2026-2027 SPA Season

Location: Welsbacher Black Box Theatre

Date: September 17-19th, 2026 @ 7:30 PM

Guest Director: Jane Gabbert

Description:
The Bela Kiralyfalvi National Student Playwriting Competition honors the legacy of Bela Kiralyfalvi-beloved professor, director, and founding figure of WSU's theatre program-by uplifting the voices of undergraduate playwrights nationwide.

Rated: PG

Tickets: $15

Location: Welsbacher Black Box Theatre

Date: October 15-17th, 2026 @ 7:30 PM

Faculty Mentor: Sheldon Mba

Presented by: Empty Space Theatre

Description: A production by Empty Space Theatre (EST) which is a student-led organization of the School of Performing Arts.

Rated: TBD

Tickets: $15

Location: Wilner Auditorium

Date: November 12-15th, 2026 @ 7:30 PM; a 2:00 PM matinee on November 14-15th

Director: Jacob McGlaun

Description: Set in 1930s Berlin as the shadow of the Nazi regime begins to fall, Cabaret invites audiences inside the Kit Kat Klub—a place where anything goes and the outside world can be forgotten, if only for a moment. Through the eyes of American writer Cliff Bradshaw and the enigmatic performer Sally Bowles, the story unfolds with dazzling musical numbers, dark humor, and a growing sense of unease. As political tensions rise beyond the club’s walls, Cabaret explores the fragility of freedom and the cost of looking the other way.

Rated:

Tickets:

Note:

Location: Wilner Auditorium

Date: November 21, 2026 @ 7:30 PM

Director: Amy Baker Schwiethale and Lily Vetter

Description: Join the School of Performing Arts to celebrate senior capstone projects by students in dance performance & choreography, dance general studies, design & technical theatre, musical theatre, theatre, and acting.

Rated: TBD

Tickets: FREE

Location: Litwin

Date: December 2nd, 2026

Directors: Kate Compton

Description: TBD

Tickets: FREE - donations accepted

Location: Wilner Auditorium

Date: December 3rd, 2026

Director: Sabrina Vasquez

Description: End of semester celebration of all dance classes.

Rated: TBD

Tickets: FREE - donations accepted

Location: Welsbacher Black Box Theatre

Date: Febuary 4-6th, 2027 @ 7:30 PM

Description: The School of Performing Arts is thrilled to welcome back the writing team of Amanda D'Archangelis (music) and Sami Horneff (lyrics) to finish developing Act II of a brand-new musical with our students. Sami and Amanda met in the world-renowned BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Each year, the School of Performing Arts invites guest artists to campus with the end goal of developing a staged reading of a new musical to be presented at the conclusion of their workshop experience.

Original Work Being Developed: "PSYCH!" is a hilarious, '90s inspired musical retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. When Aphrodite is banished to high school, her schemes to control love spiral into chaos, culminating in a Homecoming night where secrets spill, hearts open, and kindness finally wins. Smart, joyful, and full of pop-culture flair, "PSYCH!" Is a celebration of love in all its messy magical forms.

Director: Amy Baker Schwiethale

Rated: PG-13 (langauge)

Tickets: $15 general admission

Location: Miller Concert Hall

Date: February 18-21st, 2027 @ 7:30 PM; a 2:00 p.m. matinee on Februrary 21st 

Description: Space - Pulse - Art - Rhythm - Kinesis: Dance Repertoire Concert

Igniting the stage with energy, motion, and movement, SPARK is a dynamic evening of dance that celebrates the elemental forces that drive human expression. Each piece is an electrifying repertoire exploring a facet of the acronym that gives the concert its name - the expansive freedom of Space, the visceral heartbeat of Pulse, the transformative power of Art, the driving beat of Rhythm, and the ever shifting force of Kinesis.

Featuring works by WSU dance faculty, local and regional choreographers, SPARK is a showcase of contemporary technique, innovative storytelling, and the boundless creativity of the human body in motion. Join us for an unforgettable journey through the language of movement, where every step is a spark waiting to catch fire.

Director: Cheyla Clawson

Rated: TBD

Tickets: $12, $18, $20

Location: Wilner Auditorium

Date: March 27th, 2027

Description: The 24hr Play Festival is celebrating its 3rd year with a major upgrade: Wilner Auditorium! New plays written by playwrights from local authors to those around the globe will be featured and performed by our WSU students!

Director: Joseph Urick

Rated: TBD

Tickets: FREE - donations accepted

Location: Litwin

Date: April 2nd, 2027

Facutly mentor: Sheldon Mba

Director(s): TBD

Description: TBD

Tickets: TBD

Location: Marcus Welcome Center

Date: April 4th, 2027

Director(s): Kate Compton

Description: TBD

Tickets: TBD

Location: Welsbacher Black Box Theatre

Date: April 22-25th, 2026 @ 7:30 p.m.; a 2:00 p.m. matinee on April 24-25th 

Director:  Kate Compton

Description: Four literary heroines of the nineteenth century set conventionalism ablaze when they turn down marriage proposals from their equally famous gentlemen callers. What results is a confluence of love, anger, grief and bloodshed, as the ensemble struggles to reconcile their romantic destinies with their modern ideas of courtship. Everything you’ve learned about love from the pages of Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and Little Women is turned upside down in this grand theatrical battle royale.

In Jaclyn Backhaus’ sharp look at the literary history of love, more modern notions of feminism and independence are brought into conflict with the rigid strictures of Victorian literature. What results is a play of boundless spirit, bold female characters and new perspectives on some classic heroes of page and stage.

Rated: TBD

Tickets: TBD

Location: Litwin

Date: May 6th, 2027 @ 5:00 p.m.

Director: Denise Celestin

Description: End of semester celebration of all dance classes.

Rated: TBD

Tickets: FREE - donations accepted