CABARET, THE LEHMAN TRILOGY & More Set for Guthrie Theater 2024-25 Season

The Guthrie Theater will present eight productions for its 2024–2025 Season: the sweeping generational saga The Lehman Trilogy by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power; an Octopus Theatricals production of All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain, starring Patrick Page; the Guthrie’s 50th production of A Christmas Carol; Lloyd Suh’s moving new comedy The Heart Sellers; William Shakespeare’s enchanting comedic delight A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Agatha Christie’s iconic murder mystery The Mousetrap; Pearl Cleage’s clever comedy The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years; and Kander and Ebb’s provocative musical masterpiece Cabaret.

New season subscriptions go on sale May 16, 2024. To purchase a ticket package, call the Season Ticket Office at 612.225.6238 or 1.877.997.3276 (toll-free) or visit www.guthrietheater.org/subscribe.

Artistic Director Joseph Haj shared, “It’s always such a joy to share a new lineup of plays. The creative possibilities stretch out before us, just waiting to be realized. Season after season, the Guthrie’s tremendous community of theater enthusiasts and supporters helps make it happen.”

He added, “Through compelling drama, captivating mystery, heartwarming comedy and thrilling entertainment, the 2024–2025 Season invites us to celebrate the stories and experiences that connect us all. I look forward to sharing this collection of heralded classics and fearless new work with our audiences.”

The 2024–2025 Season begins with The Lehman Trilogy by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power. Directed by Arin Arbus, performances run September 14 – October 13, 2024, on the Wurtele Thrust Stage.

Requiring tour-de-force performances by three actors playing multiple characters, the real-life story of the Lehman brothers unfolds with surprising elegance and astonishing theatricality. In 1844, Heyum Lehmann arrives in New York from Bavaria to make his way in a new world. After changing his name to Henry Lehman, he and his brothers start a small fabric business that evolves over generations to become a powerful international finance firm. More than a century later, the firm spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, leaving unprecedented disaster in its wake. The sweeping generational saga questions how we define heroes and villains — and where we draw the line between them.

The Lehman Trilogy began as an Italian novel in verse by Massini, who then transformed it into a play. In 2018, Power adapted the work into English for London’s National Theatre, a production that was nominated for five Olivier Awards. The production later transferred to Broadway, where it won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Play. The Lehman Trilogy is the first play by either writer to be staged at the Guthrie.

Next on the McGuire Proscenium Stage, the Guthrie will present an Octopus Theatricals production of All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain, created and performed by Tony nominee and Grammy winner Patrick Page. Directed by Simon Godwin, performances run October 12 – November 17, 2024.

Dubbed “the villain of Broadway” by Playbill, actor Patrick Page has never shied away from exploring his dark side. Now, with this chilling and compelling solo show, he turns his attention to the twisted motivation and hidden humanity at the heart of Shakespeare’s greatest villains. Moving swiftly through the Shakespeare canon, he illuminates the playwright’s ever-evolving conception of evil by delving into more than a dozen of his most wicked creations. Thrilling, biting, hilarious and enlightening, what Page delivers is a master class on the most terrifying subject of them all: human nature.

All the Devils Are Here opened off-Broadway at DR2 Theatre in fall 2023 and has extended its run multiple times. Critics have called it “thoroughly entertaining and insightful” (The Wall Street Journal), “the best one-person show I’ve come across” (The Washington Post) and “thrillingly theatrical, chilling and thought-provoking” (The New York Sun).

Page’s Broadway credits include playing the Grinch in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Scar in The Lion King and Hades in Hadestown, for which he received Lucille Lortel and Tony Award nominations as well as a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

Continuing the Guthrie’s beloved holiday tradition, the theater will celebrate its 50th production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol November 9 – December 29, 2024, on the Wurtele Thrust Stage. The adaptation by Lavina Jadhwani will be directed for a second year by Guthrie Associate Producer Addie Gorlin-Han, based on the original direction by Joseph Haj.

Next, the Guthrie will produce Lloyd Suh’s moving comedy The Heart Sellers, directed by May Adrales. Performances will run December 14, 2024 – January 25, 2025, on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.

When Luna and Jane run into each other at the supermarket on Thanksgiving Day, they discover they have much in common — they’re both new to America and spending the holiday alone while their medical-resident husbands work the night away. Longing for connection, the two homesick women return to Luna’s apartment for the evening. Over a bottle of wine (or two), they attempt to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal while sharing their stories and dreams. Set eight years after the Hart-Celler Act of 1965 overhauled the U.S. immigration system, this poignant comedy illuminates the Asian immigrant experience and asks, “Would you give up your heart to make a new home?”

Suh’s play The Far Country was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His works, which have been produced internationally and locally in the Twin Cities, include The Chinese Lady, Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery, Bina’s Six Apples and The Wong Kids in the Secret of the Space Chupacabra Go! Recent accolades include the 2022 Steinberg Playwright Award and 2022–2023 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. The Heart Sellers is the first production by Suh to be produced at the Guthrie.

In February, the Guthrie will revisit William Shakespeare’s enchanting comedic delight A Midsummer Night’s Dream under the direction of Joseph Haj. Performances will run February 1 – March 23, 2025, on the Wurtele Thrust Stage. While the Guthrie has staged the classic several times, this marks the first time Joseph Haj will helm the Shakespeare classic at the Guthrie.

Brimming with wit and wisdom, Shakespeare’s most popular play enchants theatergoers young and old. On the shortest night of the year, the magical and mortal worlds collide. What could possibly go wrong? Shakespeare gives us a clue: “The course of true love never did run smooth.” In this beloved tale of mischief and merriment, four stories are cleverly woven together: the marriage of the Athenian duke to the Amazon queen; a spat between the fairy king and queen; the follies of four lovers; and the hilarious antics of amateur actors staging a play. When the exhilarating night in the forest finally resolves to (almost) everyone’s satisfaction, a new day of love, joy and reconciliation dawns.

Next on the McGuire Proscenium Stage will be Agatha Christie’s iconic murder mystery The Mousetrap. Directed by Guthrie Senior Artistic Producer Tracy Brigden (Guthrie: Dial M for Murder), the production will play March 15 – May 18, 2025.

During a heavy snowstorm, newlyweds Mollie and Giles Ralston prepare to open Monkswell Manor for their first guests: the nitpicky former magistrate Mrs. Boyle; the cagey Miss Casewell visiting from abroad; the young enthusiast Christopher Wren; the good-natured Major Metcalf; and the roguish Mr. Paravicini. As the snow proves impassable, Detective Sergeant Trotter arrives on skis with news that connects the manor to a mysterious murder in London. When the phone lines are cut and a guest turns up dead, everyone becomes a suspect.

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap began as a 30-minute radio play for the BBC called Three Blind Mice, which was later adapted into a BBC TV program. Christie further adapted it into a short story — published in 1950 in a U.S. collection — and eventually into her seventh play. Retitled The Mousetrap, the stage play opened in Nottingham in 1952, toured England and then settled in on the West End. The production has run ever since (pandemic excluded), making it the longest-running play in the world. The Guthrie produced Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express in 2023. This is the first play written by Christie herself to be produced by the Guthrie.

On the Wurtele Thrust Stage, the Guthrie will then produce Pearl Cleage’s clever comedy The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years. Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton (Guthrie: Trouble in Mind), performances will run April 19 – May 25, 2025.

Featuring clever storytelling and scandalous plots, this lighthearted comedy winds its way to an ending as charming as its characters. Grande dames Grace Dunbar and Catherine Green prepare for the Nacirema Society’s 1964 centennial cotillion — the event of the season in Montgomery, Alabama. The elegant African American debutantes include Grace’s granddaughter Gracie, escorted by Catherine’s grandson Bobby, and the grandmothers hope the couple will soon be engaged. But Gracie and Bobby have other ideas. As the young ladies prepare for their debuts, a blackmail scheme brews behind the scenes and subterfuges unfold, all under the nose of a skeptical reporter covering the ball.

During the Guthrie’s 2022–2023 Season, the theater produced Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky. Her additional credits include the plays What I Learned in Paris, Flyin’ West and Bourbon at the Border, several novels and collections of poetry and essays.

The Guthrie Will Close its 2024–2025 Season on the Wurtele Thrust Stage with John Kander and Fred Ebb’s provocative musical masterpiece Cabaret. With a book by Joe Masteroff, based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood, Cabaret will be directed by Joseph Haj. Performances will run June 21 – August 24, 2025.

This Tony Award-winning sensation, featuring masterful hits such as “Willkommen,” “Don’t Tell Mama” and “Maybe This Time,” is a daring and dazzling musical escape. Inside Berlin’s sultry Kit Kat Klub, a flamboyant Master of Ceremonies invites patrons to partake in a decadent underworld of musical numbers, kicklines and torrid affairs — a welcome reprieve from the ever-growing Nazi influence just outside its doors. As the political unrest nears a tipping point, the beautiful life the cabaret promises slowly begins to fade, putting love, friendship and loyalties to the test.

Cabaret was the first collaboration of composer Kander and lyricist Ebb. Shepherded by producer/director Harold Prince, it won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Musical. Among Kander and Ebb’s best-known works are Zorba, Chicago and Kiss of the Spider Woman. Before Ebb’s death in 2004, the duo’s last collaboration was The Scottsboro Boys, which played at the Guthrie in 2010 before its Broadway debut. This will be the first production of Cabaret at the Guthrie.

The Guthrie Theater’s 2024–2025 Season sponsors include the Minnesota State Arts Board, the David & Janis Larson Foundation, The Shubert Foundation and U.S. Bank.

Ticket Information 
Seven productions will be available as part of the 2024–2025 Season subscription series: The Lehman Trilogy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Nacirema Society and Cabaret on the Wurtele Thrust Stage and All the Devils Are Here, The Heart Sellers and The Mousetrap on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.

New season subscriptions start at $54 and go on sale May 16, 2024. Single tickets for The Lehman Trilogy, All the Devils Are Here and The Heart Sellers go on sale July 10, 2024. Single tickets for A Christmas Carol go on sale September 3, 2024. Single tickets for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Mousetrap and The Nacirema Society go on sale November 6, 2024. Single tickets for Cabaret go on sale January 8, 2025. Single ticket prices for all mainstage shows, excluding A Christmas Carol, range from $29 to $96. Tickets for A Christmas Carol range from $29 to $139. Discounts are available for seniors, students, educators and children.

To purchase a new season subscription, call the Season Ticket Office at 612.225.6238 or 1.877.997.3276 (toll-free) or visit www.guthrietheater.org/subscribe.

GUTHRIE THEATER 2024–2025 SEASON

The Lehman Trilogy

by Stefano Massini 
adapted by Ben Power 
directed by Arin Arbus 
September 14 – October 13, 2024 
Wurtele Thrust Stage

The Guthrie presents
an Octopus Theatricals production of

All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain

created and performed by Patrick Page 
directed by Simon Godwin 
October 12 – November 17, 2024 
McGuire Proscenium Stage

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens 
adapted by Lavina Jadhwani 
directed by ADDIE GORLIN-HAN 
based on the original direction by Joseph Haj 
November 9 – December 29, 2024
Wurtele Thrust Stage

The Heart Sellers

by Lloyd Suh 
directed by May Adrales 
December 14, 2024 – January 25, 2025 
McGuire Proscenium Stage

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

by William Shakespeare 
directed by Joseph Haj 
February 1 – March 23, 2025 
Wurtele Thrust Stage

The Mousetrap

by AGATHA CHRISTIE 
directed by Tracy Brigden 
March 15 – May 18, 2025 
McGuire Proscenium Stage

The Nacirema Society

Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years 
by Pearl Cleage 
directed by VALERIE CURTIS-NEWTON 
April 19 – May 25, 2025 
Wurtele Thrust Stage

Cabaret

book by Joe Masteroff 
based on the play by John Van Druten 
and stories by Christopher Isherwood 
music by John Kander 
lyrics by Fred Ebb 
directed by Joseph Haj 
June 21 – August 24, 2025
Wurtele Thrust Stage