Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative plans 10 shows for the 2026 lineup

LACONIA — Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative, the resident theater company of the Colonial Theatre in Laconia, recently announced to a crowd of enthusiastic Powerhouse participants and supporters its plans for a fun-filled 2026 season. The calendar will include a five show Colonial Series, a five show Spark Series at venues around Laconia, an annual fundraising event and a couple of special events involving new collaborations.

The Colonial Series will kick off in February with a joyful, music and dance filled version of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” adapted and directed by Joel Iwaskiewicz to be set in the Louisiana bayou. The May show is the American east coast premiere of a brand new musical based on Kate DiCamillo’s popular book “The Magician’s Elephant.” August will be the very popular “Shrek the Musical,” followed in October by “Peter and the Starcatcher” — a play based on the popular novel series that imagines how an orphan boy became Peter Pan. The season will wrap up as usual with “A Christmas Carol: The Musical Ghost Story.”

The Spark Series has some familiar events and some new ones. In February some of Powerhouse’s talented teens will tour “Pooh’s Birthday Surprise” by Jaydie Halperin to area libraries during school vacation in honor of the 100th birthday of Winnie-the-Pooh. May and September will bring Powerhouse back to Prescott Farm with the spring New Play Festival and the fall outdoor theater adventure — “Big Bad: The trials and tribulations of a Fairy Tale Wolf” by Tess Hodges where audiences will follow the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red around the Prescott campus through different wolf-related fairy tales. October will offer a staged reading of John Pielmier’s “Hook’s Tale” — Captain Hook’s rebuttal to the events of Peter Pan as he tells his side of the story. The Spark series wraps up in November with the annual Power Chords holiday concert.

Powerhouse’s annual fundraiser which supports its programs and the Colonial Theatre Advancement Fund will be March 21. This year’s edition is called “Just Duet: Super Team Edition” — where two teams can partner together on one of their songs for a quartet.

In March, Powerhouse will partner with the Winni Players to produce the hysterical comedy “The Play that Goes Wrong” at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith.  On June 27, Powerhouse will join with a portion of the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra to perform the musical 1776 in concert to celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary.

“With all the things going on in the world, our goal for 2026 was to produce a season that would be extremely fun for our performers to work on, and joyful for our audiences to attend,” Powerhouse Associate Producer Courtney Palmer said. “We are so excited for a year filled with laughter.”

Despite rising production costs, Powerhouse has committed to keeping tickets $25 and under for all its productions. 

Producer Johanna Halperin said, “The shows we’ve chosen have appeal to all audiences. Adults will enjoy them, but they are also appropriate for families so we want to make sure our tickets continue to be the best value in local theater and affordable for families to attend together.”

For more information, contact info@powerhousenh.org.