Constellation Stage & Screen’s new season brings new work, classics

Connie Shakalis
| For the Herald-Times

Farces, magic and family musicals will attract a range of enlightenment seekers during Constellation’s 2026/27 season, the entertainment company’s fifth anniversary season. Four mainstage shows, a couple of Constellation for Kids shows plus a special event are coming. Management announced the news at a rollout party May 7 during the “ConstelLate” show, a Constellation nighttime talk show rife with music, games and shenanigans.

“I am so excited for the session,” said board member Lynn Schwartzberg.“ ‘Annie’ is a delightful show with great parts for kids and adults. PB&J Cafe is such a fun experience for kids. And ‘The Cottage’ is a riot. I saw it on Broadway and cannot wait to see it in Bloomington.”

The shows

First comes “Heist” by Arun Lakra, in September. Susan and David Jones first commissioned “Heist” at Constellation, and according to a press release productions of the play have been “grossing millions at box offices across North America.” It’s now coming back to its Bloomington staring point. “Heist,” a thriller, runs September 3 – 20 at the Waldron Auditorium. It was inspired by caper films such as “Ocean’s Eleven” and “The Sting.” See what happens when one robs a robber.

“Heist was actually an idea of mine to begin with,” said Chad Rabinovitz, Constellation’s artistic director. “I’m obsessed with the genre and realized that there were no heists onstage, so I set out to make one.” Rabinovitz and playwright Arun Lakra developed the script for the play’s first production, at Bloomington Playwrights Project. It closed after a few performances due to COVID-19. Since, it has become a favorite in Canada, “selling over $2 million in tickets! And now it’s about to play at some major theaters across the U.S.” But first, it returns to Bloomington.

Later this fall, comes a musical mystery for kids, tweens–and adults who remember having read with a flashlight. “Goosebumps the Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium” derives from popular books by R. L. Stine and runs October 30 – November 15 at the Waldron Auditorium. For the holidays, it’s “Annie” at the Waldron Arts Center, December 10, 2026 – January 3, 2027.

The ConstelLate Show

An added event, designed for a holiday night out, is “The ConstelLate Show: Holiday Special, Connecting Audiences Through World-Class Theater & Film” is

Constellation’s late-night talk show/ variety show. During the holidays new guests appear each night, combining “luminaries” and performers. The show uses cameras and live monitors, and audiences are meant to feel as though they’re in the TV-like broadcast. It runs December 17 – 27 in the Waldron Firebay. While this production is not included in season tickets, pass holders get early access to tickets.

The ConstelLate Show was born of management’s search for a holiday tradition. “Many theaters have a holiday variety show or cabaret they do annually,” Rabinovitz said, “and I’m hopeful to create our own tradition. But it’s important to me that it carries our identity and isn’t a carbon copy of what others do.”

For 2027

The new year opens with Amy Herzog’s Tony-nominated adaptation of Henrik

Ibsen’s masterpiece “An Enemy of the People.” A small-town doctor discovers a catastrophe that risks a townspeople’s lives. He raises an alarm. The powerful citizens, however, try to destroy him. Called “a play for our time” by “The Hollywood Reporter,” this play discusses truth, power and speaking up. Catch it February 4 – 21 at the Waldron Auditorium.

For spring of 2027, audiences will see the U.S. premiere of “Mojo & Jimmy: The Totally Awesome Magic Show” at the PB&J Cafe, Constellation’s dinner theater for kids. Developed at Constellation, the show went to the Edinburgh and Adelaide Fringe Festivals and is back in Bloomington. World Champion of Magic Simon Coronel and “America’s Got Talent” semi-finalist Dom Chambers created it. See it at the Waldron Auditorium March 26 – April 11, 2027.

The mainstage season ends with Sandy Rustin’s farce “The Cottage.” Sylvia exposes her affair to her husband and her lover’s wife. Now, a daisy-laden English country getaway becomes a thorny and improper calamity. The play was called “Broadway’s Sensational Side-Splitting Screwball Comedy” by “Entertainment Weekly.” Constellation’s version of it runs May 13-30, 2027, at the Waldron Auditorium.

Something new for women

“Stage Door Circle” is something new for Constellation—and for women. As a Sunday playgoing club for women of all ages, this expanding group of theater fans attends first Sunday afternoon performances of Constellation’s mainstage shows and enjoys a reception afterward.

“We found from our surveys,” Rabinovitz said, “that the number one reason people don’t attend a show is because they don’t have someone to go with.”

Rabinovitz sees it as a book-club-like event. “But you get all of it in one night without the homework of having to read the book.” To participate, complete the registration form on Constellation’s website, seeconstellation.org.

Season Ticket Packages for Constellation’s 2026-2027 season are on sale. Constellation now offers season ticket holders free upgrades to premium seats in addition to previous perks. Find details at seeconstellation.org/box-office/ticket-packages. Season ticket holders can redeem tickets starting this June 10. Single tickets go on sale to the public this July 15.

Constellation continues its “Pay What You Will Thursdays” and community access tickets programs, where discounts are available.

The company will offer two sensory-friendly performances as part of its Constellation for Kids series. These create an experience that is welcoming to families with children with autism or other sensory sensitivities. Offered on the last Sunday show of “Goosebumps the Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium and Mojo & Jimmy: The Totally Awesome Magic Show,” these are Pay What You Will.

Constellation began in 2022 as a merger among three entertainment companies.