Tag Archives: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

NextNOW Fest 2026 at the Clarice, Sep 9-15

NextNOW Fest 2026 at the Clarice, Sep 9-15

Clarice presents:
NextNOW Fest 2026

Wed, Sep. 9, 2026 | 11:00 AM
Thu, Sep. 10, 2026 | 1:00 PM
Fri, Sep. 11, 2026 | 5:00 PM
Mon, Sep. 14, 2026 | 3:00 PM
Tue, Sep. 15, 2026 | 5:00 PM

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Live music. Comedy. Art. Connection. Experience it all at NextNOW Fest! Register for free now to receive priority access to the full 2026 lineup and schedule. You’ll also receive daily reminders throughout the festival week that will make your experience easy and convenient. Festival events will take place Wed, Sep 9-Tue, Sep 15 with festival nights taking place at The Clarice on Thu, Sep 10 and Fri, Sep 11. The full festival lineup and schedule will be announced in Summer 2026.
About NextNOW Fest

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s annual NextNOW Fest is a multi-day arts festival featuring performances and other experiences by intriguing, inventive artists from around the country and the University of Maryland campus. A forward-looking gathering place where art transforms our future and connects us all, NextNOW Fest is where creativity and community converge.

A University of Maryland campus tradition, NextNOW Fest is a signature event in University of Maryland’s Arts for All initiative, which leverages the combined power of the arts, technology and social justice to address the grand challenges of our time. NextNOW Fest is also a partner of Terps After Dark, an initiative by the UMD Division of Student Affairs that supports late-night,on-campus student programming. The festival is open for all to attend, including the general public.

Tickets: Free. Click here.

Lightwire Theater: Dino-Light at the Clarice, May 9

Lightwire Theater: Dino-Light at the Clarice, May 9

Clarice presents:
Lightwire Theater: Dino-Light

Sat, May. 9, 2026 | 2:30 pm

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

You won’t believe your eyes as a shining, luminescent world of prehistoric creatures dance, explore and even engage in lightsaber duels in the larger-than-life neon puppetry world of Dino-Light.

Through a mix of imagination, science and magic, a friendly neon-lit dinosaur leaps to life, seeking friends and love in Dino-Light. You won’t believe your eyes as a shining, luminescent world of prehistoric creatures dance, explore and even engage in lightsaber duels! The luminary geniuses at Lightwire Theater utilize light, technology, music and innovative puppeteering to tell captivating stories and unite audiences of all ages with a sense of wonder. As seen on “America’s Got Talent,” the company’s approach to inventive artistry through creative engineering sets them apart. A Jim Henson Foundation Grant awardee and the first full-length work by company founders Ian Carney and Corbin Popp, Dino-Light makes its Clarice Presents debut for a one-afternoon-only matinee that’s sure to enchant would-be paleontologists both young and old!

Tickets: $35, Students/Youth: $15, family pack $80 (2 reg; 2 students). Click here.

Experimental Performance Series at the Clarice, May 9

Experimental Performance Series at the Clarice, May 9

UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies presents:
Experimental Performance Series

#5:
Sat, May. 9, 2026 | 2:00 pm
Sat, May. 9, 2026 | 7:30 pm

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

The Experimental Performance Series is a collection of self-produced works from undergraduate and graduate students in theatre and dance, ranging from established works to brand new plays and choreography.

This performance will feature two original works:

Folds and Folds and Folds, choreographed by Abigail Ash, is a movement exploration of core concepts of existentialist philosophy. The piece is a visual representation of the emotional and social repercussions of isolation as people struggle to connect with themselves and one another. The dancers contend with the lack of inherent and universal meaning of the world and ultimately resolve to define their own essence. They embrace and nurture their individuality and their relationships with one another, all with the awareness that meaning is created, not imparted.

Sombra da Criança
Co-Writer/Directors: Heidi Lehan and Eitan Amster
Choreographer: Beatriz Moreira Leite

Sombra da Criança is an original horror-choreo play that explores Brazilian folklore and what it means to grow up as a child instilled by the fears of storytelling. This cultural love letter offers a new and often underrepresented perspective on Brazilian theatre.

Free, no tickets required. Click here.

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El Ciclón at the Clarice, Apr 30-May 1

El Ciclón at the Clarice, Apr 30-May 1

Clarice presents:
UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies
El Ciclón
by Yara Travieso
music by Sam Crawford

Fri, May. 1, 2026 | 7:30 pm
Sat, May. 2, 2026 | 2:00 pm
Sat, May. 2, 2026 | 7:30 pm
Sun, May. 3, 2026 | 2:00 pm

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

Cuban-Venezuelan-American playwright Yara Travieso’s new musical El Ciclón, with music from acclaimed composer, librettist and TDPS faculty member Sam Crawford, is a unique and innovative musical production combining cinema with live theater. It tells the story of a woman stranded with her car in the swampy south during a harsh storm. El Ciclón is a wild, neo-feminist saga within a 1950s B-movie psychological thriller, featuring singing, dancing and just enough alligators to keep things interesting.

Tickets: $35, Students/Youth: $15. Click here.

Opera Scene Study by the Maryland Opera Studio at the Clarice, Apr 30-May 1

Opera Scene Study by the Maryland Opera Studio at the Clarice, Apr 30-May 1

Clarice presents:
Maryland Opera Studio
Opera Scene Study

Thu, Apr. 30, 2026 | 7:30 pm
Fri, May. 1, 2026 | 7:30 pm

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

First-year Maryland Opera Studio students demonstrate their talent in this showcase featuring scenes from a wide operatic repertory. First-year Maryland Opera Studio students demonstrate their talent in this showcase featuring scenes from a wide operatic repertory. To keep the focus on beautiful, pure sounds and vivid acting, the performance is accompanied only by piano and minimal props.

Free, no tickets required. Click here.