The Western Stage announces its 2026 season of shows.

“If 2025 reflected my penchant for sentimental, heartfelt stories, season 2026 is full of unexpected and unusual choices that are bolder and cheekier in nature,” wrote Western Stage Managing Artistic Director Melissa Chin-Parker in a press release that announced next year’s season: six contemporary plays and musicals the audience will be able to see in Salinas between May and November 2026.

The program includes four musicals, two one-person shows and two comedies, and opens with Home, I’m Darling (May 9-31), a 2018 comedy by British playwright Laura Wade about a modern woman’s struggle to change into a traditional housewife. The plot is devoted to sex and cake—what’s not to like?

Home, I’m Darling will be followed by Songs for Nobodies (June 6-28), a one-woman musical that features songs by Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and Maria Callas, presenting quite a challenge—and the opportunity—for the actress/singer who will land the role. Women in music, their presence and absence, is the subject of the show.

The summer will start with Latin History for Morons (June 26-July 19), a one-man Broadway show that is currently streaming on Netflix. In it, comic and actor John Leguizamo questions the repression of Hispanic culture throughout American history. Prepare to laugh and get educated. The trailer for this 2018 production can be watched here.

In late August, the Western Stage will show Songs for the New World (Aug. 16-Sept. 6), a musical originally produced Off-Broadway at the now permanently closed WPA (The Workshop of the Players Arts Foundation) Theatre in New York in 1995. The show is an “abstract” musical that features a sequence of songs written and composed by Jason Robert Brown, a recipient of three Tony Awards.

The summer will end with The Mad Ones (Aug. 29-Sept. 20), a 2017 musical by Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk about a high school senior who loses her friend and tries to make a decision about her future. The musical explores themes of grief, friendship, generational differences and the courage to forge one's own path.

Finally, the season closes with The Great American Trailer Park Musical (Oct. 24-Nov. 15) written by David Nehls and Betsy Kelso, based on her book. Taking place in a trailer park in Florida, the show tells a story of a community dealing with a stripper moving in. The musical was first performed during the first New York Music Theater Festival in 2004 and Off-Broadway in 2005.

The Western Stage decided to take a break from the classics and be—in 2026—as contemporary as possible, with almost all shows written in the 21st century. A Performance Pass that allows one to see all the shows in 2026 will be available for $135.

Auditions for the 2026 season are taking place at 10am-2pm Saturday, Nov. 22 at Mainstage Theater at Hartnell College’s main campus in Salinas (411 Central Ave., Building K). Another audition session will take place 10am-2pm on Sunday, Nov. 30 at the PCPA (Pacific Conservatory Theatre) rehearsal studio in Santa Maria (800 S. College Drive). To participate, email TWSCasting@gmail.com.

In the meantime, the Western Stage is still showing Bandstand, a show set in 1945 about the soldiers coming back home from WWII and facing everyday reality. 

7:30pm Saturdays and 2pm Sundays, Nov. 15-23. Western Stage, 411 Central Ave., Salinas. $30; $24/seniors, teachers, military; $16/students; $12/children 15 and under; free/Hartnell students. (831) 755-6816.

For tickets and details about the new season, visit westernstage.com.