A trio of musicals along with revamped theaters will greet visitors during the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Theatre Company’s new 2026-2027 season.
Kicking off the season Sept. 10 is the 2017 musical “Come From Away,” by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. When FAC Producing Artistic Director Christopher Sheley learned the rights to the show were becoming available, it became the jumping-off point for the season.
The show recounts the true story of the 38 planes, carrying thousands of people, that were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson, Apt. 2B” ran last year during the Fine Arts Center Theatre Company’s 2025-2026 season. Photo by Jamie Cotten, Colorado College
The 2000 musical “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” based on the 1954 film of the same name, and the Tony and Grammy award-winning 2016 musical “Dear Evan Hansen” round out the new season’s musicals. It’s the first time the company has done three musicals in a season since well before the pandemic.
“I wanted to do ‘Come From Away’ when it coincided with the 25th anniversary of 9/11,” Sheley said. “I learned the rights for ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ were also coming available. That show has been on my bucket list for quite some time. I love that it deals with mental health, community and connection. That theme kept permeating.”
Elise Santora, left, and Susan Dawn Carson starred in “The Roommate,” during the Fine Arts Center Theatre Company’s 2025-2026 season. Photo by Jamie Cotten, Colorado College
The upcoming season will also introduce new seating, both in the FAC Mainstage theater and the smaller second-floor Music Room. New seats will be installed in the large theater beginning in January. The old seats will be refurbished, reupholstered and installed on risers in the smaller theater.
The third show in the season, “Grounded,” will take place in the Music Room with the refurbished seating, while a collaboration between Ormao Dance Company and students from Colorado College’s Theatre & Dance Department will be the first show with brand new seating in the FAC Mainstage.
New carpet will also be installed in the large theater, and it will be ADA-compliant for the first time.
“We have been known for a 400-seat, large venue, and now we’re able to tell different types of stories that require a more intimate setting,” Shely said. “And we’ll have the Music Room as a fully developed theater space to tell those stories.”
Season tickets are $151-$288 and go on sale Monday. Single tickets start at $30 and go on sale May 20. Go online to fac.coloradocollege.edu.
Fine Arts Center Museum’s 2026-2027 exhibit season includes works by Annalee Davis; abstract works from the collection of Kathleen Campbell and Rollyn Wild; and Native prints from the FAC’s collection.
Beginning in the fall, the Bemis School of Art will also offer a community-accessible atmospheric kiln that will allow for a variety of eco-friendly options, including wood, gas, salt and soda works.
Fine Arts Center Theatre Company’s 2026-2027 season
– Sept. 10-Oct. 4: “Come From Away,” by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11, the 2017 musical chronicles the true story of how 38 planes carrying thousands of people were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, on Sept. 11, 2001.
– Nov. 19-Dec. 27: “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” by Irving Berlin, David Ives and Paul Blake. Inspired by the 1954 film about two U.S. Army buddies turned song and dance duo, who fall in with a pair of singing sisters. They travel to save a snowy Vermont inn while also finding love.
– “Feb. 11-March 7: “Grounded,” by George Brant. After an ace female pilot is grounded due to extenuating circumstances, she becomes a drone pilot who hunts terrorists in the Middle East.
– April 25-27, 2027: “INvisible Threads: A Weekend of Dance.” A co-production by Ormao Dance Company and Colorado College’s Theatre & Dance Department.
– May 22-June 13, 2027: “Dear Evan Hansen,” by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Steven Levenson. In the Tony and Grammy award-winning 2016 musical, a high school senior with severe social anxiety pretends he was close friends with a student who dies by suicide, until his lie spirals out of control.
Fine Arts Center Museum’s 2026-2027 exhibits
– Sept. 4-Dec. 4: “Annalee Davis: More Tender Geographies.” Annalee Davis, a visual artist from Barbados, will explore histories of extraction, labor and land to imagine a more sustainable future.
– Oct. 2-Feb. 27: “Here and Now, Then and Always.” The exhibit will feature pieces from the FAC’s permanent collection to examine artistic practices across Colorado.
– Feb. 5-June 19, 2027: “Spectrums: Perspectives on Identity, Culture and Politics in Native Art.” The FAC’s collection of Native prints explores the styles, perspectives and legacies of artists who challenged expectations of Native art and explored their own identities and cultures.
– April 2-Aug. 7, 2027: “Close to Home: Contemporary Artists from the Wild-Campbell Collection.” Kathleen Campbell and Rollyn Wild’s 20-year collection of modern and contemporary abstract works by artists in the Pikes Peak region.
