The curtain is rising on a new era for the performing arts at Cal State San Bernardino.

After more than 20 years in the making, CSUSB’s new 478-seat Performing Arts Center is open — and the Department of Theatre Arts is ready to put its new stage to work with a 2026-27 season packed with star-crossed lovers, student-created plays, dance, opera and one delightfully macabre family.

Fittingly themed “A Season of Iconic Stories & Bold Beginnings,” the season will be the department’s first in the new state-of-the-art venue, which will serve as the home of CSUSB’s theatre and music departments and a new cultural hub for the Inland Empire. In addition to university productions, the center will welcome visiting artists and performances by the San Bernardino Symphony.

First up on the main stage is one of the most iconic love stories ever told — with a twist.

William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” running Nov. 13-22, will become the first full theatrical production to take the stage in the new Performing Arts Center. This time, Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers find themselves in a postwar world of big bands, budding rock ’n’ roll, deeply rooted family rivalries and a younger generation beginning to move to a very different beat.

And while everyone knows how the story ends, getting there isn’t all doom and tragedy. Shakespeare filled “Romeo and Juliet” with wit, teasing, flirtation, outrageous friends, exasperated adults and the exhilarating recklessness of first love — all of which will come alive in the season-opening production.

In December, CSUSB Theatre Arts will join forces with the Department of Music to make the holidays feel a little more like home.

The annual Holiday Gala, “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays,” will take place Dec. 4-5 in the Performing Arts Center. Co-directed by Lucy Lewis and Kathryn Ervin, the musical celebration will bring CSUSB performers together for a festive start to the holiday season — and a chance to celebrate their new home.

The spotlight shifts to student storytellers in January when the Players of the Pear Garden bring “The Other Theatre Project” to the Barnes Theatre. Written, directed, produced and staged by CSUSB students, the original short one-act plays promise to make audiences laugh, think and perhaps shed a tear or two. Performance dates will be announced.

Next, storytelling takes a turn — and a leap, spin and step — when the University Dance Company brings “Balance” to the Performing Arts Center Feb. 25-27. The high-energy annual production will make its debut on the new stage, using movement to explore this year’s theme and showcase the power of storytelling through dance.

Then it’s off to the underworld.

CSUSB’s University Opera Theatre, led by award-winning professor and acclaimed soprano Stacey Fraser, will present Claudio Monteverdi’s “Orpheus” March 11-14 in the university’s immersive 360-degree performance space, formerly known as the Black Box Theatre. Based on the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, the opera follows Orpheus on his descent into Hades and his desperate attempt to bring his bride back to the world of the living. The production features a translation by Terry Glaser and Jack Van Zandt and an arrangement by Van Zandt.

And what better way to end a season of iconic stories than with a family that has made being different an art form?

“The Addams Family Musical” creeps onto the Performing Arts Center stage April 30-May 2, bringing Wednesday, Gomez, Morticia and the rest of the famously creepy, kooky clan along for the ride. Trouble begins when Wednesday Addams falls in love with a “normie” boy from Ohio and asks her father, Gomez, to keep the relationship secret from Morticia. One secret leads to another, a dinner party spirals into chaos, and two very different families find themselves confronting love, honesty and change.

Tickets for the 2026-27 season go on sale Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 8 a.m. and may be purchased through the CSUSB Theatre Arts Box Office in person or online.

Ticket prices for performances in the Performing Arts Center, as well as the University Opera Theatre production, are:

  • $10 for students and individuals under age 17
  • $20 for faculty, staff, senior citizens, military members and first responders
  • $25 for adults ages 18-64

A $1 facility fee will be added to each ticket.

Ticket prices for performances in the Recital Hall and Barnes Theatre are:

  • $8 for students and individuals under age 17
  • $10 for faculty, staff, senior citizens, military members and first responders
  • $12 for adults ages 18-64

Parking at CSUSB is $10 on the day of each event, with discounted parking available with advance ticket purchases.

For additional information about the 2026-27 season, contact the CSUSB Theatre Arts Box Office at (909) 537-5884 or theatrearts@csusb.edu.