10 Philly-area theater productions we are excited for this spring, and where we’ll grab a bite before (or after)

It’s (almost) all about American history this theater season as the city nears America’s 250th, from 1776 The Musical making a return to speculative stories focusing on Philadelphia trailblazers, like the pioneering female doctors in The Woman Question.

Critical works about the nation’s past provide vital perspectives, like Suzan-Lori Parks’ The America Play and Anna Deavere Smith’s Basil Biggs Project, while others have developed more eccentric approaches, like Girl Dolls: The American Musical.

For audiences seeking counter-programming to 250th anniversary fanfare, Philly theaters have you covered too. There’s the world premiere of James Ijames’ latest work, Wilderness Generation, and popular musicals like The Outsiders and Dear Evan Hansen.

Here are 10 shows we’re looking forward to seeing this spring, along with recommendations on where to grab a bite or drink nearby.

Pulitzer-winning playwright James Ijames (Fat Ham) spends more time in New York now that he teaches at Columbia University, but he says Philadelphia remains his artistic home — and this city still claims him wholeheartedly. This world premiere of his latest work rounds out a series of three Ijames plays staged in Philadelphia this winter and spring, including Good Bones at the Arden and The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington at the Wilma. In the play, set in the Tidewater South, four cousins team up to help their grandmother downsize. What starts as a fun reunion devolves into a reckoning, as the cousins unpack generational family trauma. PTC coartistic director Taibi Magar directs.

Philadelphia Theatre Company at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, 215-985-0420 or philadelphiatheatrecompany.org

For dinner: On offer at Rex at the Royal (1524 South St.) are swanky vibes and Southern food. Or you can always grab a slice of Brooklyn style pies at Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop (412 S. 13th St.).

There’s no better time to revisit the Tony-winning historical musical about the signing of the Declaration of Independence — and no better place than the nation’s oldest theater, just a few blocks from Independence Hall.

Popular Philadelphia actor Ben Dibble stars as the resolute and decidedly unpopular delegate John Adams, who works with Benjamin Franklin, played by Scott Greer, to convince the Continental Congress to vote for independence.

The theater will also unfurl its newly restored historic fire curtain displaying the J.L.G. Ferris painting of the Liberty Bell, The Bell’s First Note, for the first time in decades.

Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut St., Philadelphia, 215-574-3550 or walnutstreettheatre.org

For dinner: Enjoy Italian classics at Giorgio on Pine (1328 Pine St.), which offers a special gluten-free menu. Or if you’re a seafood lover, head over to James Beard award-winning Oyster House (1516 Sansom St.).

The South Philly beauty salon of the same name — led by longtime hair stylist Sengthong Sananikone, who immigrated from Laos in the 1970s — serves as inspiration for this new play spotlighting local Lao, Cambodian, and Vietnamese communities. In the story, a new and dangerous epidemic impacts the salon and the family can’t agree over how to protect their matriarch. Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, a Lao playwright from Minnesota, wrote the work after spending time at Seng’s Salon, where she “learned that, through four decades, the Sananikones were themselves community anchors who stewarded a salon that’s been a third place for their neighborhood … They are the heart of this play,” she said.

InterAct Theatre Company at The Drake, 302 S. Hicks St., Philadelphia, 215-568-8079 or interacttheatre.org

For dinner: If the play’s theme leaves you craving Southeast Asian flavors, there’s Thai food just around the corner with panang curry and pad thai at Jasmine Rice (306 S. 16th St.). La Jefa (1605 Latimer St.), an Inquirer 76 pick with menu items ranging from chilaquiles to aguachile, is a short walk away, too.

Celebrated Philadelphia director Amina Robinson (Fat Ham, Once on This Island) puts her spin on this Tony-winning musical revue showcasing famed jazz pianist Fats Waller. Take a step inside a Harlem Renaissance juke joint — maybe reference Ryan Coogler’s blockbuster Sinners as a dress code — for a night of thumping music, raunchy jokes, and joyful dancing. Five performers will revive the sound of a legend in American music history. There’s not much plot, but the story isn’t really the point; audiences will hear Waller’s own words through more than 30 songs, including “Honeysuckle Rose,” “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie,” and the unforgettable “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

Theatre Horizon, 401 DeKalb St., Norristown, 610-283-2230 or theatrehorizon.org

For dinner: Just a short drive from the venue, Eve’s Lunch (318 E. Johnson Highway, Norristown) is the spot for a quick zep — a hoagie without lettuce. And at El Limon (1000 Sandy Hill Rd., Norristown), enjoy al pastor tacos and chorizo enchiladas.

Using historical archives as a starting point, local actor/playwright Suli Holum developed a new play billed as a “docu-fantasy” centered on the 1894 class of the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first medical school in the world to grant women medical degrees. The renowned school trained generations of notable pioneers in medicine, from the first South Asian female doctor, Anandibai Joshee, to some of the earliest African American female doctors, like Rebecca Cole and Eliza Ann Grier. Holum and longtime Philadelphia actor Melanye Finister collaborated on crafting this world premiere about trailblazing students fighting to bring attention to reproductive health some 150 years ago.

People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, 610-644-3500 or peopleslight.org

For dinner: Order a Lebanese feast at Cafe Baladi (235 Lancaster Ave., Malvern), a hearty Mexican meal at El Charro Negro (524 Lancaster Ave., Malvern), or Indian Chinese specialties at Himalayan Exotic Indian Cuisine (81 Lancaster Ave., Malvern).

After a record-breaking Fringe Festival last year, FringeArts has returned to offering its experimental programming all year-round. Frequent festival stars Jackie Soro and Pax Ressler, in collaboration with the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, have written an eccentric cabaret musical about their favorite historical girl dolls. It’s not to be confused with the official American Girl musical, which caters to a decidedly different (read: PG) audience. Using original songs, Power Point slides, and lots of toys, Soro and Ressler cheekily examine the lore behind the popular dolls celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. One choice lyric: “I’m a girl, I’m a doll … I’m a daughter, I’ve lived through famine and disease and historical slaughter.”

FringeArts, 140 N. Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, 215-413-1318 or fringearts.com

For dinner: You’ll be spoiled for choices. Within walking distance, there’s Yemeni food at Malooga (134 Chestnut St.), French at Forsythia (233 Chestnut St.), Mexican at Las Bugambilias (15 S. Third St.), Japanese at Tuna Bar (205 Race St.), Korean at Buk Chon (132 Chestnut St.), and more.

Amid a season of reflections on American history both critical and celebratory, Tony-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks is an essential voice. (She’s a trailblazer, too — the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for drama, recognizing Topdog/Underdog.) The America Play, like Topdog, focuses on a Black Abraham Lincoln impersonator; this character, named the Foundling Father, is a gravedigger who eagerly works at a tourist attraction where people line up to reenact Lincoln’s assassination. Customers pay a penny to shoot him with a toy gun, on repeat. Wilma coartistic director Lindsay Smiling stars in and directs this provocative play imbued with political symbolism and social commentary.

Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, 215-546-7824 or wilmatheater.org

For dinner: Estia Restaurant’s (1405-07 Locust St.) $40 prix-fixe dinner with Greek casseroles and lamb shank is a good option. If you’re looking for a vegetable-forward menu, head to Kiddo (1138 Pine St.).

This tender coming-of-age musical is based on a true local story: Coauthor Benj Pasek, from Ardmore, was a student at Friends’ Central when a high school classmate died by suicide. He observed how his peers “inserted themselves into that tragedy, claiming to know people who were involved even though they did not,” he told The Inquirer in 2016. Now a Tony-winning blockbuster, Dear Evan Hansen follows an awkward, anxious teen who desperately wants to belong — but makes cringeworthy mistakes along the way. Forget the flop of the 2021 movie adaptation and see the groundbreaking show in its original form on stage, with legendary Arden Theatre head Terry Nolen directing.

Arden Theatre, 40 N. Second St., Philadelphia, 215-922-1122 or ardentheatre.org

For dinner: There’s Italian food at Panorama (14 N. Front St.) and Olea (232 Arch St.), Fork (306 Market St.) for New American, and Tomo Sushi & Ramen (228 Arch St.). If you’re up for a long walk while you compare the film and stage productions, head to Amina (1102 Germantown Ave.) for Southern- and West African-inspired food.

Greasy hair, leather jackets, and a lot of attitude — welcome to The Outsiders universe. Originally a 1967 novel by S.E. Hinton that later became a 1983 classic film with young stars like Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, and Tom Cruise, the story has now evolved into a Tony-winning musical produced by Angelina Jolie. Two teen gangs face off in Tulsa, Okla., where the working-class Greasers clash with the higher-class Socs in action-packed fight scenes punctuated with intense choreography. It’s all told through the eyes of the sensitive 14-year-old narrator, Ponyboy. It’s the Philadelphia premiere of the first North American Tour.

Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, 215-893-1999 or ensembleartsphilly.org

For dinner: At Little Nonna’s (1234 Locust St.), enjoy a cozy, low-lit space while savoring plates of bucatini, cacio e pepe, and pan-seared gnocchi. Or head to one of the most thrilling places to enjoy steak, Alpen Rose (116 S. 13th St.) if you want to splurge.

Screen and stage actor Anna Deavere Smith has developed a signature playwriting style incorporating interviews into cohesive theatrical experiences. Smith’s latest work is deeply personal: Using historical archives, she tells the life story of her great-great-grandfather, Basil Biggs, a farmer who was responsible for disinterring and reburying Union soldiers after the battle of Gettysburg. This new play — presented in ArtPhilly’s festival What Now: 2026 as an initial stage reading — fuses historical record and imaginative fiction to envision the Biggs family surviving amid the Civil War. Smith’s collaborators include local theater-makers LaNeshe Miller-White and Zuhairah McGill, director Leonard Foglia, and Adams County Historical Society CEO Andrew Dalton.

Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, 215-546-7824 or wilmatheater.org

For dinner: Head east for vegan bar food and pasta at Monster Vegan (1229 Spruce St.) or north for Thai tapas and curries at Grandma’s Philly (1304 Walnut St.).