Denver Center Theatre Company announces 2026/27 season

‘Once,’ ‘The Tempest,’ two world premieres and a Hitchcock twist headline Chris Coleman’s new lineup.

Denver Center Theatre Company Artistic Director Chris Coleman has unveiled the regional producing theatre’s 2026/27 season, an eight-show mainstage slate anchored by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the Tony-winning folk-rock musical Once and two world premieres developed through the Colorado New Play Summit.

The season opens Sept. 11, 2026, with Destiny of Desire: A Telenovela Play with Music, Karen Zacarías’ comic homage to Latin American melodrama, co-produced with Center Theatre Group and directed by Marcela Lorca. It runs through Oct. 4 in the Wolf Theatre.

Coleman himself will direct two of the season’s productions: The Tempest, running Oct. 2-Nov. 1 in the Kilstrom Theatre, and Once, the Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová musical based on the 2007 film, which takes the Wolf stage April 2-May 2, 2027.

“The 2026/27 season is a vibrant celebration of theatrical imagination rich with reimagined classics, bold new plays, and stories that illuminate the heart of the human experience,” Coleman said in a statement. “Audiences can look forward to a playful homage to the telenovela, Shakespeare’s final and most magical play, two witty and unforgettable world premieres, an intimate musical that pulses with emotion, a courageous journey through ancestry and identity, and a gripping thriller with plenty of twists at every turn.”

Two world premieres from the Summit

Both world premieres were featured readings at the 2025 Colorado New Play Summit. bogfriends by jose sebastian alberdi, directed by Joshua Kahan Brody, follows six souls bound together across centuries when something surfaces from an Irish bog. It runs Jan. 15-Feb. 21, 2027, in the Singleton Theatre.

How to Conquer America: A Mostly True History of Yogurt by David Myers, directed by Margot Bordelon, is a family comedy set in 1975 about the ad campaign that turned yogurt into an American staple. It plays the Kilstrom Feb. 5-28, 2027.

Both will be presented again as part of the 21st annual Colorado New Play Summit, Feb. 20-21, 2027, at the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex.

A solo journey and a classic thriller

Rounding out the subscription series is And So We Walked: An Artist’s Journey Along the Trail of Tears, DeLanna Studi’s tour-de-force solo piece tracing her Cherokee ancestors’ forced relocation, produced by Octopus Theatricals and directed by Corey Madden. It runs April 16-May 23, 2027, in the Singleton.

The season closes with Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Dial M for Murder, directed by Nancy Keystone, April 30-May 30, 2027, in the Kilstrom — a new spin on the Hitchcock cat-and-mouse thriller.

As added attractions, the DCPA’s long-running holiday staple A Christmas Carol returns to the Wolf Nov. 25-Dec. 27, 2026, directed by Anthony Powell, and the Colorado New Play Summit returns Feb. 20-21, 2027.

Tickets

Subscription packages for the 2026/27 season are available now at denvercenter.org. Single tickets go on sale at a later date.

DCPA 2026/27 Season

Denver Center Theatre Company — 2026/27 Season
Show	Dates & Venue	Description
Destiny of Desire: A Telenovela Play with Music By Karen Zacarías Directed by Marcela Lorca	Sept. 11-Oct. 4, 2026 Wolf Theatre	Two babies swapped at birth grow up on opposite ends of Bellarica, Mexico, in Zacarías’ hilarious homage to the telenovela. Co-production with Center Theatre Group.
The Tempest By William Shakespeare Directed by Chris Coleman	Oct. 2-Nov. 1, 2026 Kilstrom Theatre	Prospero conjures a storm to lure his enemies to his island in Shakespeare’s final masterpiece — a lyrical meditation on justice, identity and forgiveness.
A Christmas Carol (Added Attraction) By Richard Hellesen Directed by Anthony Powell	Nov. 25-Dec. 27, 2026 Wolf Theatre	The DCPA’s beloved holiday musical returns, tracing Ebenezer Scrooge’s overnight journey to redemption in a festive family adaptation of Dickens’ classic.
bogfriends (World Premiere) By jose sebastian alberdi Directed by Joshua Kahan Brody	Jan. 15-Feb. 21, 2027 Singleton Theatre	Six souls — two couples in the present, two from long ago — are bound together when something buried deep in an Irish bog resurfaces. A comic, aching look at whether we can live with the rot of the past.
How to Conquer America: A Mostly True History of Yogurt (World Premiere) By David Myers Directed by Margot Bordelon	Feb. 5-28, 2027 Kilstrom Theatre	In 1975, an ambitious research assistant builds the ad campaign that turns yogurt into an American phenomenon — if only her dead father would stay on script.
Colorado New Play Summit (Added Attraction)	Feb. 20-21, 2027 Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex	The 21st annual Summit features four staged readings alongside the world premieres of bogfriends and How to Conquer America.
Once Book by Enda Walsh; music & lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová Directed by Chris Coleman	April 2-May 2, 2027 Wolf Theatre	A heartbroken Irish songwriter and a Czech pianist meet on the streets of Dublin in the Tony-winning folk-rock musical with a live onstage score.
And So We Walked: An Artist’s Journey Along the Trail of Tears Written & performed by DeLanna Studi Directed by Corey Madden	April 16-May 23, 2027 Singleton Theatre	Cherokee artist DeLanna Studi retraces her ancestors’ 900-mile forced relocation with her aging father in a tour-de-force solo piece blending memoir, history and interview.
Dial M for Murder Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher Directed by Nancy Keystone	April 30-May 30, 2027 Kilstrom Theatre	Tony Wendice has planned the perfect crime against his cheating wife — until it unexpectedly goes awry. A suspenseful new spin on the Hitchcock classic.
Subscriptions available at denvercenter.org. Single tickets on sale later. Dates and productions subject to change.