Season

Be Who You Were Intended to Be

Pioneer Theatre is looking forward to having a full season this year and we can’t wait to see you in those seats!

We start off our season with Little Shop of Horrors. Directed by our new Technical Director, Taylor Wisskirchen. A horror comedy rock musical with music by Alan Menken and lyrics and a book by Howard Ashman. The story follows a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh.

Our 2023 competition show: The Trial of Ygor. Charged with the robbing of graves, desecration of corpse, concealment of evidence and accessory after the fact of murders, Ygor, Victor Von Frankenstein’s assistant, pleads his innocence to a stern magistrate and an angry gallery as he tells his story.

For the first time in Central Virginia, Pioneer Theatre presents Anastasia. From Tony winners Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, creators of such Broadway classics as Ragtime and Once On This Island, this dazzling show transports its audience from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s, as a brave young woman sets out to discover the mystery of her past. Pursued by a ruthless Soviet officer determined to silence her, Anya enlists the aid of a dashing con man and a lovable ex-aristocrat. Together, they embark on an epic adventure to help her find home, love and family.

For the first time in a long time Pioneer Theatre will be hosting a Spring Break Camp for elementary school students. At the end of the week those campers will present Honk, Jr. Ugly looks quite a bit different from his darling duckling brothers and sisters. The other animals on the farm are quick to notice and point this out, despite his mother’s protective flapping. Feeling rather foul about himself, the little fowl finds himself on an adventure of self-discovery, all the while unknowingly outwitting a very hungry Cat. Along the way, Ugly meets a whole flock of unique characters and finds out being different is not a bad thing to be.

You Can’t Take It With You rounds out our season. Guest directed by Pioneer Theatre alum, Joshua Lynn. The family of Martin Vanderhof lives “just around the corner from Columbia University — but don’t go looking for it.” Grandpa, as Martin is more commonly known, is the paterfamilias of a large and extended family of charming eccentrics. His granddaughter, Alice, is an attractive and loving girl who is still embarrassed by her family’s idiosyncrasies. When Alice falls for her boss, Tony, a handsome scion of Wall Street, she fears that their two families – so unlike in manner, politics and finances – will never come together. But why be obsessed by money? After all, you can’t take it with you…