Act 1 Announces 2025-2026 Season
Act 1, the highly acclaimed producing arm of the DeSales University School of Performing Arts, is pleased to announce the lineup of the 2025-2026 season, including six theatre productions, two dance concerts, and two TV/film events.
“We are thrilled to announce our ’25-’26 season, which includes four premieres that have never before been seen on the Act 1 stage,” said Jessica Bedford, artistic director and assistant professor of theatre. “This season was selected with our audience in mind with two comedies, two musicals, and a thought-provoking piece for the winter—productions full of inspiration and laughter.”
The academic year opens with a comedy from the late Doylestown-area playwright Christopher Durang. “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” is the story of two middle-aged siblings at loose ends after the passing of their parents when their famous actress sister arrives with a new boyfriend with plans to upend their world. In the Schubert Theatre, Act 1 revisits one of the first productions the school ever produced, “The Fantasticks,” the longest-running musical in the history of American theatre. Two fathers hire the mysterious El Gallo to help their children fall in love with each other. Memorable musical moments include the song “Try to Remember.”
Our talented dance majors have the opportunity to show their choreographic skills as their works are presented at the Emerging Choreographers Concert early in November. Later that month students in the TV/film program are challenged to conceive, write, shoot, and edit a short film in the space of a weekend in the 72-Hour Film Challenge. The intriguing results of this creativity will be streamed.
The holiday show on our Main Stage is Ken Ludwig’s “The Game is Afoot, or Holmes for the Holidays.” Set in Connecticut on Christmas Eve, Sherlock Holmes-portraying actor William Gillette wants to determine who made an attempt on his life. What follows is a comic country house mystery with many suspects.
“Rhinoceros,” Eugene Ionesco’s comic political satire has the residents of a small provincial French town start turning into large animals with one man resisting. The production with the themes of conformity, mob mentality, and the price of holding on to individuality in the face of social pressure opens the spring semester’s slate of productions in February.
Act 3, the student-run theatre for children, will present “Tinker Bell” by Patrick Flynn and based on the works by J.M. Barrie. Witness the story of Peter Pan but through the eyes of the title fairy. Dance compositions by guest artists and the talented faculty of the dance department will be showcased at the DeSales University Dance Concert in March, while the adjudicated works from our TV/film students will be presented at the DeSales University Film Festival.
The year closes with “9 to 5: The Musical,” the Tony-nominated stage adaptation of the 1980 film. Three employees of Consolidated Industries, Violet, Doralee, and Judy, who are pushed to their breaking points, become unlikely friends and hatch a scheme to take revenge on their misogynistic and lecherous boss. Dolly Parton wrote the music and lyrics for the show with plenty of big and memorable production numbers.
Subscriptions for Act 1 productions will go on sale Monday, April 14, through the box office and online. The Act 1 subscription package includes “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” “The Game is Afoot, or Holmes for the Holidays,” “Rhinoceros,” and “9 to 5: The Musical.” Act 1 subscribers are entitled to a discounted price on ‘The Fantasticks,” The Emerging Choreographers Concert, The 72-Hour Film Challenge, “Tinker Bell,” the Dance Ensemble Concert, and the DeSales University Film Festival.
Single tickets go on sale July 14, 2025. Group discounts and morning matinee performances are also available. For tickets or more information, call the Act 1 Box Office at 610-282-3192, or visit tickets.desales.edu.
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Questions? tom.mcnamara@desales.edu