By Emily R. Zarevich, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Riotous musicals. Gut-busting comedies. Compelling and tear-jerking dramas. A soulful Puccini opera. Fall 2025 in Burlington promises an eventful stage season this year, with a welcoming variety at all the local venues. With so much going on, Burlington can easily lay claim to the title of “theatre city,” adjacent to Stratford and even Toronto. Undecided theatregoers may still be debating which tickets to grab, so here is an overview of what’s coming up fast in the city’s entertainment sphere. Links can be accessed by clicking on the name of the venue or show.
This coming Friday, September 26, the Burlington Performing Arts Centre (BPAC) is hosting Walk Right Back: The Everly Brothers Story by Paquette Productions. A biopic jukebox musical based on the lives of the famous brotherly duo, the Everly Brothers, Walk Right Back is set to be a walkthrough of their epic success story. Attendees can look forward to a fast-paced, swinging good time that will include great Everly Brothers hits such as “Cathy’s Clown,” “Bye Bye Love,” and “All I Have to Do Is Dream.” The show plays at 7:00 p.m. and will run for 130 minutes.
Also at BPAC, Paquette Productions will put on Seven Drunken Nights: The Story of the Dubliners. Another jukebox musical, Seven Drunken Nights is a rowdy romp that will relay the story of the wildly successful Irish band The Dubliners. Irish music enthusiasts will be thoroughly entertained by inclusions such as “Star of the County Down” and “Belle of Belfast City.” The show will play on Tuesday, October 7, and Wednesday, October 8, 2025. Both shows are starting at 7:00 p.m.
SOLO (the Southern Ontario Lyrics Opera) will be putting on their highly anticipated production of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca at BPAC on October 4, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. An opera in three acts, Tosca is a poignant, dramatic tale of love and betrayal set in Rome during the Napoleonic Wars. Under the umbrella of a widespread war that changed Europe indefinitely, a chaotic and dynamic love triangle ensues between a beautiful singer, her true love, and an evil police chief with sinister intentions. SOLO, led by founder and director Sabatino Vacca, can be expected to execute their performance of this Puccini classic with finesse.
There is always a good time to be had at Drury Lane Theatre. Devotees can look forward to Dr. Frankenstein’s reluctant descendant Frederick trying his hand at corpse reanimation through song and dance by buying a ticket to Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein. The musical, directed and choreographed by Marc Richard, will premiere on November 8, 2025. Audiences can expect to fall to pieces with laughter.
Theatre Burlington is having its own comedy spree with The Birds and the Bees, which will premiere on October 17, 2025. Directed by Francesca Brugnano, The Birds and the Bees will be telling the story of a divorcee and her high-spirited mother getting into all sorts of romantic trouble, while finding themselves along the way.
For anyone who is happy to venture a little bit out of Burlington to nearby towns, Village Theatre Waterdown is putting on Susan Miller’s women-centred friendship drama 20th Century Blues, starring Burlington-based Karen Gaudun and directed by Jerrold Karch, scheduled to premiere on November 7, 2025. Dundas Little Theatre is ambitiously tackling Arthur Miller’s iconic classic Death of a Salesman, set to premiere on Halloween night, October 31, 2025. This tragic exploration of the insufferable pressures and expectations of the American dream is being directed by Matthew Willson.
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