Costa Mesa Theatre Newsroom

Pacific Symphony will ring in the SummerFest season with the ultimate summer party on July 4 - with fireworks! Learn more about the series here and see how to purchase tickets.

Visit Laguna Beach has announced the return of Passport to the Arts, an exclusive summer offering that invites visitors to immerse themselves in the city's vibrant creative scene.

The Festival of Arts Fine Art Show, one of Southern California's most iconic summer events, will return to Laguna Beach next month. Learn more about the event here!

In a powerful act of philanthropic support, the OneRoot Foundation has awarded a special grant to South Coast Repertory (SCR) to offset the sudden and unexpected withdrawal of a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for SCR’s production of The Staircase by Noa Gardner.

Golden West College Theater Arts has unveiled its 2025–2026 season lineup, featuring four full productions to be staged in the 326-seat Mainstage Theater on the Huntington Beach campus.

Acclaimed vocalist and storyteller Kiki Ebsen will bring her touching and unforgettable jazz cabaret, My Buddy: The Other Side of Oz, to Campus JAX in June. Learn more!

American Coast Theater Company will present Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Death of a Salesman, beginning this June. Learn more about the show here!

Something Rotten! is coming to the Rose Center Theater, and the cast is officially set! See who is starring and learn more about the production this summer here!

Cirque du Soleil raised its Big Top at the Laguna Hills Mall in preparation for the May 23rd opening of Cirque du Soleil ECHO - its newest Big Top production.

Set in the part of the 'real' Hawaii that tourists are unlikely to ever see, THE STAIRCASE—the World Premiere play from Noa Gardner directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch—is an admirable new play that features a superb acting ensemble, relatable themes, beautifully authentic cultural representation, and an intriguing (if slightly predictable) premise. Using many long stretches of orations to un-peel its surface layers, the play is mostly commendable in artistic execution and cultural specificity, but could, perhaps, use some more editing in its hopefully ongoing evolution.

A look at Cirque du Soleil's newest touring show, ECHO (playing in Laguna Hills May 23 through June 29), which features a high-tech, moving 'cube' to act as a background and acrobatic launch pad.

South Coast Repertory has announced its 2025-26 season, featuring the return of Million Dollar Quartet, the milestone 45th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and more.

American Coast Theater Company has announced the Orange County premiere of The Importance of Being Earnest: A Wilde New Musical, with music by Bret Simmons and book/lyrics by David Howard, a fresh and spirited adaptation of Oscar Wilde's classic comedy.

The Rose Center Theater will present a highly anticipated Gala Performance of Something Rotten! on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at 6:30 PM. This exclusive event will feature an evening of world-class entertainment, delicious dining, and local talent.

What happens when two desperate playwrights try to outshine Shakespeare by inventing the musical? Total theatrical mayhem-and a whole lot of laughter. The Rose Center Theater will present the Broadway smash hit Something Rotten!, running June 27 through July 20, 2025, in Westminster, CA.

The award-winning multi-hyphenate artist Colette Gregory returns to her Chicago home with her acclaimed one-woman show, Black Best Friend, as part of Steppenwolf's LookOut series June 12-14, 2025.

South Coast Repertory has announced the casts and creative teams for its renowned Pacific Playwrights Festival. The highly anticipated showcase of new works, part of the theatre's new-play development arm—The Lab@SCR—begins Friday, May 2 and runs through Sunday, May 4.

On Monday night, the Orange County theater community gathered once again to celebrate excellence in live performance at the 4th Annual OC Theatre Guild Awards.

One More Productions at The GEM Theatre will present the musical, ORDINARY DAYS! Directed and Musically Directed by Damien Lorton, this production will run in May. Learn more!

Now ten years old, HAMILTON—which was birthed during a more welcoming time when such a creative, innovative endeavor felt like a step in necessary progress—still lives up to its initial hype, but also now feels more groundbreaking and particularly poignant than ever before.

The Curtis Theatre and Begins and Ends with 'A' Productions will present 'These Shining Lives,' written by Melanie Marnich and directed by Amanda Hallman. Learn more!

With a notable career that spans stage and screen, musically-gifted actor Cheyenne Jackson delivered a wonderfully charming, wickedly hilarious OC solo debut set during his three-night run at Segerstrom Center for the Arts' Samueli Theatre from April 10-12, 2025. Backed by the superbly talented Willy Beaman behind the piano, Jackson not only showcased his impressive, Broadway-honed singing chops but also his knack for touching and comedic storytelling, providing OC with a program that was as magnificent as it was swoon-worthy—with plenty of emotion, laughs, and ribald cheekiness generously served in between.

The Catalina Museum for Art & History will present the 38th Annual Avalon Silent Film Showcase, one of the longest-running celebrations of silent film in the world. This year's event spans two days, Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17, 2025, offering rare screenings, live music and expert commentary in two iconic Avalon venues.

South Coast Repertory has announced two of the country's most prestigious regional theatres are coming to together to produce the world premiere of Fremont Ave. by Reggie D. White.

South Coast Repertory will bring the singularly unique voice of Hawaiian playwright Noa Gardner to theatregoers with the world premiere of The Staircase. Learn more here!