Whether you want to be transported far away from anything you’ve ever known or would rather add a new layer of understanding to your current environs, South Florida theater companies offer audiences a 2023-24 season full of thought-provoking dramatic productions as well as light-as-air musical romps, each infused with a unique point of view.
“The beauty about producing theater and being an artist in Miami is we’re at the crossroads of different cultures, identities and groups of people,” said Stuart Meltzer, producing artistic director at Zoetic Stage. “There are so many opportunities to engage, connect and bridge-build with members of our community.”
By no means an exhaustive list, the following Biscayne Times picks for the 2023-24 South Florida theater season are shows we think you shouldn’t miss.
Miami New Drama
(Miami New Drama)
Based on true events in 1980 in Miami. Produced by Miami New Drama April 4 - 28, 2024.
Miami New Drama hosts the world premiere of “Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard” Oct. 17, 2023, at the Colony Theatre on Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road, performed in Spanish with English supertitles. It’s directed by company co-founder Moisés Kaufman, a Tony- and Emmy-nominated playwright and director who is a recipient of a National Medal of the Arts.
An exploration of Venezuela’s political turmoil, the play’s implications are global.
“It’s very entertaining, but above everything it’s so astute in the way it uncovers the corrupt, authoritarian nature of a government that has destroyed Venezuela,” said Michel Hausmann, Miami New Drama co-founder and artistic director.
“Two Sisters and A Piano” will captivate audiences with its cat-and-mouse game beginning Jan. 18, 2024, with the work exploring topics that Miami audiences in particular may identify with.
“This is a production directed by Nilo Cruz, the first Hispanic Pulitzer Prize winner for drama. We find it to be very timely, because deep down, it’s about censorship,” Hausmann said. “It’s safe to say that’s a very hot topic here in Miami. Being able to explore those themes through the lens of someone this brilliant and poetic at the helm [will make] quite a spectacular play.”
Opening April 4, 2024, “Dangerous Days” simultaneously chronicles a chapter in Miami’s history and nods to America’s present as it follows crime reporter Edna Buchanan’s coverage of the murder of Arthur McDuffie in 1979. A 33-year-old Black insurance salesman and U.S. Marine Corps lance corporal, McDuffie was beaten to death by four Dade County Public Safety Department officers following a traffic stop. A stunning police cover-up was ultimately revealed and, after a Tampa jury acquitted the officers of all wrongdoing, sparked one of the largest riots in the nation’s history.
(No Umbrella Media LLC for Portland Stage)
Pictured here in its Portland Stage world premiere, “Sweet Goats & Blueberry Señoritas,” is a multigenerational, Cuban American story by Richard Blanco and Vanessa Garcia produced by Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre Nov. 8 - Dec. 3.
“It’s impossible to talk about those events without thinking about yesterday, about a year ago, about George Floyd, about the death of unarmed African American males in the hands of police,” Hausmann said. “It’s also about the important job of journalism. Journalism shines a light when the powers that be want to bring darkness.”
This story also intersects with the Mariel boatlift and "Miami's cocaine cowboys" to take us back to those .... well... dangerous days.
Other company productions to keep in mind this season are February’s immersive “The Museum Plays” and a pair of nights with the Nu Deco Ensemble at the Colony Theatre May 17-18, 2024. Visit MiamiNewDrama.org for more information.
Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
“Sweet Goats & Blueberry Señoritas” – opening at Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables Nov. 8, 2023 – visits both ends of the east coast as its protagonist, a Cuban American baker, battles with the decision to reunite with her estranged mother in Miami or stay put in Maine. This hotly anticipated production is co-written by Richard Blanco – acclaimed author and Miami-Dade County’s inaugural poet laureate – and playwright Vanessa Garcia.
(Zoetic Stage)
A multi-generational, Jewish-American drama at Zoetic Stage Jan. 11-28.
Opening Jan. 31, 2024, “Legally Blonde: The Musical” sees adored character Elle Woods perform musical numbers culled from scenes in the film of the same name, including the iconic “Bend and Snap” salon moment.
Other productions this season include “A Rock Sails By,” opening May 15, 2024. Visit ActorsPlayhouse.org for more information.
Zoetic Stage
Founded 13 years ago with a Greek name that translates to “pertaining to life,” Zoetic Stage offers a 2023-24 season of works – presented at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami, the company’s performance home – that tackle some of life’s toughest trials.
“Clyde’s,” created by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage and running Nov. 2-19, 2023, stands to empower audience members of color and working-class backgrounds as it follows the passions, dreams and challenges faced by the formerly incarcerated kitchen staff of a truck stop sandwich shop. “Wicked Child” examines the complexities found at the intersection of political beliefs and family bonds, as members of a Jewish American family wrestle with disparate views on identity and the state of Israel.
Meltzer, who’s directing both plays, says they endeavor to introduce audiences to diverse points of view, a small act that ultimately holds the power to create long-term change in an increasingly divisive social landscape.
“One of the steps that we … have taken, in efforts to move forward in our programming and curation, is finding varied voices who are reflecting who lives in Miami-Dade and using those works to inspire and encourage conversation and outreach into different parts of the community,” he said. “I believe Lynn Nottage is one of the – if not the – most important, living playwrights of our time and moment, and her plays really [engender] a sense of curiosity and a joy in the storytelling.
“‘Wicked Child’ holds so much love, power and also hard talks that are going to force audiences to take a look at how we view things, and how we can stick to our guns instead of listening to a different perspective. What both of these plays do so beautifully is give different perspectives. If we just listen, maybe we can find a little oxygen, and new, green life can grow.”
Other Zoetic Stage productions this season include, “Cabaret” and the world premiere of “Cuban Chicken Soup When There’s No More Café.” Visit ZoeticStage.org for more information.
GableStage
(GableStage )
The origins of the Lehman Brothers as only the theatre can present it. At GableStage March 16 -14, 2024
GableStage, the Coral Gables company celebrating its 25th anniversary season, has announced five productions that inspire self-reflection, including “Old Wicked Songs,” premiering at its Biltmore Hotel home on Jan. 13, 2024. This Pulitzer Prize-nominated play stars two classically trained pianists and actors whose characters grapple with issues like antisemitism and the generational gap, all during music lessons.
“The Lehman Trilogy,” opening March 16, 2024, sees three actors traverse a century and a half of history in three parts. The action-packed story starts in Montgomery, Ala., in 1844, where the three Lehmans – Bavarian immigrants and brothers – open a dry goods store and own slaves. It ends with Lehman Brothers, the behemoth American investment bank that imploded during 2007’s financial crisis.
Other GableStage productions include “August Wilson’s How I Learned What I Learned,” closing Oct. 22, 2023, and “The Thanksgiving Play,” opening Nov. 18. Visit GableStage.org for more information.
Area Stage Company
You’ll feel as if you’ve entered the unmistakably spooky yet inviting Addams manor when the immersive “The Addams Family” musical comedy is produced by Area Stage Company Feb. 7-25, 2024. The multigenerational, family-run theater company turned heads the last two summers with its signature, immersive productions of “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast.” The latter swept the Carbonell Awards that year and garnered artistic director Giancarlo Rodaz the coveted best director nod – the youngest director to ever win a Carbonell.
Visit AreaStage.org for more information on the South Miami-based company’s upcoming productions.
Broadway Across America
(Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)
The critically acclaimed Broadway revival of “Funny Girl,” originally starring Barbra Streisand, visits the Broward Center Nov. 14 - 26.
South Florida performing arts aficionados know there’s no reason to look beyond Miami-Dade or Broward counties in search of Broadway-caliber productions. From Nov. 14-26, 2023, audiences at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale will be treated to the much-lauded Broadway revival of “Funny Girl,” the iconic musical originally starring Barbra Streisand and most recently, Lea Michele of TV’s “Glee” fame.
Ring in the new year at the Arsht at the Ziff Ballet Opera House Jan. 2-7, 2024, with “The Cher Show,” a musical in which three actors pay homage to various eras of Cher’s six-decade career in entertainment.
“Moulin Rouge! The Musical” will bring Baz Luhrmann’s musical spectacular to life – complete with glitz, glam, revealing costumes, and adult themes and language – from March 5-17, 2024, at the Broward Center.
Other productions heading to South Florida as part of the Bank of America and Florida Theatrical Association’s Broadway in Fort Lauderdale and Broadway in Miami series include “The Book of Mormon” and “Clue” at the Broward Center and “Hamilton” and “Peter Pan,” among others, at the Arsht. Visit BrowardCenter.org and ArshtCenter.org/broadway for more information.
1 of 6
(Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)
Courtney Reed and Conor Ryan sizzle in this season’s North American tour of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical.” At the Broward Center March 5 - 17, 2024.
2 of 6
(Pamela Raith)
“Legally Blonde: The Musical,” pictured here on a London stage, will be all new at the Miracle Theatre Jan. 31, 2023 - Feb. 25, 2024.
3 of 6
(Zoetic Stage)
Nov. 2 - 19
4 of 6
(Miami New Drama)
Oct. 17 - Nov. 12
5 of 6
(Poetry Society of America)
Author and poet Richard Blanco is one of the writers of “Sweet Goats & Blueberry Señoritas.”
6 of 6
(Camilo Buitrago Gil)
Nilo Cruz directs "Two Sisters and a Piano" for Miami New Drama Jan. 18 - Feb. 11, 2024.