The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals at the Greenbelt Arts Center, Jun 5-20

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals at the Greenbelt Arts Center, Jun 5-20

The Greenbelt Arts Center presents:
The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals
music and lyrics by Jeff Blim
written by Matt & Nick Lang
directed by AJ Fontaine

June 5 – 20, 2026

Location: Greenbelt Arts Center

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals is a comedy musical that follows Paul, an average guy who “doesn’t like musicals,” as the citizens of his town are gradually overcome by an alien hive mind that makes them sing and dance as if they are in a musical.

Tickets: $27 General Admission, $25 Seniors/Military, $15 Student/Youth. Buy tickets here.

Auditions for The Lion in Winter at Greenbelt Arts Center, Jun 1 & 2

Auditions for The Lion in Winter at Greenbelt Arts Center, Jun 1 & 2

The Rude Mechanicals, in residence at The Greenbelt Arts Center announce auditions for:
The Lion in Winter
directed by Stephen Cox

Auditions: June 1 & 2, 2026 at 7pm

Performances: August 21 – September 5, 2026

2nd Star Productions at the Bowie Playhouse

Christmas with the Plantagenets: the premier dysfunctional family of 12th century Europe. King Henry II of England lets his Queen wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, out of prison (she led one too many nearly successful revolts against him) for a two-day Christmas court of merriment, politics and infighting at Chinon, France in 1183. They are joined by their three sons (and aspiring heirs): Richard Lionheart, Geoffrey (Count of Brittany), and John the pimple. Also in attendance are Alais Capet (both the fiancée of the as-yet-to-be-determined heir, and Henry’s current mistress) and her younger brother Philip, the new King of France, who wants her wedding performed, or her dowry back.

For more information click here.

Salome at the Greenbelt Arts Center, May 7-16

Salome at the Greenbelt Arts Center, May 7-16

The Rude Mechanicals in residence at Greenbelt Arts Center presents:
Salome
by Oscar Wilde
directed by Wes Dennis

May 7 – 16, 2026
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8PM
Sunday, May 10 at 2PM
Pay What You Will Performances:
Thursday May 7 8pm
Thursday May 14 8pm

Location: Greenbelt Arts Center

Oscar Wilde’s classic tragedy based on the Biblical story of the beheading of John the Baptist. Much has been made of the supposed immorality of the play. When the script was published in 1893, The Times newspaper described it thusly: “an arrangement in blood and ferocity, morbid, bizarre, repulsive, and very offensive…”

…And now the Rude Mechanicals are presenting Salome as a tribute to 1990s media and culture, with a plethora of edits and changes to the Lord Alfred Douglas translation in the service of that end. Also? It’s now a comedy. In short: it’s Oscar Wilde’s Salome as only the Rude Mechanicals would stage it. Cue laugh track.

*This show contains comedic violence, suicide, and murder*

Tickets: $24 General Admission, $22 Seniors/Military, $12 Student/Youth. Buy tickets here.

Ken Ludwig’s Moon Over Buffalo at MAD, Apr 10-25

Ken Ludwig’s Moon Over Buffalo at MAD, Apr 10-25

MAD’s 2026 Winter Show:
Moon Over Buffalo
by Ken Ludwig
directed by Randy Barth
produced by Sue Breon

Performances: April 10 – 25, 2026.
Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30, Sundays at 2:00pm

Location: Goddard Space Flight Center’s MAD Theater.

The play is a comedy about a husband-and-wife acting duo, George and Charlotte Hay, who are performing in repertory in Buffalo, New York in 1953. Their careers are on the brink of disaster when they learn famous film director Frank Capra might be coming to see their show, giving them a potential last chance at Hollywood stardom. However, everything that can go wrong does go wrong, including a visit from their daughter’s fiancé, confusion over which play they are performing, and complications from Charlotte’s mother. The style is similar to Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor, which Randy directed for MAD in 1996. With slamming doors, mistaken identities, and costume malfunctions, the hilarious play has all of the classic elements of a farce.

Tickets: Adults $22, Senior/Military $20, Student $12. Opening weekend discount $4 off. Click here.

Sweat at the Greenbelt Arts Center, Apr 10-25

Sweat at the Greenbelt Arts Center, Apr 10-25

The Greenbelt Arts Center presents:
Sweat
by Lynn Nottage
directed by Bob Kleinberg

April 10 – 25, 2026

Location: Greenbelt Arts Center

Taking place in two time periods – Spring through Fall of 2000 and Fall of 2008 – the story revolves around a bar where a small group of factory workers in a small town in Pennsylvania spend time together discussing their lives, sharing secrets and laughs and of course, drinks. In response to the owners of a manufacturing factory deciding to pressure the workforce into concessions on wages and benefits, the workforce has decided to strike. Consequently, the owners have decided to bring in “scabs” to break the strike, thus setting the stage for conflicts involving economic strain and race relations, working-class disillusionment and personal shame, regret, and the difficulty in forgiving others, all playing out through the group of friends who meet regularly at the bar.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning drama is a masterful depiction of the forces that divide and conquer us. Yet along with the rage, despair and violence, there’s humor and abundant humanity. It is a cautionary tale of what happens when you don’t know how to resist, and provides a cautionary tale to all of us in the changing political, social and economic climate.

Tickets: $24 General Admission, $22 Seniors/Military, $12 Student/Youth. Buy tickets here.