The October 2025 Forestburgh Playhouse Newsletter
The 2025 Season at the Forestburgh Playhouse has been a true celebration of the Playhouse’s magic.
We’ve played to packed houses and reviews have been wildly enthusiastic. Stellar productions on the mainstage included the Pulitzer Prize winning musical, Next to Normal, Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, The Full Monty, Newsies, and more. If you enjoyed the 2025 lineup, just wait until we release the 2026 show titles! It will knock your socks off! Just a couple of weeks until the big announcement!
Read on for more of our 2025 Season Highlights!…
Our popular Family Fun Production this year was Shrek the Musical, which featured our supremely talented Resident Company (the “ResCo”) as well as 25 local young artists who displayed remarkable talent as they learned the ins and outs of musical theater production from our pros.
This year’s Resident Company was nothing short of STELLAR. They included 15 college-age performers from across the country who competed for a place in our company from an applicant pool of over 1,000. Our reputation for being a THE place to hone your craft continues to grow – bolstered by the remarkable fact that there were over a dozen ResCo alumni on Broadway this year alone
Our ongoing commitment to Sullivan County is reflected in collaborations to highlight and support NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness), The Forestburgh Fire Company, The Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless, The Monticello and Liberty Rotary Clubs, and providing ticket donations to over 3 dozen local non-profit organizations to support their fundraising efforts.
The Forestburgh Playhouse Academy had an incredible year! We welcomed 93 young artists across three exciting programs—our Spring Into Auditions Workshop, the One Week Musical Theatre Ensemble Experience for ages 8–12 (featuring Alice: A Wonderland Experience), and the Two Week Musical Theatre Intensive for ages 13–17 (culminating in Pippin). With nearly a 20% increase in registrations, it was our biggest season yet. Thanks to the generosity of Catskills Pride, Gay Divirgilio, and Claudia Cordisco, we were also able to provide six scholarships, helping even more young artists join the fun. We can’t wait to see what next year brings!
We created a new, free educational program called the Junior ResCo–a group of 15 local teens who auditioned to be a part of this competitive new program. The Jr. ResCo attended educational workshops with working professionals in the theatre industry, attended mainstage rehearsals and performances and performed in Shrek the Musical and a 2 week run of one of our famous cabarets.
Without skipping a beat, we recovered quickly from a leaky roof damaged during the late spring “monsoons” and a faulty transformer that caused damage to HVAC systems, well-pump, walk-in cooler and more. Nevertheless, not one show was cancelled!
During an exhilarating weekend in September, dozens of creators from around the country came to Forestburgh for the IN THE WORKS~IN THE WOODS FESTIVAL to rehearse, rewrite, commune, workshop and share their gifts with our community at large. Over the course of the festival weekend – we presented staged readings of new plays, new musicals and 2 new solo cabaret acts. In addition, the Festival featured Q & A talkbacks with our audiences, Off The Cuff conversations with world-renown theatre-makers Jerry Mitchell and Natasha Katz, open-mic nights, tastings by local food and beverage artisans - and plenty of other wonderful surprises. Plan to join us next year!
This is just a smattering of the excitement that radiates from our beautiful and historic campus in Forestburgh. We are deeply grateful for each and every one of you who has been part of this glorious season. You giggled, sung, imbibed, subscribed, donated, and celebrated with us. Thank you for being a member of the Playhouse family. Your support and your gifts lift us up and elevate the work that we do. Please consider making a charitable donation to the Forestburgh Playhouse by clicking HERE.
With gratitude,
FT
P.S. Excitement awaits! 2026 is an important year for the Playhouse as we celebrate our 80th Anniversary Season! Stay tuned for a slew of exciting announcements!