Every fall, the artistic directors behind Utah’s most treasured cultural institutions step forward and make their case — not with tidy mission statements but with the season itself: This is what’s worth your time. This is what they believe will move you. We asked five directors to share the production they’re most excited about this year, the show they’d recommend to a first-time audience member, and whether a common theme or artistic vision emerged as they carefully shaped the season ahead.
Pioneer Theatre Company
Season Summary: A high-energy season of hit musicals, beloved comedies, and holiday tradition.
KAREN AZENBERG, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
“There is nothing quite like live theater,” says Karen Azenberg, the longtime artistic force behind Pioneer Theatre Company. “The proximity of the actors to the audience heightens everything — especially your emotional involvement, whether it’s laughter or tears.”
The company’s 2026-27 season leans fully into that emotional whiplash. There are broad comedies and glossy musicals, intimate contemporary works, and reimagined classics — a lineup designed to send audiences out into the lobby arguing, laughing, wiping their eyes, or all three at once.
Among the most anticipated productions is the Utah premiere of John Proctor Is the Villain, the sharp-edged contemporary comedy that became something of a theatrical sensation for its witty, unsettling exploration of teenage girls reading The Crucible while slowly realizing Salem-style hysteria feels unnervingly familiar. The play arrives with plenty of national buzz and cultural timeliness.
Still, Azenberg singles out Eureka Day most enthusiastically. “It’s one of those plays that surprises you by making you genuinely look at both sides of an issue,” she says. “I truly love that.” The satire, centered on well-meaning progressive parents descending into chaos, feels particularly suited to this political moment, when even civility can become combustible.
The season also leaves ample room for pure entertainment. Mean Girls brings a pop-infused dose of high school warfare to the stage, while Little Shop of Horrors promises gleeful camp and carnivorous fun. “Come ready to party,” Azenberg says with a laugh.
The company’s new “classic works” initiative begins with a fresh take on The Man Who Came to Dinner, the famously fast-talking holiday comedy about an acerbic radio personality who descends upon an Ohio family and proceeds to hijack their lives. Azenberg speaks about the production as revival by reinvention — a chance to remind audiences why classics become classics in the first place.
For first-time Pioneer Theatre-goers, she recommends starting with a musical or broad comedy. “Mean Girls, Little Shop, The Man Who Came to Dinner — those are wonderful on-ramps,” she says. But the season’s larger goal, she explains, is variety itself. “I try to compose a season that allows audiences to experience something different every time they come to the theater.”
PIONEER THEATRE 2026-2027 SEASON
2026 SEASON
John Proctor Is the Villain (Play) || Sep 11-26
Little Shop of Horrors (Musical) || Oct 2-Nov. 7
The Man Who Came to Dinner (Play) || Dec 4-19
2027 SEASON
Mean Girls (Musical) || Jan 29 – Feb 13
Eureka Day (Play) || Mar 12-27
TBA Musical || Apr 30 – May 15
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