and creative adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s beloved operetta moves the swashbuckling comedy from Penzance to New Orleans. Featuring jazz inflections, fresh orchestrations, a hapless band of pirates, and a tongue-twisted modern Major-General, this 2025 Tony Award nominee for Best Revival of a Musical reimagines the British classic for a new generation.
- Oct. 29–Nov. 1, “A Tale of Two Cities” (by Brendan Pelsue, based on the novel by Charles Dickens)
More than 50 characters are played by just 14 actors in this engaging and imaginative retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic novel chronicling “the best of times and worst of times.” Paris and London amid the French Revolution serve as the backdrop for an epic tale remixed for a contemporary audience. This production is in collaboration with Oklahoma Children’s Theatre.
- Nov. 20–22, Opera Gala: Verdi. Puccini. Donizetti
Celebrate the Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company’s 75th anniversary year with a gala highlighting favorite scenes from Verdi’s “La Traviata,” Puccini’s “Le Rondine” and Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Presented without intermission and featuring an opera chorus and soloists supported by a full orchestra.
- Dec. 10–13, Holiday Spectacular dance show
Introducing vibrant new dances, the Star Dance Company Holiday Spectacular honors the legacy of the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment. More than 120 dynamic performers spread yuletide magic with high-energy holiday favorites, vivid costumes, and a graceful reminder of the reason for the Christmas season.
- Dec. 10–13, Ken Ludwig’s “Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood”
A hilarious, action-packed adventure that the whole family will love. Created by Ken Ludwig—arguably America’s preeminent comic playwright—this show brings Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck and Maid Marian to life in an evening of fun, romance and laughter.
- Dec. 11–12, 47th annual Christmas Vespers
Ring in the season with orchestral, chamber and choral ensembles from the Bass School of Music. Featuring more than 200 student musicians celebrating the holiday through poetry, Scripture readings, classic carols, new works, and congregational singing in First Presbyterian’s stunning Neo-Gothic sanctuary, culminating in the traditional candlelight finale.
Spring 2027 season lineup
- Feb. 4–7, “Sense & Sensibility” (by Kate Hamill, based on the novel by Jane Austen)
Kate Hamill’s delightfully witty adaptation of the classic romance has become a smash hit worldwide. Sensible Elinor and hypersensitive Marianne Dashwood navigate gossip and societal pressures in 18th-century England in a production that proves before “Bridgerton,” there was Jane Austen.
- Feb. 26–28, “Le Nozze di Figaro” (“The Marriage of Figaro”)
Hilarity, scheming and comedic miscues take center stage during what should be a joyous wedding celebration for Figaro and Susanna. Considered one of the greatest operas ever written, Mozart’s masterwork showcases brilliant humor, wit, charm and compassion across a single crazy day.
- March 11–13, “MOVE! Dance for the World of Entertainment”
The annual spring performance of the Star Dance Company from the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment illuminates the stage with vivid costumes, dynamic movement and more than 130 performers. Showcasing jazz, tap, theatre dance, street funk, ballet and more.
- April 8–11, “Much Ado About Nothing”
In collaboration with Oklahoma Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s original romantic comedy serves up a surprising evening of sharp tongues and side-splitting laughter as bitter old rivals Beatrice and Benedick fall victim to a plot revealing their mutual romantic attraction.
- April 23–25, “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” (by Dave Malloy)
An innovative electropop opera adapting a 70-page slice of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” Nominated for 12 Tony Awards after its 2016 Broadway debut, this Moscow-set score blends folk songs, rock, R&B and house music in a romantic love story that is inventive, ravishing and full-on romantic.
