Welcome to City Lights!
Since 1982, we’ve been inspiring, challenging and connecting with audiences through live theater. Starting in September: Our exciting new season of plays and musicals! Buy your season pass now to experience our full vision for 2023-24, and get the best savings on ticket prices.
See below for more about shows and tickets. We can’t wait to welcome you to the theater.
-Lisa Mallette, executive artistic director
Head Over Heels
Runs Jul 17 - Aug 24, 2025
Songs by:The Go-Go's
Based on:"The Arcadia" by Sir Philip Sidney
Conceived and original book by:Jeff Whitty
Adapted by:James Magruder
Directed by:Jeffrey Bracco
Vocal direction by:Tina Paulson
Choreography by:Jennifer Cuevas
Supported by:Producers Richard & Peggy James, Nan Ho & Gary Miner, and Christy Martin & Cindy Melter
This laugh-out-loud love story is set to the infectious music of the all-female rock band The Go-Go's. Led by the free-spirited Princess Pamela, the royal family journeys to save their beloved kingdom of Arcadia from extinction. The results: a wild adventure filled with mistaken identities, forbidden romances and unexpected twists,
An evening with AJ Jaffari
Aug 3, 2025
With his soulful voice and warm stage presence, singer/songwriter, producer and actor AJ Jaffari has delighted City Lights audiences in "Kinky Boots" and Big Band concerts with the Nineteen ensemble. This summer, AJ brings us a solo concert celebrating his new album, "Stay Awhile."
Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors
Runs Sep 25 - Oct 19, 2025
Written by:Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen
Directed by:Caitlin Lawrence Papp
Supported by:Producers Marv & Bonnie Bamburg, and Producer Dan Hill
Take Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire story and pop it into a blender with Mel Brooks, Monty Python and "The 39 Steps." Then enjoy this lightning-fast, gender-bending comedy featuring lots of wordplay and five actors playing over a dozen roles.
Over The River And Through The Woods
Runs Nov 20 - Dec 21, 2025
Written by:Joe DiPietro
Directed by:Jeffrey Bracco
Supported by:Producer Toggle Hagan
Nick still sees both sets of his grandparents every Sunday for dinner in New Jersey. Then he’s offered a dream job thousands of miles away in Seattle. This news doesn’t go over well with his grandparents. Thus begins a series of (well-intentioned) schemes to keep Nick nearby.
Running After Shadows
Runs Jan 15 - Feb 8, 2026
Written by:Vincent Terrell Durham
Directed by:Aldo Billingslea
Supported by:Producers Nancy B. Coleman & Paul M. Resch
World premiere!
Winner of Theatre Bay Area's Rella Lossy Award!
Morgan Collins used to buy his cookware at the 99-cent store, and is now a budding gourmet and an America’s Test Kitchen devotee. But today, as he unboxes his new garlic press live on Instagram, he also opens something completely unexpected. This box brings him face to face with childhood memories and the pain left by his absentee father.
Dial M For Murder
Runs Mar 12 - Apr 12, 2026
Adapted by:Jeffrey Hatcher
From the original by:Frederick Knott
Directed by:Mark Anderson Phillips
Supported by:Producers Connie & Paul Boulay, and Producers Karen S. Leonard & Cheryl Lander
Jeffrey Hatcher brings us a new version of a famed mystery that inspired Hitchcock’s masterpiece. Tony believes his wife Margot has been cheating on him with Maxine. In his jealousy, he spins a web of deception that will ensnare them in danger, recrimination and murder.
anthropology
Runs May 14 - Jun 7, 2026
Written by:Lauren Gunderson
Directed by:Lisa Mallette
Supported by:Executive Producers Feroze Taraporevala & Anita Kapadia and Producers Sandra Moll, Jonathan Karpf & Kathie Zaretsky, and producers who wish to remain anonymous
Regional premiere!
In her pristine Silicon Valley home office, coder and AI expert Merril relies on patterns and systems. But when her sister Angie vanishes and the police give up, Merril uses digital clues to build an AI version of her. Virtual Angie offers comfort — until it starts revealing unsettling truths about the real Angie's disappearance.
Ride the Cyclone
Runs Jul 16 - Aug 23, 2026
Book, music and lyrics by:Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell
Directed by:Kimberly Ridgeway
Supported by:Producers Christy Martin & Cindy Melter, and Charlie McCollum
When a roller-coaster accident claims the lives of a choir group, the teens end up in a truly bizarre purgatory. A mechanical fortune teller says that only one of them can be brought back to life. To win the prize, they must prove who deserves it the most…by telling their story through song. Full of edgy comedy and music ranging from dance pop to vaudeville, this Off-Broadway musical has also gone viral on TikTok.