Bucks County Playhouse has announced that several performances during its 2026 Mainstage season will feature American Sign Language interpretation, expanding accessibility for audiences attending productions in New Hope.
The Playhouse said the interpreted performances will be presented in partnership with Hands Up Productions, with trained interpreters positioned in a designated section of the theater so patrons can clearly see both the performance and the interpretation.
Executive Director Nicole Hackmann said in a release the initiative reflects the theater’s goal of creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for audiences as attendance continues to grow.
The first ASL-interpreted performance will be the world premiere musical “Starstruck” on March 15, followed by “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” on May 17, “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific” on July 12, “Rent” on September 6, and “Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn” on December 13.
Support for the ASL performances was made possible through a donation from Playhouse board member Linda Sommer. Audience members who need seats in the designated ASL viewing section can reserve them through the Playhouse box office or online at BucksCountyPlayhouse.org
ABOUT BUCKS COUNTY PLAYHOUSE
Steeped in a theatrical history that stems back to its founding in 1939 by a roster of theatrical royalty, Bucks County Playhouse is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its 2012 re-opening and restoration. With more than 75,000 patrons walking through its doors every year, the Playhouse is leading the economic resurgence of New Hope and the surrounding community. In 2014, Tony Award-winning producers Alexander Fraser, Robyn Goodman and Josh Fiedler took the helm of the Playhouse, reclaiming its reputation of attracting Broadway and Hollywood artists. Playhouse productions of “Company” starring Justin Guarini, and William Finn’s “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” were named by Wall Street Journal to its “Best of Theatre” list for 2015. In 2018, the Wall Street Journal again hailed the Playhouse and Artistic Associate Hunter Foster in its Best of the Year listings for its production of “42nd Street” and in 2019 labeled the Playhouse “one of the best regional theaters on the East coast.” Box office records have been repeatedly broken by signature productions of “Steel Magnolias” directed by Marsha Mason, “Mamma Mia!” directed by John Tartaglia and “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,” “Million Dollar Quartet,” “42nd Street,” and “Guys & Dolls” (all directed by Hunter Foster). In 2021, the team developed and presented Candace Bushnell’s “Is There Still Sex in the City,” which the Playhouse then partnered to move to New York. The creative teams who come to create new productions at the Playhouse are among the most talented artists working in the professional theatre today and relish the opportunity to work on the historic stage where Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, and Jessica Walter began their careers.
