Frontmezzjunkies reports: From A Few Good Men and The Sound of Music to an ambitious Off-Broadway lineup, Lincoln Center announces a season filled with theatrical promise
By Ross
Theatrical energy exists in some theatre buildings before you even step through their doors. The Vivian Beaumont Theatre is one of those rare places. Every visit feels like an invitation to see theatre as both celebration and conversation, where ambitious revivals sit comfortably beside daring new work. When Lincoln Center Theater unveiled its 2026/27 season, I immediately found myself opening my calendar, quietly assessing travel plans, and imagining my next season’s excursions to New York.
What excites me most is not simply the breadth of the programming, but the confidence behind it. A courtroom drama that launched one of America’s most celebrated playwrights. One of the most beloved musicals ever written returning to Broadway with a stellar lead. New plays, rare revivals, intimate dramas, and celebrated artists filling every corner of the campus. It feels like the kind of season that invites audiences to spend time exploring rather than simply attending.
The season begins this fall with a revival that already feels like an event. Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men returns to Broadway for the first time, directed by Tony Award winner Michael Arden (Broadway’s Maybe Happy Ending). Seeing Bradley Whitford step into the role of Colonel Jessup carries its own remarkable sense of theatrical history. Whitford (MTC’s Three Days of Rain) made his Broadway debut in the original production as Lt. Jack Ross, and after decades of collaborating with Sorkin on projects including “The West Wing” and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”, he now returns to the play that began that creative partnership.
Joining him is Tom Blyth (“Wasteman“) as Lt. Daniel Kaffee, the young military lawyer whose journey from reluctant defender to determined truth-seeker remains one of modern theatre’s great character arcs. Although many audiences first encountered “A Few Good Men” through Rob Reiner’s acclaimed film adaptation, it all began on the stage, where Sorkin’s rapid-fire dialogue and moral complexity first found their voice. Experiencing that story live, inside the Vivian Beaumont Theatre, feels like an opportunity I would not want to miss.
Next spring, the Beaumont welcomes another landmark work with the first Broadway revival of The Sound of Music since 1998. Directed by Lear deBessonet (LCTY’s Ragtime) and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli (Broadway’s Schmigadoon!), the production stars Tony Award nominee Jasmine Amy Rogers as Maria Rainer.
Few musicals occupy such a unique place in theatrical history. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s score has become woven into generations of family memories, yet beneath its familiar melodies lies a story about courage, compassion, sacrifice, and choosing hope during extraordinary uncertainty. After watching Rogers light up Broadway this season in Boop!, I cannot wait to see what she brings to a role that demands warmth, humour, resilience, and emotional honesty.
Beyond the Beaumont, Lincoln Center continues to demonstrate why its Off-Broadway programming remains among the most exciting anywhere in New York. The Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater will present a rare revival of August Wilson‘s Seven Guitars, Kimberly Belflower‘s new play Born in the Dirt, and Playing Burton, starring Matthew Rhys (RTC’s Look Back in Anger) as Richard Burton under the direction of the always intriguing Bartlett Sher (LCT’s McNeal).
Meanwhile, the Claire Tow Theater welcomes Mfoniso Udofia‘s Creation Stories and All the Important Importants alongside Emma Watkins’s Pretend It’s Pretend, continuing Lincoln Center‘s commitment to developing important contemporary voices. Add to that concerts featuring Sara Bareilles, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Pasek & Paul, a curated playwright reading series, and the return of its comedy programming, and the entire campus begins to feel like a living festival of performance stretching across the season.
What I appreciate most about this announcement is the sense of balance running through it. Lincoln Center is investing equally in beloved classics, contemporary playwrights, celebrated performers, and emerging artists. What keeps drawing me back is that balance. I know I can spend an afternoon discovering a playwright I’ve never encountered before, then return the next night and revisit a big Broadway musical I’ve loved for decades.
Looking over this season, I find myself thinking less about individual productions than about the experience of returning to Lincoln Center itself. I can already picture myself walking back through the plaza and settling into theatres that have already given me unforgettable evenings, and discovering new stories alongside audiences experiencing them for the very first time. That anticipation may be my favourite part. Before the lights dim, before the first line is spoken, every performance still holds every possibility. This season promises an extraordinary number of them.
