By Josh Weiner
Everyone’s inner theatergoer will have plenty of ways to stay satisfied during NoVA’s summer season.
La Cage aux Folles
La Cage aux Folles has been a widely popular musical for over 30 years, and it will now serve as the closing production of Signature Theatre’s 2015-16 season. All fans of musical theater and of the drag performance scene are sure to be entertained by this classic tale of conservative values being put to the test by onstage cross-dressing. // May 31-July 10; Signature Theatre: 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington
Cabaret
A 50-year-old musical makes its way to this 30-year-old theater this summer. Prince William Little Theatre, a Manassas-based troupe entirely made up of volunteers, will tell the story of how cabaret singers of the Kit Kat Klub managed to keep things in 1931 Germany lively, at least for a while, with the takeover of the Nazi regime looming on the horizon. // July 8-24; Gregory Family Theater at Hylton Performing Arts Center: 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas
Footloose
McLean Community Players will close its 2015-16 season with a bang in telling this story of a rural town that gets shaken up by the arrival of a dance-loving teen rebel from Chicago. Shaun Moe, who first joined the McLean Community Players last year as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, will make his directorial debut with the company with this production. // July 8-24; Alden Theatre: 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean
Twelfth Night
Synetic Theater has been devoted to retelling Shakespeare plays in wordless form ever since its debut production in 2001, Hamlet … the rest is silent. The tradition continues this summer with Twelfth Night, which had a successful run at Synetic in 2014 and quickly earned itself a revival. // July 13-Aug. 7; Synetic Theater: 1800 S. Bell St., Arlington
Romeo & Juliet
Romeo & Juliet may seem tricky to pull off as a gender-blind production, but Britches and Hose Shakespeare Company is up for the challenge and is excited to tell a story whose themes and characters still hold weight for modern-day audiences. // July 15-17; Green Hedges School: 415 Windover Ave. NW, Vienna
Oklahoma!
Northern Virginia and Oklahoma! have generally fared well together—a high school actress from Madeira School in McLean starred as Ado Annie in Arena Stage’s production a few years back—and now Riverside Theatre will be the newest company to stage this beloved musical. // July 20-Sept. 18; Riverside Theatre: 95 Riverside Parkway, Fredericksburg
The Music Man
Now in its fourth season under new management, Fairfax City Theatre Company stages three annual community productions with the aim of putting on an intergenerational, family-friendly show during the summer. This year, it will be the popular 1950s production The Music Man, with local director Lisa Anne Bailey making her directorial debut with the company. // July 22-30; Lanier Middle School: 3801 Jermantown Road, Fairfax
West Side Story
Nearly 60 years after its original Broadway debut, Maria and Tony’s adventure across the cultural divides and hoodlum territories of 1950s New York City will make its way to the old-fashioned Little Theatre of Alexandria. // July 23-Aug. 13; Little Theatre of Alexandria: 600 Wolfe St., Alexandria
Spring Awakening
As a venue devoted to providing space and support to young performers, 1st Stage Theater will soon host Metropolitan Youth Theatre, a student-run company founded by two NoVA high schoolers in 2014. The group’s production of Spring Awakening, a coming-of-age alternative rock musical set in late-19th century Germany, will appear at 1st Stage. // July 29-31; 1st Stage Theater: 1524 Spring Hill Road, McLean
Capital Fringe Festival
Beat on the Bard Theatre Company, a group of theater graduates from Yorktown High School in Arlington, has put on several “punk rock meets Shakespeare”-style productions at past Fringe festivals. Keep an eye out for up-and-comers in the NoVA performing arts scene at this year’s event. // Throughout July; Washington, D.C.
