American Stage announces lineup for 49th Season

ST PETERSBURG — American Stage, St. Petersburg's premier professional theater company, recently announced the lineup for its 2026/27 season, which kicks off with a Janus Joplin jukebox musical.

A Night With Janis Joplin
September 16 – October 11, 2026
Written by Randy Johnson
Directed by Celine Rosenthal
September 16 – October 11, 2026

Like a comet that burned too brightly to last, Janis Joplin exploded onto the music scene in 1967 and, almost overnight, became the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Filled with raw emotion and tinged with Southern Comfort. A Night With Janis Joplin is a sensational show featuring a musical journey celebrating Joplin and her biggest musical influences like Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Odetta, Nina Simone, and Bessie Smith. These are the women who inspired one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest legends

Unhinged
November 4 - 22, 2026

By Steven J. Burge
Directed by Helen R. Murray

One man. Zero shame. Questionable legality. Part confessional. Part storytelling. All ridiculous, UNHINGED is a 75-minute tour de force that, depending on statutes of limitations and local laws regarding admission of guilt wherever this may be produced, is either 100% fictional or entirely autobiographical. Trigger warning: This show contains a cis white man talking about himself for over an hour. It also contains some legit-upsetting topics like parallel parking; theater camp; coming out in small-town, rural America; assault; addiction; pickle ball; and mental illness. Oh! And clowns! WORLD PREMIERE.

Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth
January 27 – February 21, 2027
By Helen R. Murray
Directed by Rex Daugherty

A storm is coming…and it wears a crown. This wild new adaptation launches Shakespeare's Macbeth into a three-person theatrical hurricane. Heroes become villains, witches become warriors, and kings don't stay kings for long as performers swap roles at breakneck speed. It's a hilarious, high-stakes game of theatrical musical chairs—with daggers.

But as the laughter builds, so does the question at the heart of the story: Why do we crave power... even when we know it will cost us everything? A sharp, physical, and riotous world premiere that proves the fastest way to the throne is also the messiest. WORLD PREMIERE.

Shrek the Musical... in the Park

March 31 - May 2, 2027
Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, Music by Jeanine Tesori
Originally produced on Broadway by DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions
Directed by Helen R. Murray
Original Production Directed by Jason Moore and Rob Ashford

‍Beauty is truly in the eye of the ogre. Everyone’s favorite ogre is back in the hilarious musical based on the Oscar-winning, smash hit film! “Once upon a time, there was a little ogre named Shrek”... and thus begins the tale of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a life-changing journey alongside a wisecracking Donkey, and a feisty princess who resists her rescue. Throw in a short-tempered bad guy, a cookie with an attitude, and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and you’ve got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there’s one on hand... and his name is Shrek.

Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B
June 2 - 20, 2027
By Kate Hamill
Two roommates. Countless cases. Zero chill.

Sherlock, but make it chaotic, codependent, and completely reimagined. Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B is an irreverent, darkly comic, modern take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous sleuth and sidekick. This fast-paced romp re-examines the world’s most famous detective story with a bold new feminist lens. Oddball female roommates Sherlock (yes, it’s also a girl’s name—wait, is it a girl’s name? Is it even a name?) Holmes & Joan Watson join forces to emerge from pandemic fog as a deeply codependent, quasi-dysfunctional Odd Couple adventure duo—solving mysteries and kicking butts, until they come face to face with a villain who seems to have all of the answers…