The curtain is rising on an exciting fall season, and this preview will help get you to your seats. Let’s look at all the exciting events waiting in the wings.
Theater
The University of Evansville’s fall Shanklin Theatre season gets off to a rocking start with Tony Award-winning “Jagged Little Pill.” The Alanis Morissette jukebox musical inspired by her 1995 album of the same name brings each song to bear on the story. Directing is Wes Grantom, a 2003 UE grad and himself a Tony winner for his producing work on 2024’s Fleetwood Mac-inspired musical, “Stereophonic.” Shows are Oct. 17-18 and 23-26. UE’s Rogue and Peasant Aces’ touring production of William Shakespeare’s tragedy “MacBeth” presents on-campus performances Nov. 8-9. “Native Gardens,” a Karen Zacarías tale of culture-clashing neighbors sharing adjoining backyards, runs Nov. 20-23 in May Studio Theatre.
The University of Southern Indiana presents two fall productions: “The Grown-Ups” by Simon Henriques and Skylar Fox on Oct. 2-5 at Eicher Barn on the USI campus, and “Xanadu” featuring music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, Nov. 20-23 at the USI Performance Center.
Evansville Civic Theatre celebrates its 100th anniversary season with a return to its historic home at the corner of Fulton and Columbia. “Our Town” — Thornton Wilder’s beloved drama of community, life, and death in fictional Grover’s Corner — starts things off on the Main Stage on Sept. 19-21 and 26-28. “Perfect Arrangement” by Topher Payne follows Nov. 7-9 and 14-16. Its two closeted U.S. State Department employees try to maintain their cover and relationship during the 1950s Lavender Scare. Then, Samantha Hurley’s “I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire” directed by Sydney Judd relaunches the Civic Theatre’s edgy Underground series Dec. 11-14.
STAGETwo Productions presents “The Fall of the House of Usher” Sept. 19-21, then leads us in the Time Warp Dance with its annual reprise of Richard O’Brien’s cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” Oct. 24-25 and Nov. 1. Neil Simon’s Ukrainian comic tale “Fools” follows Nov. 14-16.
Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation thespians take their turn in the spotlight this semester with “12 Angry Jurors” at F.J. Reitz High School Nov. 12-16, Central High School’s “The Play That Goes Wrong” Nov. 13-16, Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Into the Woods” at North High School Dec 4-7, and Benjamin Bosse High School’s “A Night of Glamour at Gatsby’s” dinner theater Dec. 4-6.
The Henderson Area Arts Alliance presents “A Slightly Wicked Holiday Show” on Dec. 6 with three stars of the Broadway smash musical, “Wicked.”
Dance
Fairy tales and ballet go hand-in-hand. The World Ballet Company’s cast of 40 dancers enchants with Sergei Prokofiev’s magical “Cinderella” on Old National Events Plaza’s Aiken Theatre stage Oct. 10. The region also will be treated to two productions of a holiday favorite. “Nutcracker” performances presented by Ballet Indiana, featuring the organization’s symphony orchestra, are set for Dec. 13-14 at the Victory Theatre. Meanwhile, the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra joins the Children’s Center for Dance Education for the latter’s own “Nutcracker” shows Dec. 12-13 at the Old National Events Plaza. Also Dec. 13 is a 35-minute, sensory-friendly performance free for the public.
In regional dance, Ailey II, the acclaimed contemporary dance troupe rooted in African American traditions, takes the stage Oct. 3 for an energizing performance at Jasper Arts Center in Dubois County.
Art Exhibitions
The Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science shares several exciting developments this fall. It unveils a sculpture gallery in October to display several long-unseen works, plus its outdoor Sculpture Garden installs a new sculpture by Gino Miles, whose “Stargazer” greets museum visitors at the entrance. Katie Waters, USI professor emerita of art, presents “Time/Manner/Place,” her solo exhibition of recent works, in the Begley Art Gallery starting Oct. 11. “Printmaking: Past & Present” explores prints from Albrecht Dürer and Käthe Kollwitz to contemporary artists taken from the museum’s permanent collections and USI. The works are on display Aug. 10-Nov. 10.
Annual fall exhibitions at University of Southern Indiana and University of Evansville will highlight artistic talent in their art programs. USI shares recent artworks in its 2025 Art & Design Faculty Exhibition, Sept. 9-Oct. 19, and the very best student artwork in its 56th Annual Student Juried Art Show, Nov. 3-Dec. 7, both in USI’s McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries. The UE art faculty receives its annual exhibition Sept. 2-Oct. 18 at the Melvin Peterson Gallery, while Indianapolis painter and 1964 UE graduate Jerry Points — the fall Efroymson artist-in-residence — exhibits his work Oct. 27-Dec. 6. Dynamic local artists Lori Rivera and Lesley Nelson explore Surrealism in “Beyond the Ordinary” Aug. 25-Oct. 5.
USI’s New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art celebrates its 50th anniversary with “Look Both Ways,” a 50-artist exhibition Sept. 6-Nov. 9, and a free public event at the Atheneum Visitor Center on Nov. 8. Back in Evansville, the Arts Council of Southwest Indiana’s audience-favorite “Spooky Show” of Halloween-themed art returns Oct. 3-31 with a costume-party reception Oct. 25. Boo!
Three other regional exhibitions celebrate the exceptional. Jasper Arts presents its 32nd Annual Juried Art Exhibition now until Nov. 23 at the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center. The Owensboro Museum of Fine Arts exhibition, “Regionalism: Images of the Midwest,” celebrates the heartland now through Oct. 19. And the New Harmony Gallery/Hoosier Salon presents “Flowing Visions: A Watercolor Exhibit” Sept. 20-Nov. 9, with a reception Oct.11.
Art Fairs
Cooling weather brings a flurry of outdoor art festivals, starting with New Harmony, Indiana’s annual Kunstfest celebration Sept. 20-21, featuring over 200 vendors show- casing art, crafts, gifts, and more. Funk comes to Evansville Sept. 27, as Funk in the City brings 70 regional artists and makers to Haynie’s Corner Arts District. Food vendors and live music into the evening help you make a day of it. Then, Haynie’s Corner welcomes everyone back Oct. 3 for the year’s final First Friday, a festive block party, with artist and vendor booths, food trucks, and music to welcome fall.
YART, the yard sale for art, has been sharing affordable local art for years. Its Fall 2025 edition at Angel Mounds State Historic Site on Oct. 11 offers paintings, prints, sculpture, ceramics, and more from more than 30 local artists. Everything is priced at $60 or less.
Oct. 18-19 introduces Arts in Murphy Park, New Harmony’s first outdoor art fair in three years, featuring Midwest painters, printmakers, ceramicists, jewelers, sculptors, and more. Food, entertainment, and activities for children add spice to the event, which organizer Tony Treadway plans to make annual. Across the Ohio River, Henderson, Kentucky’s Art Hop by the Ohio Valley Art League features artists in galleries and shops throughout Down- town on Nov. 7.
Live Music
Music Director Roger Kalia and the Evansville Philharmonic open their 91st season Sept. 20 at Victory Theatre with Broadway and opera brilliance. The concert features Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and the return of tenor Demetrious Sampson Jr., whose show-stopping encore of Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” aria last season earned a joyous standing ovation. Expect continent-spanning styles and emotions. After the
concert, the audience is invited to join the Philharmonic for a dessert reception. On Oct. 12, “Sacred Airs & Majestic Pipes” takes the Philharmonic to St. Benedict Cathedral to debut its new pipe organ, as virtuoso Robert Nicholls plays Francis Poulenc’s powerful yet serene Concerto for Organ, Timpani and Strings. It will put the mighty instrument through its paces in a concert sure to stir the spirit.
UE Music Conservatory’s exciting series of concerts this season begins with a faculty recital by Leanne Hampton and Ross Erickson on Sept. 16. The Sept. 30 Ensemble Showcase previews the UE University Choir, Wind Ensemble, and Symphony Orchestra concerts later in the semester. On Oct. 21, the Eykamp String Quartet performs Dvorak’s “American” string quartet, and more. On Oct. 28 at Victory Theatre, UE’s Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble perform under the baton of Director of Bands Kenneth Steinsultz and Director of Orchestras Activities Jean Gomez, the newest UE music faculty member.
The Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana has been elevating the Downtown music experience with its On the Roof concert series. The final show this season, on Sept. 20, features Nina Snoogans, Dekar Justice, and Theo Akai.
Closing this out on a blue note, New Harmony presents its second-annual Blues Festival on Nov. 6-8, featuring musicians from far-flung locales — a great complement to June’s W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival in Henderson, Kentucky.
