Summer theater in Oregon: The must-see shows from Portland to Ashland

Summer theater in Oregon — from the Portland area all the way down to Ashland — includes heaping helpings of escapist, comfort-food shows that go down easy. And maybe that’s exactly what we need right now.

President Trump’s cancellation of National Endowment for the Arts grants last month

have already impacted

Portland Playhouse, Profile Theatre, PassinArt and Corrib Theatre.

Portland Center Stage announced an unrelated but equally

dire funding shortfall

, which slapped a question mark over its 2025-26 season.

The good news? Original Practice Shakespeare Festival is expanding its schedule to include some afternoon outdoor performances this summer —and all shows are always free admission. Broadway in Portland is bringing a pair of pop-powered blockbusters to the Keller Auditorium (“MJ The Musical” and “& Juliet.”) At the Deb Fennell Auditorium in Tigard, Broadway Rose is assembling one of its largest casts ever for the high-steppin’ stomp-fest “Anything Goes.”

Check out all nine of these warm weather winners coming to Oregon stages.

“The Importance of Being Earnest” — Portland Center Stage

“The Importance of Being Earnest” at Portland Center Stage features Tyler Andrew Jones and Philip Orazio.

Jingzi Photography

Adaptation … or glow-up? Portland Center Stage’s current production of Oscar Wilde’s stinging social satire goes big with stunning sets, fabulous costumes and contemporary queer makeovers for its two Victorian-era playboys, Algernon and Jack (actors

Philip Orazio

and Tyler Andrew Jones, respectively).

Instead of setting the story in posh London, Kamilah Bush — Portland Center Stage literary manager and the author of the zhuzhed-up new version — moves the scheming, duplicitous antics to our nation’s capital, which seems absolutely appropriate.

As the theater company scrambles to replace funds amid its sudden cash crunch, this summer sparkler is a chance to see the downtown arts organization at its creative best.

Continues through June 29; U.S. Bank Main Stage at the Armory, 128 N.W. 11th Ave.;


pcs.org/the-importance-of-being-earnest

“Fool for Love” — Tour de Force Productions

“Fool for Love” at Tour de Force Productions features Max Bernsohn and Meghan Daaboul.

Kate Woodman/Courtesy of Tour de Force Productions

Cowboy playwright Sam Shepard’s whiskey-guzzling 1980s masterpiece tumbles into that specific genre best described as “whatever the opposite of a rom-com is.” (See also “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”) Fierce lovebirds Eddie and May rip into each other’s souls in a desert motel, whipping up a dust storm of emotions and family secrets.

Staged at the boxy, 40-seat 21ten Theatre, this production gives everyone a ringside view.

Continues through June 22; 2110 S.E. 10th Ave.;


tourdeforce-productions.com/tickets

Original Practice Shakespeare Festival

The actors in the outdoor Shakespeare troupe take the “original” part of their moniker to heart. Lightly rehearsed and a bit off the cuff (pretty much how shows were staged back in the Bard’s day) every performance is different.

Opening with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Mount Tabor’s summit, the festival roves through Portland-area parks, ending at the Tillamook County Library. The festival’s 17th season includes “Hamlet,” “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “King Lear,” and this year the company has added a few matinee performances to its mainly evening schedule. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

June 20-Aug.31;


www.opsfest.org

Oregon Shakespeare Festival

“Julius Caesar” continues at Oregon Shakespeare Festival this summer.

Jenny Graham/Oregon Shakespeare Festival

After a few years of leaner programming the roster for Ashland’s celebration of the Bard looks fuller — and, well … festive.

This summer’s mix of ye olde and new includes must-see holdovers from spring,

“Julius Caesar”

(through Oct. 26, Angus Bowmer Theatre);

“As You Like It”

(through Oct. 25, Thomas Theatre); August Wilson’s

“Jitney”

(through July 20, Angus Bowmer Theatre);


and

“Fat Ham”

(through June 27, Thomas Theatre), a sassy spin on “Hamlet” set during a family barbecue.

A boisterous interpretation of

“The Merry Wives of Windsor”

recently opened on the outdoor stage (through Oct. 12; Allen Elizabethan Theatre). That Falstaffian comedy shares the space with Stephen Sondheim’s storybook triumph

“Into the Woods”

(through Oct. 11). No guesswork in this pick as this is a revival of director Amanda Dehnert’s fantastic and heart-tugging 2014 production for OSF.

With ambitions as high as a 10-gallon hat, OSF opens

“Shane”

in late summer (July 31-Oct. 25; Angus Bowmer Theatre). For her adaptation, Latina playwright Karen Zacarías drew more from Jack Schaefer’s beloved Western novel than the classic 1953 film. Hers is a broader, more culturally inclusive retelling of the mysterious gunslinger who moseys into the lives of Wyoming Territory homesteaders.

Details and tickets:


osfashland.org

“Waitress” — Broadway Rose Theatre Company

Leah Yorkston in “Waitress” at Broadway Rose Theatre Company, June 26-July 20, 2025.

Fletcher Wold/Broadway Rose Theatre Company

Quirky, folksy and just about as sweet as the Mermaid Marshmallow pie Jenna, the title character bakes for her customers at Joe’s Pie Diner, “Waitress” is an under-the-radar treat worth digging into.

Based on the 2007 indie-comedy film, the audience for the 2016 Broadway adaptation wasn’t exactly baked-in. But the musical, with songs written by Sara Bareilles, was a quick-rising success. Jenna’s journey, as she breaks off from her abusive husband and finds herself through rolling, mixing, crimping, latticing and egg washing to produce the tastiest pies ever, resonated with audiences, who came back for seconds.

Broadway Rose’s delicious presentation will have you salivating

for the return of Shari’s

.

June 26-July 20; Deb Fennell Auditorium at Tigard High School, 9000 S.W. Durham Road;


broadwayrose.org

Clackamas Repertory Theatre

The Oregon City theater company kicks off summer with

“Sherlock Holmes and the Precarious Position.”

(June 26-July 20). Hardcore Holmes fans will quickly deduce that the title is not canonical Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Playwright Margaret Raether concocted this fresh send-up of the super sleuth in which four actors play Holmes and Dr. Watson, various members of London law enforcement, underworld figures and a pair of sisters penning a macabre mystery of their own.

“Damn Yankees”

(July 31-Aug. 24) is Clackamas Rep’s second summer entry. Starring Satan, this devilish delight from Broadway’s Golden Age combines some of the most-hummed showtunes (“Whatever Lola Wants”), iconic choreography by Bob Fosse and a Faustian yarn spun around America’s favorite pastime — after football, basketball and Candy Crush — baseball!

Osterman Theatre, Clackamas Community College, 19600 Molalla Ave., Oregon City;


clackamasrep.org

“MJ The Musical” — Broadway in Portland

The cast as The Jackson 5 in the National Tour of “MJ.”

Matthew Murphy

“Sha-mone!” any Michael Jackson fan who doesn’t immediately grab tickets to this two-and-half-hour epic biography of the King of Pop.

A trio of actors portray different stages of Jackson’s life, from the child-lead of The Jackson 5 through the Gloved One’s gazillion-selling “Thriller,” “Bad” and “Dangerous” eras — up to his 1992 world tour in support of the latter album.

Reviewers have noted that the script for “MJ,” by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage, moonwalks around some of the artist’s personal challenges and controversies. While not a comprehensive reflection of the Man in the Mirror, there’s certainly solid footing for the masterfully choreographed movements and mega-hit bangers and ballads.

(One of the 2022 Broadway show’s four Tony Awards was for director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s reworkings of Jackson’s signature moves for numbers like “Smooth Criminal,” “Thriller” and “Beat It.”)

July 15-20, Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St.;


portland.broadway.com/shows/mj-the-musical

“Anything Goes” — Broadway Rose Theatre Company

Courtney Fero in “Anything Goes” at Broadway Rose Theatre Company, July 31-Aug. 17, 2025.

Fletcher Wold/Broadway Rose Theatre Company

I couldn’t have been the only audience member who was so impressed with the 2013 Broadway touring production of “Anything Goes” that immediately after exiting Keller Auditorium, I wanted to run home, glue salsa jar lids on the heels of my Birkenstocks and attempt some of the tap-tastic musical numbers.

Broadway Rose is enlisting 15 expert tappers — and better footwear — for its ambitious production of the bubbly musical set aboard a luxury ocean liner and featuring a de-lovely score


by Cole Porter.

Under the direction of dance-virtuoso Peggy Taphorn, the syncopated steppers will bring the show’s complex routines to thunderous life, right up to the colossal clack-clack-clacking grand finale.

July 31-Aug. 17; Deb Fennell Auditorium at Tigard High School, 9000 S.W. Durham Road;


broadwayrose.org

“& Juliet” — Broadway in Portland

Teal Wicks, Rachel Simone Webb, Nick Drake and Kathryn Allison in the North American Tour of “Juliet.”

Matthew Murphy

Whoever got the idea to mashup the Bard and the Backstreet Boys is living Larger than Life.

Filled with pop hooks and plenty of good intentions, this reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” earwormed its way to the top of Broadway’s box office charts, shattering the sales record at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, where it’s been playing since 2022.

Instead of suicide, Juliet lives in “& Juliet,” ditching the dagger and choosing a self-empowering girls’ (and nonbinary friend) trip to Paris. In addition to bops by the above mentioned boy banders, ‘90s and ‘00s chart toppers made famous by

*NSYNC

, Kesha, Katy Perry, Celine Dion and Britney Spears, will hit audiences … one more time.

Aug. 5-10, Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St.;


portland.broadway.com/shows/juliet

— Lee Williams, for The Oregonian/OregonLive

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