Your guide to don’t-miss arts events in Coastal Virginia starting this fall
From Ain’t Misbehavin’ to Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, MOCA’s last exhibition at their long-time Virginia Beach home to plein air painting in Suffolk, the 2025 fall arts season in Coastal Virginia is full of color, character, music, mystery and more.
Included here are some of our favorite picks for visual and performing arts events between now and early 2026. As always, be sure to also check our regular Datebook local events listings Towards the back of this issue for many more area happenings.
Check venues and organizations for the most current event and ticket information.
FALL ARTS EDITOR’S PICKS
Haiti to Harlem: Toussaint L’Ouverture & Jacob Lawrence
Through Jan. 4, 2026
Muscarelle Museum of Art at William & Mary
This exhibition features highly colorful and dynamic works on the Haitian Revolution and its leader, including original silkscreens by Jacob Lawrence and coursework produced by William and Mary students.
Also upcoming: Liquid Commonwealth: The Art and Life of Water in Virginia, Nov. 14-Feb. 15
muscarelle.wm.edu
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Virginia Stage Company
Sept. 3-21
Wells Theatre
Five actors croon, wail, strut and dance their way through the songs that made Thomas “Fats” Waller a household name, including “The Joint is Jumpin’,” “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love,” and more in this Norfolk State University Theatre Company production.
Also upcoming: Emma, Oct. 22 – Nov. 9
vastage.org
Suffolk Plein Air Festival
Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts
Sept. 9-13, 2025
The 5th Annual Suffolk Plein Air Festival will feature juried plein air artists painting Suffolk Virginia’s historic downtown, pristine waterways and rural farmlands as well as fun and interactive experience for the whole family.
suffolkcenter.org
Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony + Cellist Jan Vogler
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Sept. 12, 2025 Ferguson Center
Sept. 13, 2025 Chrysler Hall
Sept. 14, 2025 Sandler Center
Kicking off VSO’s 2025-2026 programming is the first in a series celebrating Music Director Eric Jacobsen’s fifth season, featuring iconic “Fifths” by composers Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Beethoven.
Also upcoming: Aretha: A Tribute with Capathia Jenkins & Ryan Shaw, Sept. 27
virginiasymphony.org
Gateways: African American Art from the Key Collection
Sept. 13-Dec. 28, 2025
Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center
This exhibition features 88 works from the collection of Eric Key, a curator and investor helping to preserve America’s Black experience and open gateways to artists and conversations about race, identity and America.
Also upcoming: Luisa Adelfio: Transcendence, Sept. 13-Dec. 28
thetorggler.org
Phoebus Jazz Festival
Sept. 26-27, 2025
The American Theatre
World-class jazz performers assemble for an unforgettable weekend of diverse music that inspires the soul and warms the heart. Featured musical acts include Michael Hawkins & The Brotherhood, Everett Harp, Latin Jazz Conspiracy, and more.
Also upcoming: The HillBenders, Oct. 3
hamptonarts.org
Clyde’s
Generic Theater
Sept. 26-Oct. 12, 2025
Chrysler Hall (basement)
The play’s titular Clyde’s is a truck stop sandwich shop offering its formerly incarcerated kitchen staff a shot at redemption as they endeavor to create the perfect sandwich, even as their callous boss tries to keep them down.
Also upcoming: Desperate Measures, Jan. 16-Feb. 1
generictheater.org
Where We Meet
Oct. 1, 2025-Jan. 11, 2026
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art
The last exhibition in MOCA’s current space before a planned move to the campus of Virginia Wesleyan University, Where We Meet will highlight themes of memory, love, growth and dreams tied to Coastal Virginia.
Also on view: With Love: 1,000 Flowers, through Sept. 27
virginiamoca.org
Murder on the Orient Express
Smithfield Little Theatre
Oct. 3-26, 2025
In Agatha Christie’s classic whodunnit, a snowdrift brings a luxurious train to a complete standstill. Passengers, led by detective Hercule Poirot, must figure out who was behind a brutal onboard murder.
Also upcoming: Winter Wonderettes, Dec. 12 – 21
smithfieldlittletheatre.org
Voices of America: American Icons
Symphonicity
Oct. 5, 2025
Sandler Center for the Performing Arts
It’s all-American music all year long in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary! In the first of this masterwork series, Voices of America, American Icons, pianist Svetlana Smolina honors composers from Gershwin to Mahr.
Also upcoming:Bernstein, Barber & A World Premier, Nov. 16
symphonicity.org
Proteus Festival
Zeiders American Dream Theater
Oct. 9-11, 2025
This unique festival showcases music, comedy, theater, kid’s entertainment, open mics, interactive art projects and even a block party at “The Z” in Virginia Beach Town Center.
Also upcoming: Nolan’s Wake, Nov. 14-22
thez.org
Million Dollar Quartet
Virginia Musical Theatre
Oct. 10-12, 2025
Sandler Center for the Performing Arts
This electrifying musical takes you inside the night of December 4, 1956, when fate brought together four rock ‘n’ roll legends—Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley—at Sun Records
in Memphis.
Also upcoming:A Christmas Carol, Dec. 5-7
vmtheatre.org
Water by the Spoonful
Oct. 10-26, 2025
Little Theatre of Norfolk
Inventive and timely, Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play Water by the Spoonful is a powerful, compassionate look at the meaning of family and the burdens we must carry to protect it.
Also upcoming: As You Like It, Jan. 9-25
ltnonline.org
Susan Watkins and Women Artists of the Progressive Era
Oct. 17, 2025-Jan. 11, 2026
Chrysler Museum of Art
Centered on the career of Susan Watkins (1875–1913), the exhibition offers a look into the environment in which Watkins and other female artists of the time forged their professional identities.
Also on view: Constructing Mexico: Photography and National Identity, through Nov. 30
chrysler.org
The Wiz
Broadway in Norfolk
Nov. 4-9, 2025
Chrysler Hall
This groundbreaking twist on The Wizard of Oz changed the face of Broadway—from its iconic score packed with soul, gospel, rock, and ’70s funk to its stirring tale of Dorothy’s journey to find her place in a contemporary world.
Also upcoming: & Juliet,
Dec. 3-7
sevenvenues.com
Petite Matinee
Ballet Virginia
Nov. 8, 2025
Zeiders American Dream Theater
Ballet Virginia is opening their season with a brand-new venture for children and their families that will feature hands-on activities, crafts, and a delightful dance performance!
Also upcoming: The Nutcracker, Dec. 19-21, Heart + Soul,
Feb. 20-21
balletvirginia.org
Crazy for You
Little Theatre of Virginia Beach
Nov. 14-Dec. 7, 2025
A zany rich-boy-meets-hometown-girl romantic comedy set in the 1930s, Crazy For You tells the story of young New York banker Bobby Child, who is sent to Deadrock, Nevada, to foreclose on a rundown theatre—the only problem:
he falls in love.
Also upcoming: Sleuth,
Sept. 12-Oct. 5
ltvb.com
Intellegence
Virginia Opera
Jan. 30, 2025-Feb. 1, 2026
Harrison Opera House
Set in Richmond, Intelligence is inspired by a true story of espionage, sacrifice and the fight for freedom. In the shadows of the Civil War, Mary Jane Bowser, an enslaved woman turned operative, joins a Union spy ring.
Also upcoming: Cinderella,
Nov. 7-23
vaopera.org
Pictured, top: Touch of Luck (2024) by Aimee Bruce, part of Where We Meet at MOCA, Oct. 1, 2025-Jan. 11, 2026
Ava Baker
