OC Theatre Guild

10/13/2026

Two New OCTG Recommended Shows!

We’re excited to announce that two more productions have earned the OCTG Recommended Stamp as part of the Orange County Theatre Guild’s Theatre Awards Program! This distinction means our voters are really enjoying these shows, and we think you will, too. From a provocative, darkly comic musical to a wildly imaginative cult favorite, these productions offer two very different theatrical experiences worth adding to your calendar. Join us in congratulating the casts, creative teams, and everyone behind these outstanding productions!

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Assassins — Curtis Theatre & Southgate Productions
October 9–18 | Curtis Theatre, Brea

History takes a dark and unexpected turn in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins. This provocative musical brings together the people who assassinated or attempted to assassinate U.S. presidents, giving voice to the anger, disappointment, and desperate desire for recognition that connect their stories across generations. With dark humor, a compelling score, and a blend of drama and musical theatre, this co-production offers a thought-provoking experience that will stay with you long after the curtain falls. Congratulations to Curtis Theatre and Southgate Productions on earning the OCTG Recommended Stamp!

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Ride the Cyclone — Phantom Projects Theatre Group
October 9–25 | Phantom Projects Theatre, La Habra

Six teenagers. One roller coaster tragedy. And one extraordinary chance to tell their stories. Ride the Cyclone is a darkly funny, wildly imaginative musical that follows six young people in a mysterious afterlife, where each gets the opportunity to make a case for returning to the world of the living. Blending quirky characters, unexpected emotional depth, and an unforgettable score, this cult favorite explores life, identity, and what it means to truly live. Congratulations to Phantom Projects Theatre and the entire creative team on earning the OCTG Recommended Stamp!

10/03/2026

What happens when six teenagers die on a roller coaster—and then get one more chance to tell their stories?

That’s the strange, darkly funny premise of 'Ride the Cyclone', coming to Phantom Projects Theatre Group October 9–25.

The cult-favorite musical follows six teenagers who die in a traveling fair accident and find themselves in a mysterious afterlife, where they’re given the chance to compete for one final opportunity to return to life.

Producing Artistic Director and director Steve Cisneros first discovered the show through his teen theatre students, who insisted he listen to the soundtrack. He did—and ended up so hooked that he finished listening to it in his garage after getting home.

Now Phantom Projects is bringing this wildly imaginative musical to its stage.

Read our preview article to learn more about 'Ride the Cyclone', why it has developed such a devoted following, and what drew Phantom Projects to this unusual show.

https://cultureoc.org/ride-the-cyclone-at-the-phantom-projects-theatre/

📅 October 9–25
📍 Phantom Projects Theatre

Are you making the most of your life?

10/02/2026

Happy Opening to Cabrillo Playhouse. Every family has its problems. The Addams family just happens to have a few more… unusual ones.

Cabrillo Playhouse opens its 2026–27 season today with 'The Addams Family', the delightfully macabre musical comedy inspired by Charles Addams’ iconic cartoons.

With a cast led by Isabella Klein as Wednesday, Connor Dapkus as Lucas, Patrick Brannelly as Gomez, and Juliet Fischer as Morticia, Cabrillo is kicking off its new season with plenty of eccentricity, big production numbers, and Addams-style family chaos.

Read our preview article for a closer look at the production and why Producing Artistic Director Michael Lopez was excited to bring this particular musical to Cabrillo.

https://cultureoc.org/the-addams-family-at-cabrillo-playhouse/

📅 October 2–November 1
📍 Cabrillo Playhouse, San Clemente

A kooky family crisis comes to life.

10/02/2026

Murder, revenge, corruption—and one very unsettling approach to pie.

Ophelia's Jump Productions is bringing Stephen Sondheim’s 'Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street' to its intimate 60-seat theatre October 5–25, putting audiences just feet away from one of musical theatre’s darkest worlds.

Director and producing artistic director Beatrice Casagrán has had Sweeney Todd on her bucket list for years, and she’s embracing the intimacy of the space rather than trying to make it feel bigger. Gothic, atmospheric, and visually transformed through lighting and projections, this production aims to put audiences right in the heart of Fleet Street.

Read our preview article for a closer look at Casagrán’s vision, the production’s striking design, and why this Sondheim masterpiece might be especially at home in a tiny theatre.

Read all about it: https://cultureoc.org/sweeney-todd-the-demon-barber-of-fleet-street-at-ophelias-jump-productions/

📅 October 5–25
📍 Ophelia’s Jump Productions

A close shave: Bringing the darkness up close.

10/01/2026

OCTG MEMBERS - VOTING IS OPEN!!!!

**Please refer to your email with information on the candidates as well as instructions for voting as voting is open to OCTG Members only.**

09/30/2026

Long before Elvira, TV’s first horror host, Vampira, titillated and terrified 1950s America. Award-winning actor/writer Ingrid Garner (Eleanor’s Story) resurrects the legendary behind Hollywood’s most fascinating forgotten icon, and unearths the mercurial life of her creator, Maila Nurmi, in this electrifying multimedia performance.

This production is part of Amplify — an initiative to address the inequality in performing arts programming. This program provides a platform and outlet for performing artists of all kinds, while expanding the inclusivity and outreach of the Curtis Theatre to a diverse artistic community.

Performing on October 25th at 5 PM at the Curtis Theatre -- Tickets can be purchased by visiting curtistheatre.com

https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=321555

09/28/2026

What happens when history’s most infamous presidential assassins are given a chance to tell their own stories?

That’s the unsettling—and darkly comic—premise of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins, opening October 9 at Curtis Theatre in a co-production with Southgate Productions.

From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, the musical brings together a strange collection of people who assassinated or attempted to assassinate U.S. presidents, connecting them across decades through anger, disappointment, and the desire to be seen.

For Southgate Productions, Assassins marks a darker turn. Director Jon Infante describes it as “a play with music,” combining substantial scene work with Sondheim’s score to create something unlike anything else in the company’s catalog.

Check out our preview article for a closer look at this provocative musical, the creative vision behind it, and why Assassins offers a very different kind of night at the theatre.

Read all about it! https://cultureoc.org/assassins-at-curtis-theatre-and-southgate-productions/
October 9-18 at Curtis Theatre

Sondheim takes aim at the American dream.

09/20/2026

OC Theatre Guild Elected Board Voting is now open!
**Voting is only open to current OCTG Members.**
The election of these Board Members relies on each of you casting your votes by OCTOBER 18, 2026. Each candidate must receive a 2/3rds majority of votes to be elected. Please check your email for links and details for voting this year.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at https://www.octheatreguild.org/contact-us

09/19/2026

What happens when a centuries-old Shakespearean plot device collides with modern dating, friendship, and consent?

That’s the question at the heart of The Bed Trick, Keiko Green’s contemporary comedy now playing at Chance Theater through October 4.

Inspired by the “bed trick” from Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, the play follows three college freshmen as an online dating profile, a complicated relationship, and a series of deceptions push their friendships—and their understanding of consent—to the limit.

Directed by H. Adam Harris, The Bed Trick blends sharp comedy with some very modern questions about relationships, boundaries, and who gets to decide what consent means.

Read all about it! https://cultureoc.org/the-bed-trick-at-chance-theater/

📅 Now playing through October 4
📍 Chance Theater, Anaheim

Shakespeare’s infamous move gets a modern reckoning.

09/19/2026

Who did it? Where? And with what?

The classic murder mystery 'Clue' is coming to Anaheim September 25–October 4, with Amicus Community Theater putting its own intimate spin on the familiar suspects, secret passages, suspicious dinner guests, and increasingly frantic attempts to solve a murder at Boddy Manor.

Presented on the intimate Fyda-Mar Stage, this fast-paced comedy brings Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock, Professor Plum, and Wadsworth the butler together for a night of murder, blackmail, physical comedy—and plenty of mayhem.

The production also marks an exciting chapter for Amicus, a young Orange County company founded by attorneys Aleece Hanson and Rheannon Rozewski with a mission of bringing people together through the arts.

Read our preview article below to learn more about Clue, Amicus, and the journey behind this production!

Read all about it! https://cultureoc.org/clue-at-amicus-community-theater/
📅 September 25–October 4
📍 At Chance

The ultimate whodunit.