Five Reasons You Should Attend the Virginia Theatre Festival This Summer

The VTF is the Commonwealth’s longest-running professional summer theatre company. Founded in 1974, VTF treats local and regional audiences to some of the world’s most renowned plays and musicals while also highlighting the voices of new playwrights and composers.

The fun begins June 27 with a nod to the past and a toast to the future with 50 Years and Counting: A Musical Revue. Longtime Artistic Director Robert Chapel returns to direct a cast that includes some notable VTF alumni (including Broadway veterans!) in an evening featuring a selection of some of the most favorite songs in musical theatre history – plucked straight from the theatre’s half-century of playbills.

On July 11 the VTF will open one of the world’s most beloved classic musicals, Little Shop of Horrors. The show will be directed by Jeffrey Meanza, who was also at the helm of last summer’s nearly sold-out run of Dear Jack, Dear Louise. Little Shop of Horrors, set to a Motown groove, has been delighting and disarming audiences with its story of lovestruck Seymour, a hapless flower shop employee, and his massive miscalculation that he can use a bloodthirsty succulent to win his beloved Audrey’s heart.

The 2024 VTF season will wrap up with a wild ride that turns a classic Hitchcock mystery upside down in the most hilarious and hair-raising ways. The 39 Steps, which will run from July 25-August 4, is a two-time Tony Award-winning whodunit adapted by Patrick Barlow. The show, which will be directed by Nicholas Minas, is a frenetic farce that features four actors playing more than 150 characters in a comic thrill ride international spy story that is full of plot twists, romance, quick-changes, and aisle-rolling laughter.

There is nothing quite like the magic of live theatre, and Virginia Theatre Festival delivers professional theatre at its finest! You’ll see actors from across the country – many of whom have graced Broadway stages as well as your television and movie screens. And our behind-the-scenes team is just as spectacular. You simply won’t believe the sets, costumes, and production value, and before long you will be hooked on the experience.

Be part of one of the brightest stars in the remarkable constellation that makes up the arts in Charlottesville! Tickets go on sale on June 6 and all you have to do to secure yours is click here. And don’t forget to tell all your friends about this exciting and historic VTF season. Better yet, bring them along with you!