Zachary Andrews
Audio By Carbonatix
Colorado more or less skipped winter this year, so we might as well head straight into summer theater season. Fortunately, Colorado’s theater companies across the state have prepared slates that they hope will get people to turn off Netflix and maybe take a trip to check out a live production or two.
This year’s offerings include Broadway musicals in mountain towns, Shakespeare under the stars, new plays in development, fringe performances in unexpected spaces and one final theatrical blowout inside Curious Theatre’s longtime home before it temporarily closes for renovation. So grab your calendar, check your tire pressure and start planning.
Below are some of Colorado’s summer theater festivals and special events worth exploring in 2026.
Courtesy of McLeod9 Creative
Creede Repertory Theatre
Through Saturday, Sept. 19
Mainstage Theatre, 124 Main St., Creede, and Ruth Humphreys Brown Theatre, 120 Main St., Creede
According to artistic director Emily Van Fleet, the company’s 61st season reflects “the humor, hustle and heart of the people who keep our communities going.” The lineup includes “Fully Committed,” a comic marathon in which one actor plays 40 characters, and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a musical about six anxious, eccentric students trying to spell their way through adolescence. CRT will also present a localized version of “Working: A Musical,“ adapted from Studs Terkel’s landmark book and reshaped for Colorado’s 150th anniversary, before closing out the main lineup with Ken Ludwig’s “Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Adventure.“ Additional programming includes the 20th season of “Boomtown!” improv comedy.
Colorado Shakespeare Festival
Saturday, May 30, through Sunday, Aug. 2
Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre, 277 UCB, Boulder, and Roe Green Theatre, University Theatre Building, 1414 Central Campus Mall, Boulder
After two summers inside, CSF returns to the Mary Rippon, bringing audiences back under the stars for one of the state’s most beloved summer traditions. The season kicks off with Kevin Rich’s “Twelfth Night,” pairing shipwrecks and mistaken identities with the natural magic of the outdoor stage. Indoors at the Roe Green Theatre, “Julius Caesar” leans into the play’s political violence and parallels to the present day, while “Shakespeare in Love” delivers backstage romance outdoors on the Mary Rippon. The lineup also includes the world premiere of David Davalos’ “Friends/Romans/Countrymen,” a comic riff on ancient Rome.
Photo by Kalen Jesse Photography
Denver Fringe Festival
Wednesday, June 3, through Sunday, June 7
Aurora and Denver
Denver Fringe Festival remains the place to go when you want theater to feel a little unpredictable. The seventh annual festival features more than 220 performances from over 80 original, self-produced shows across multiple venues in the metro area. The “choose your own adventure” format includes theater, dance, comedy, circus, storytelling, cabaret and plenty of work that refuses to fit neatly into one category. Fringe also includes two curated visual art exhibitions and free, family-friendly performances and activities. Tickets are $20 for most shows, and seventy percent of ticket revenue goes directly to performers.
Little Theatre of the Rockies
Thursday, June 11, through Sunday, July 26
University of Northern Colorado, 501 20th St., Greeley
Billed as the oldest professional summer stock theater west of the Mississippi River, Little Theatre of the Rockies at the University of Northern Colorado returns with three productions across June and July. The season begins with “The Spitfire Grill,” a musical based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff, running June 11-14 in Langworthy Theatre. Mark St. Germain’s “Eleanor” follows July 9-12 in Milne Auditorium, offering a solo portrait of one of the most influential women in American history. The season closes July 23-26 with “Honky Tonk Angels,” a country-flavored musical comedy in Langworthy Theatre.
Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre
Friday, June 12, through Saturday, Oct. 3
800 Grand Ave., Grand Lake
Located at the western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, the company remains one of Colorado’s most scenic destinations for musical theater. The season opens June 12 with “Shrek the Musical,” bringing the big-hearted ogre, Donkey, Princess Fiona and a cast of fairy-tale misfits to the stage. “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” opens June 19, following two rival con men as they scheme their way through the French Riviera. The summer lineup also includes “Urinetown,” the Tony-winning satire about a drought-stricken city where citizens must pay to pee. The fall show, “Never Can Say Goodbye: A Beehive 70s Musical,” arrives in September.
Colorado New Play Festival
Saturday, June 13, and Sunday, June 14
Bud Werner Memorial Library, 1289 Lincoln Ave., Steamboat Springs
The Colorado New Play Festival gives audiences a first look at new works before they move on to future stages. Held in Library Hall at Bud Werner Memorial Library, the 2026 readings feature four new plays by Stephanie Alison Walker, Bryna Turner, Brett C. Leonard and Collin Van Son. This new play festival is unique in that the theater organization must submit the play and commit to producing it in the future. So, unlike other festivals where plays compete for future productions, these are live workshops of plays that will be produced soon.
Theatre Aspen
Monday, June 15, through Saturday, Aug. 29
Hurst Theatre, 470 Rio Grande Place, Aspen
Theatre Aspen opens its 43rd season with three mainstage productions that move from dog comedy to Broadway classic to rock-and-roll nostalgia. A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia,” directed by Hunter Foster, runs June 15-27 and follows a middle-aged empty-nester whose bond with a street-smart dog causes tension in his marriage. “A Chorus Line,” directed by Paige Price, runs July 3-25, bringing one of Broadway’s defining backstage musicals to Aspen. The season closes with “Grease,” directed by Patrick O’Neill, running July 31 through Aug. 29. Theatre Aspen’s Summer Cabaret Series and the Seventh Annual Solo Flights Festival round out the season.
And Toto Too Play Crawl
Wednesday, June 18, 5:30 p.m.
Silver Vines Winery, 7509 Grandview Ave., Arvada
And Toto too Theatre Company’s Play Crawl turns Olde Town Arvada into a roving theater festival for one night. The fundraiser begins at Silver Vines Winery with a mixer, buffet and silent auction before audience members split into small groups and follow crawl leaders to a series of short plays performed across a roughly four-block radius. This year’s featured playwrights include Linda Berry, Rebecca Gorman O’Neill, Melissa Lucero McCarl, Edith Weiss, Tami Canaday, Christie Brenner Winn, Leslie Lewis, Nina Alice Miller, Carrie Printz and Eden Lane.
Durango PlayFest
Tuesday, June 23, through Sunday, June 28
Various Venues Around Durango
The eighth annual Durango PlayFest presents four new plays alongside panels, receptions and improv events. This year’s plays include John Farmanesh-Bocca’s “A Deal Picked Just for You,” Lyle Kessler’s “The German,” Zoe Stanton-Savitz’s “Hazel & Bea in the In-Between” and Christian Missonak’s “The Henry Clyde Canning MURDER HOUSE.” Readings take place at the Fort Lewis College Community Concert Hall, with additional events at Blue Rain Gallery, Durango Arts Center and the Rochester Hotel Garden.
Photo by Amanda Tipton Photography
Central City Opera
Saturday, June 27, through Sunday, Aug. 2
Central City Opera House, 124 Eureka St., Central City
Central City Opera’s 94th festival season inside the historic 550-seat venue features three mainstage productions. Mozart’s comedy “The Marriage of Figaro” kicks off the summer. The season’s most Colorado-specific offering is “The Ballad of Baby Doe,” which marks both Colorado’s 150th birthday and the 70th anniversary of the opera’s world premiere in Central City. The season also includes Terrence McNally’s Master Class, a Tony Award-winning play built around legendary soprano Maria Callas. CCO in Concert follows July 10-11, featuring the Central City Opera Orchestra and festival singers.
24 Hour Play Festival
Friday, June 10, 7:30 p.m.
Curious Theatre Company, 1080 Acoma St.
Curious Theatre’s 24 Hour Play Festival carries extra weight this year. The event, which brings together artists to create and perform original plays in a single day, will be the company’s final event in its longtime Acoma Street home before the building temporarily closes for construction. This year’s playwrights include Edith Weiss, Josh Hartwell, Steven J. Burge, Luke Sorge, Kenya Mahogany Fashaw and David Nehls. Before the building goes dark on Aug. 1, the 24 Hour Play Festival gives Denver’s theater community one more chance to gather in the space to watch theater.