Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Announces Single Ticket Sales
for 2025 Season—Nine Must-See Shows Hit the Stages This Summer
***Single Tickets on Sale Monday, February 10***
Center Valley, PA: February 7, 2025—Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival (PSF) announces that single ticket sales for its 2025 Summer Theatre Series go on sale beginning Monday, February 10. The season, crafted by Artistic Director Jason King Jones and Managing Director Casey William Gallagher, features nine productions, including two musicals, three Shakespeare works, shows in rotating repertory, touring performances, and children’s programming. Running from May 28 to August 3 at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts on the DeSales University campus, the series will also include performances throughout the Lehigh Valley.
The 2025 Summer Theatre Series features Shakespeare’s masterpiece Hamlet, performed in repertory with Tom Stoppard’s tragicomedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the lesser produced Timon of Athens, and a touring production of Much Ado About Nothing. Other highlights include Lorraine Hansberry’s groundbreaking drama A Raisin in the Sun, alongside two musicals: Mel Brooks’ Tony Award-winning hit The Producers and the new musical Penelope.
“For an extraordinary community, we have assembled an extraordinary season,” said Jason King Jones, “one that includes powerful classics, show-stopping hits, and adventurous stories you won’t see anywhere else.”
The season kicks off in the Schubert Theatre with Penelope, a new one-woman musical co-produced with Philadelphia’s Theatre Horizon. Reimagining the ancient Greek epic The Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, this production features original music and lyrics by Alex Bechtel and a book by Bechtel, Grace McClean, and Eva Steinmetz. Starring Rachel Camp, who reprises her performance following its run earlier this year at Theatre Horizon, along with Steinmetz, who returns to direct, the musical has been celebrated in productions at Joe’s Pub, The Public Theater, the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and Signature Theatre.
On the Main Stage, the season launches with Mel Brooks’ uproarious love letter to Broadway, The Producers. Following the comedic success of last season’s The Play That Goes Wrong, director Jennifer Childs returns to helm this production. She is joined by fan-favorite actors Scott Greer as Max Bialystock and Anthony Lawton as Franz Liebkind, both of whom delighted audiences in last summer’s hilarious hit. Making their PSF debut is Michael Doherty as Leo Bloom, a seasoned actor with over 70 regional theatre credits, including performances at Philadelphia’s The Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre Company, and People’s Light, as well as at the Guthrie Theater, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Denver Center.
Lorraine Hansberry’s award-winning drama A Raisin in the Sun takes center stage in the intimate Schubert Theatre. A landmark of American history, this story of hope, determination, and resilience is brought to life with humor, heart, and unforgettable characters. Festival favorite Akeem Davis (The Merry Wives of Windsor, Cymbeline) makes his PSF directorial debut, joined by returning actor Billie Wyatt (The Tempest, Sense & Sensibility) as Beneatha Younger.
The return of rotating repertory to the Main Stage pairs Shakespeare’s Hamlet with Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, offering a unique chance to experience Shakespeare’s masterpiece alongside Stoppard’s reimagining of its enigmatic side characters. Making their PSF debut is Biko Eisen-Martin as Hamlet, whose credits include performances at The Public Theater, The Old Globe, and Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. Both productions feature a talented ensemble of returning actors, including Taysha Marie Canales, Sean Close, Eric Hissom, Ian Merrill Peakes, and Grace Gonglewski. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is directed by Jason King Jones, PSF’s Artistic Director, while Hamlet is helmed by Lindsay Smiling, Co-Artistic Director at Philadelphia’s The Wilma Theater.
Rounding out the summer season is Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens. For Shakespeare enthusiasts, this production offers a rare opportunity to experience one of the Bard’s lesser-known works live on stage. Presented in “Extreme Shakespeare” style, actors arrive with their lines learned, rehearse independently, and open within a matter of days. Longtime PSF favorite Greg Wood stars in the titular role, marking his 27th season with the Festival. Wood has played iconic roles such as Malvolio in Twelfth Night and the title roles in Hamlet, Richard III, and Cyrano de Bergerac. He is currently in rehearsals for Broadway’s Othello, alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington.
This summer also offers abundant family programming. Audiences of all ages can enjoy free performances of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing through PSF’s “Play On!” Community Tour, bringing the comedy to libraries, parks, and community centers across the region. Additionally, enjoy The Princess and the Frog Prince, an adaptation of the Grimms’ fairy tale by Jones, directed by Jessica Bedford. Erin Sheffield’s beloved Shakespeare for Kids series, directed by Matt Pfeiffer, will also bring Hamlet to life for Festival audiences and through a community library tour.
“The artistry we’re bringing to the stage in 2025 is thrilling. We invite everyone to come together to be entertained, to escape into unforgettable stories, to connect with friends, and to celebrate the magic of live, professional theatre right here in the heart of the Lehigh Valley,” said Jones.
Single tickets are on sale beginning Monday, February 10 at 12am. Single tickets, subscriptions, and packages can be purchased online at pashakespeare.org, or by calling the box office at 610.282.WILL [9455], or in person at the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of DeSales University, in Center Valley, PA.
The Festival’s 2025 Season Sponsors are Marilyn McDonald, MD and Joe Folger. The Associate Season Sponsors are Mary Bongiorno, Linda Lapos and Paul Wirth, Kathleen Kund Nolan and Timothy E. Nolan, Yvonne Payne and Edward Spitzer, The Szarko Family, and Harry C. Trexler Trust.
The season’s full casts and creative teams will be announced closer to its opening in May. Visit pashakespeare.org for the latest updates and announcements.
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival is the Lehigh Valley’s Professional Equity Theatre hosted on the campus of DeSales University.
Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, the official Shakespeare Festival of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, features acclaimed actors from Broadway, television, and film, and is the summer home to over 200 artists from around the country, including winners and nominees of the Tony, Obie, Emmy, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Jefferson, and Barrymore Awards.