Making plans for the fall? Let us help. In our fall arts guide, we preview the best plays, concerts, fests and more coming to San Diego. Look for a roundup of the best in music, theater and festivals, with a spotlight feature in each category.
Theater boasts some of the biggest national successes for San Diego performing arts. For instance, this fall, a national tour of “The Outsiders” returns to the city where it originated, after winning the Tony for best musical in 2024.
But “The Outsiders” isn’t an outlier: Many plays and musicals first seen by audiences in San Diego have made their way to Broadway and beyond, starting with the Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods” in 1986.
Here are the upcoming productions, including world premieres and other cutting-edge performances, that audiences hungry for new work should check out before the shows (potentially) move on to greater fame.
Begin Again
World-premiere musical “Begin Again,” through Oct. 18, The Old Globe Theatre. This pre-Broadway engagement will refine the new production, based on the 2013 John Carney film starring Keira Knightley as heartbroken songwriter Gretta. She is discovered by struggling producer Dan, played by Mark Ruffalo, and they perform songs across New York City.
In this musical, the band Train (remember the ’00s hits “Hey, Soul Sister” and “Drops of Jupiter”?) lent their pop song prowess to compose an all-new score about “rediscovering passion” and the “courage to start over.” Tickets, The Old Globe.
Our Lady of the San Diego Convention Center
World-premiere “Our Lady of the San Diego Convention Center” from TuYo Theatre begins at The Old Globe and tours across San Diego through Oct. 18. The piece is set at the Convention Center in spring of 2021 when it became a mass holding facility for unaccompanied migrant children. The piece is writer Mario Vega’s second work for TuYo after the musical “Pásale Pásele.” It is produced in partnership with Casa Familiar, the San Ysidro-based organization that was among the providers of 24-hour care for young asylum seekers in 2021. That might make for a unique insight into what actually happened at a San Diego venue that is one of the region’s biggest national draws. Tickets, reserve pay-what-you-can (suggested, $25).
A Black-Billed Cuckoo
This world-premiere play “Black-Billed Cuckoo,” through Oct. 11 at La Jolla Playhouse, is the 13th play to be developed from the theater’s DNA New Work Series onto the stage. This quiet comedy comes from award-winning playwright Mat Smart with experienced director Shelley Butler. Smart explores a tight-knit Brooklyn-based birding group that is divided when some members spot an unusual black-billed cuckoo while others miss out on the rare sighting. Tickets, La Jolla Playhouse.
Good Night, Oscar
West Coast-premiere play “Good Night, Oscar,” through Oct. 11, North Coast Repertory. Written by Doug Wright and directed by Tom Frey, the show brings the “chaotic, brilliant world” of Oscar Levant to the stage during one glamorous appearance in 1958 on “The Jack Paar Show.” The neurotic Levant had a musical genius – pianist, composer, actor – only matched by his legendary sharp tongue. Tickets, North Coast Rep.
This is Government
San Diego-premiere comedy “This is Government,” from Sept. 27-Oct. 25, Moxie Theatre. Playwright Nina Kissinger brings dark humor into the cramped office where three congressional interns are trapped during a security lockdown thanks to a bomb threat. Considering Times of San Diego’s DC fellow got stuck at a hotel when shots were fired at the White House Correspondents Dinner, there’s something to the claim that getting stuck late after work in a lockdown is part of the Capitol Hill intern experience. In this case, it makes the interns ponder what can happen when leaders play politics with people’s lives. Tickets, Moxie Theatre.
Oh, Mary!
West Coast-premiere dark comedy “Oh, Mary!” from Sept. 29-Oct. 4 from Broadway San Diego at the Civic Theatre. This off-the-wall spoof started as the must-have Off-Broadway ticket for queer people in New York City before sailing to Broadway on a wave of word-of-mouth popularity. Its playwright Cole Escola initially played the historically inaccurate Mary Todd Lincoln, until seasoned comedians including Maya Rudolph, Titus Burgess, Jinkx Monsoon and Jane Krakowski stepped into the role. I’ve never been so tempted to fly to New York just to see a play as when Bowen Yang, of “Saturday Night Live” fame, took a crack at playing the alcoholic, miserable Mary as she tries to make it as a cabaret star in the weeks before Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. In the national tour in San Diego, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Alaska Thunderf*ck plays the titular Mary grappling with thwarted dreams. Tony winner J. Harrison Ghee plays her husband. Tickets, Broadway San Diego.
Odds Are
World-premiere production “Odds Are” from Oct. 2-18 from Mosaic Theatricals, The Bornemann Theatre at TERI Campus of Life in San Marcos. The autobiographical one-person play written and performed by Smita Russell, with live cello accompaniment, is being turned into a fully-staged production after a notable run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2025 and a grand prize win at the United Solo Festival. Russell touches on love, loss and luck after being dealt the world’s worst hand in a “funny and fearless piece.” Tickets, Mosaic Theatricals.
GRIM
World-premiere musical “GRIM” opening Oct. 27, La Jolla Playhouse. After hundreds of thousands of years on the job, the Grim Reaper is retiring, leaving the role to his daughter Diana. But how can she be in charge of death when on her first trip to Earth, she falls in love with dorky teen Josh, the chaos of humanity and even the DMV? The stacked production team in this cheeky, insightful piece includes director Sammi Cannold (Variety’s 10 Broadway Stars to Watch, Drama Desk Award winner), musical comedy trailblazers Joey Orton and Brad Silnutzer, and songwriters Petro AP (Reneé Rapp, One Direction) and Scott Hoying (Pentatonix). The playhouse says audiences should prepare to laugh, cry and be deeply moved. Tickets, at La Jolla Playhouse.
9 Circles
San Diego-premiere play “9 Circles” from Nov. 5-22 staged by OnWord Theatre at the Light Box Theatre (2590 Truxtun Road). This is one of the few plays in this roundup that is older – written by Bill Cain in 2010. However, the contemporary morality play is an interesting look at the post-9/11-era, as the U.S. has now withdrawn from Afghanistan, leaving the Taliban in control. Plus, it’s put on by Marti Gobel’s production company, and I’m quick to see anything the talented local auteur puts on. The “9 Circles” echo Dante’s “The Divine Comedy,” except each deeper ring of hell is the bureaucracy and the judicial system one fictionalized soldier experiences as he’s tried for war crimes. It’s based on Steven Dale Green’s role in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and her family, committed by five active-duty soldiers, and covered up by more. The production follows one of the instigators, a diagnosed sociopath, but has been praised for its nuanced look at his antisocial disorder and the psychological impacts of war, rather than just jumping to demonize Green. Tickets, On Word Theatre.
The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor
Nov. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Balboa Theatre. UC San Diego’s ArtPower presents Tony Award-winning choreographer Sonya Tayeh, whose dance-theater work is inspired by Sinéad O’Connor’s uncompromising spirit. Set to the Irish artist’s music with narration from her memoir “Rememberings,” the world-premiere piece is performed by a company of 10 women. Tickets, $45 to $86.
Arrowhead
San Diego premiere of “Arrowhead” on Nov. 12-Dec. 6 at Diversionary Theatre. The tastemaker queer theater stages Catya McMullen’s bold comedy about an accidentally pregnant lesbian hosting a secret abortion party that tests friendships and destroys identities. It tackles bodily autonomy and community expectations with humor instead of hopelessness. Tickets, Diversionary Theatre.
Worth a look
“Come From Away,” through Sept. 26, The Moonlight; “Tick, Tick…BOOM!” through Sept. 27, Diversionary Theatre; “Topdog/Underdog,” from Sept. 25-Oct.18, at The Old Globe; “Ripcord,” Oct. 8-Nov. 1, Roustabouts Theatre, Scripps Ranch Theatre; “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” Oct. 16-25, Trinity Theatre in its new Miramar location; “As You Like It: The Musical,” Oct. 16-Nov. 29, New Village Arts, Carlsbad; “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Oct. 23-Nov. 8, San Diego Junior Theatre at Casa del Prado Theatre in Balboa Park.
