WISHING TO GROW UP BRIGHTLY World Premiere and More Set for Theatre Horizon's 25/26 Season
The season will also feature Ain't Misbehavin'.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Mar. 10, 2025
Theatre Horizon will be presenting two exciting musicals for their 2025/26 season: Wishing to Grow Up Brightly, a world-premiere co-created by Amanda Morton (Broadway's Gutenberg! The Musical, KPOP) and Matthew Decker (Broadway's upcoming La La Land); plus the wildly popular musical revue Ain't Misbehavin', the Fats Waller Musical Show. Additional titles for the 2025/26 season will be revealed at a later date.
"Theatre Horizon is bringing our audiences the best in musical theater for our upcoming season," said Matthew Decker, Interim Artistic Director and Theatre Horizon Co-Founder. "From the sounds of the Cotton Club and Fats Waller in Ain't Misbehavin' to the electrifying world premiere of Wishing to Grow Up Brightly, Horizon's 25/26 season celebrates the musical and the incredible artists who have created the uniquely American art form."
THEATRE HORIZON'S 2025-26 SEASON
Wishing to Grow Up Brightly
World Premiere
Created by Amanda Morton, Matthew Decker, Josh Totora, and Brenson Thomas
Book by Matthew Decker, Amanda Morton and Brenson Thomas
Lyrics by Amanda Morton and Josh Totora
Music by Josh Totora
Directed by Matthew Decker
November 2025
Theatre Horizon will present the world premiere of Wishing to Grow Up Brightly, a bold new musical from longtime Theatre Horizon collaborators Amanda Morton (Theatre Horizon's The Color Purple; Broadway's Gutenberg! The Musical, KPOP) and Co-Founder Matthew Decker (Theatre Horizon's Into the Woods, ...Spelling Bee; Broadway's upcoming La La Land) alongside Josh Totora and Brenson Thomas.
In this auto-fictional musical, South Korean adoptee Amanda Newton returns to her white childhood home after her father's death, tasked with packing up the house alongside her mother. What begins as a difficult task soon spirals into a whirlwind of grief, identity, and unanswered questions about her adoption when Amanda discovers that her father's memories have been digitized by reMemorex, a corporate service designed to preserve the voices of the departed. She embarks on a surreal and deeply personal quest to discover the truth about her adoption story.
This genre-defying show mashes up all sorts of musical styles with a touch of Black Mirror and 90s sitcom antics to tell a story that is simultaneously as humorous as it is touching, and as joyful as it is provocative.
Ain't Misbehavin'
The Fats Waller Musical Show
Created and originally directed by Richard Maltby, Jr.
Conceived by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Murray Horowitz
May 2026
Ain't Misbehavin', the Tony Award-winning celebration of Fats Waller, brings the era's jazz houses and juke joints to life with an unforgettable evening of romance, humor, dance, and pure Black joy. Featuring timeless hits like "Honeysuckle Rose," "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie," "I Can't Give You Anything but Love," and the iconic "Ain't Misbehavin'," this dazzling revue honors a musical genius who forever changed the sound of American music.
The inimitable Thomas "Fats" Waller rose to international fame during the Golden Age of the Cotton Club and that jumpin' new beat, swing music. Although not quite a biography, Ain't Misbehavin' evokes the delightful humor and infectious energy of this American original as a versatile cast struts, strums, and sings the songs that he made famous in a career that ranged from uptown clubs to downtown Tin Pan Alley to Hollywood and concert stages in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
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