The month of October spans two holiday seasons when it comes to local theater. Throughout the month, some shows give a nod to Halloween; at the end of the month, local stages will begin to put a toe into the Christmas holiday season.
Also this month, there are openings of new Lancaster County productions of plays and musicals from 50 years ago and presentations of brand-new plays and spooky entertainments.
There’s a lot to choose from on Lancaster County stages this month; here’s a sampler.
Opening
‘JEKYLL & HYDE’
• When: A mix of 2 p.m. matinee and 7:30 p.m. evening performances Oct. 10-Nov. 2, with two preview nights on Oct. 8-9.
• Where: Fulton Theatre, 12 N. Prince St., Lancaster.
• Details: The Gothic pop-rock musical tells Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale of Dr. Henry Jekyll’s quest to find out why man can be both good and evil. His work takes a dark turn through his experiments — on himself. His transformation from Jekyll to the evil Edward Hyde affect those around him, including two women in his life: his fiance Emma Danvers and prostitute Lucy Harris.
• Admission: $34 to $97.
• Info and tickets: thefulton.org or 717-397-7425.
‘DECEIVED’
• When: A mix of matinee and evening performances Oct. 24 to Nov. 16.
• Where: The Tell Studio Theatre, on the fourth floor of the Fulton Theatre, 12 N. Prince St., Lancaster.
• Details: This is a new adaptation of the 1938 play, “Gas Light,” which was made into two “Gaslight” films in the 1940s. Bella Manningham thinks she’s losing her mind, as she hears strange noises and sees dimming gaslights in the evenings. Might her husband have something to do with it?
• Admission: $57.
• Info and tickets: thefulton.org or 717-397-7425.
‘PARADE’
• When: Oct. 16-Nov. 1, with shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with additional 2 p.m. matinees on Sunday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Nov. 1.
• Where: Ephrata Performing Arts Center, 320 Cocalico St., Ephrata.
• Details: This Tony Award-winning musical tells the true story of Leo Frank, the Jewish manager of a pencil factory who was falsely accused of murdering teenage worker Mary Phagan in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1913. The show, which includes an investigation — including two other suspects — along with Frank’s trial and its aftermath, deals with such issues as antisemitism, racism, prejudice, mob mentality and ignorance.
• Admission: $38-$57, including fees.
• Info and tickets: epactheatre.org or call 717-733-7926, ext. 1.
‘THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW’
• When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23-25 and Oct. 30-Nov. 1. Performances on Nov. 1 are at 7:30 and 10:30 p.m.
• Where: Susquehanna Stage, 133 W. Market St., Marietta.
• Details: The Richard O’Brien stage musical that inspired the cult-classic “Rocky Horror Picture Show” 50 years ago, comes to Susquehanna Stage. When the naive Brad Majors and Janet Weiss have a flat tire on a dark night, they find strange characters, and some bizarre adventures, in the creepy mansion of mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter. The immersive rock-musical experience includes plenty of audience participation; prop bags will be sold.
• Admission: $20-$27.
• Info and tickets: susquehannastage.com or 717-426-1277.
‘ROCKY HORROR SHOW’
• When: Friday and Saturday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the performances start at 9.
• Where: Mickey’s Black Box, 101 Rock Lititz Blvd., Lititz.
• Details: Lindsay Bretz-Morgan’s Upfront Theatre is presenting the stage musical that inspired the cult film, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” a half-century ago. Follow Brad and Janet’s adventures at the mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, who has created a man named Rocky. This rock musical encourages audience participation.
• Admission: $43.25 and $53.50, including fees. You can add on a pre-show champagne-and-hors d’oeuvres party for $34.60.
• Info and tickets: mickeysblackbox.com/calendar.
‘STREAMERS’
• When: Oct. 16-26.
• Where: Fondersmith Auditorium, Trinity Lutheran Church, 31 S. Duke St., Lancaster.
• Details: The Lancaster Shakespeare Theatre presents this David Rabe play — nominated for the Pulitzer Prize — which finds a group of young soldiers interacting in a 1960s army barracks as they await deployment to Vietnam. The characters clash as racial tensions, identity struggles and personal fears surface. The play contains violence and strong language.
• Admission: $32.46, including fees. The theater group is also collecting donations for the Building Bridges Foundation at Anderson Farm in Conestoga, an equine therapy program for veterans and their families coping with trauma, loss or emotional challenges.
• Info and tickets: lancastershakespeare.org/shows.
‘DEAD INSIDE’
• When: Oct. 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 23-26.
• Where: The Liberty Venue, 202 W. Liberty St., Lancaster.
• Details: Creative Works of Lancaster presents this production of a new play by local playwright Gwen Tulin. After tragedy strikes a family, Lizzie has adopted and is raising her girlfriend’s daughter, Fannie, as a single parent. And, oh yes, there are ghosts hanging around the house. The play is part touching family drama, part comedy and part ghost story.
• Admission: Pay what you decide. You can reserve a ticket at no cost, and pay what you think the experience was worth after seeing it; there are donation levels that come with stickers, mugs and gift baskets.
• Tickets and info: creativelancaster.org.
‘THE CHRISTMAS CANDY CAPER’
• When: A mix of 1 and 7 p.m. shows, Tuesday through Saturday, Oct. 30-Dec. 27.
• Where: Bird-in-Hand Stage, located in the Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant & Smorgasbord, 2760 Old Philadelphia Pike, Bird-in-Hand.
• Details: When burglars break into an Amish woman’s sweet shop and try to steal her candy recipe, no one believes she has been kidnapped. This musical comedy traces the humorous exchanges between the robbers and the community, and the shop owner’s enlightening conversations with her kidnappers.
• Admission: Tickets are $33-$71 for dinner and a show Monday through Thursday; $30-$66 for lunch and a show, Monday through Saturday, and $18-$46 for the show only, Monday through Saturday.
• Info and tickets: Info: bird-in-hand.com/stage or 717-768-1568.
‘HOLLY JOLLY JUKEBOX’
• When: Shows at 2 p.m. on selected Tuesdays through Fridays and 7 p.m. Saturdays from Oct. 28-Dec. 20.
• Where: Magic & Wonder Dinner Theater, 3065 Lincoln Highway East, Paradise.
• Details: Set in Shirley’s Soda Shop, this high-energy song-and-dance revue presents rock ’n’ roll renditions of your favorite holiday tunes.
• Admission: Pre-show dinner plus the show, adults, $74.95, ages 4-12 $37.95, free for kids under 4; show only, $54.95 for adults, $37.95 for kids 4-12 and free for kids under 4.
• Info and tickets: magicandwondershow.com.
For young audiences, performers
‘FIRST LOOK JR!’
• When: 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12.
• Where: Warwick High School, 301 W. Orange St., Lititz.
• Details: Servant Stage’s Youth Theatre presents highlights from the 2025 season, and looks ahead to the youth theater camps and performances on the program for the 2026 season. The lobby will open at 3 p.m. with themed games, trivia, a photo booth and concessions.
• Admission: Pay what you will. Proceeds support the Youth Theatre program.
• Info and tickets: servantstage.org.
Spooky theatrical events
‘WHISPERS IN THE DARK’
• When: Shows at 6:30, 7, 7:30 and 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. Oct. 9-18.
• Where: The woods around the Mount Gretna Playhouse, 200 Pennsylvania Ave., Mount Gretna.
• Details: The “Chilling World of Urban Legends” comes to life in this immersive Halloween-season experience. A collaboration between Gretna Theatre and Creative Works of Lancaster, local playwrights and actors offer new twists on familiar urban legends like Bloody Mary and the Bell Witch. As visitors walk through the forest, they’ll encounter intriguing characters and hear haunting stories that blur the line between truth and myth.
• Admission: $28 including fees.
• Info and tickets: gretnatheatre.org or 717-964-3627.
HAUNTED LANTERN TOUR: ‘FATALITY’S LAST STAND’
• When: Tours leave every half-hour, starting at 6:30 p.m.
• Where: Tours leave St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 616 Locust St., Columbia.
• Details: Rivertown Theatre Productions, a nonprofit community theater troupe, presents this immersive living-history tour. The haunted tour by lantern light explores Columbia’s Mount Bethel Cemetery. Costumed characters tell stories of souls claimed by typhoid, tuberculosis, diphtheria, Spanish flu and other diseases. The tour explores the cost of epidemics, the stigma of disease and the strength of human compassion.
• Admission: $25.
• Info and tickets: columbiahlt.com or call. 717-587-5368.
‘HAUNTED RAILS AND TALES’
• When: Fridays-Sundays, Oct. 3-31, with some Thursday performances; 6:45 p.m. preshow and 7 p.m. train departure.
• Where: Strasburg Rail Road, 301 Gap Road, Ronks.
• Details: Author, storyteller and actor Matt Lake is the host for an evening of local folklore, fables and phenomena. A professional cast of actors present weird and spooky tales of Lancaster County and its environs.
• Admission: $50.
• Info and tickets: strasburgrailroad.com/haunted-rails-and-tales.
‘THE PHANTOM LINE’ MURDER MYSTERY
• When: 3 p.m. Fridays through Sundays and some Thursdays, now through Nov. 2.
• Where: Strasburg Rail Road, 301 Gap Road, Ronks.
• Details: Aboard Parlor Car No. 88, “The Phantom Line,” visitors will take an immersive Halloween journey into the supernatural and back to the 1900s, Travelers will encounter Spiritualist figures like Maggie Fox and Lady Conan Doyle, and experience seances, ghostly encounters and chilling stories.
• Admission: $79.
• Info and tickets: strasburgrailroad.com.
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College theater
‘THE LARAMIE PROJECT’
• When: 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, Oct. 30-Nov. 1 and Nov. 6-8, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2.
• Where: Rafters Theatre in Dutcher Hall, 30 Ganser Loop, Millersville University.
• Details: Millersville University Theatre presents a play that was the culmination of interviews conducted with citizens of Laramie, Wyoming, during the aftermath of the murder of Mathew Shepard — a gay college student — and the trial of the two men accused of killing him.
• Admission: Adults, $15; students and seniors, $12; MU students, $5.
• Info and tickets: millersville.edu/theatre/current-season.
‘A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM’
• When: 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 23-25.
• Where: Clair Hall, Winter Visual and Performing Arts Center, 60 Cottage Ave., Millersville, on the Millersville University campus.
• Details: William Shakespeare’s comedy brings together quarrelsome and runaway lovers, tradesmen who are rehearsing a play and a group of woodland fairies — with spells of enchantment cast over the proceedings. You’ll learn “what fools these mortals be” when they’re in love, in this production by the Citamard Players of Millersville University.
• Admission: $10 for adults and $5 for students.
• Info and tickets: lanc.news/MidsummerTix2025; more info on Instagram at instagram.com/thecitamardplayers.
‘MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS’
• When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Oct 23-25, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 25-26.
• Where: Green Room Theatre, 551 College Ave., Franklin & Marshall College campus, Lancaster.
• Details: Franklin & Marshall presents this classic Agatha Christie murder-mystery play, adapted for the stage by Tony Award-winning playwright — and York native — Ken Ludwig. When strangers are trapped on a luxury train during a blizzard, a body is discovered and detective Hercule Poirot has to figure out which passenger did the deed.
• Admission: $5-$10.
• Info and tickets: fandm.edu/events/box-office.html.
‘EMPOWERED: HOW ONE GIRL SCOUT NEARLY DESTROYED THE WORLD’S ECONOMY’
• When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 and Nov 7-8, and 3 p.m. Sundays, Nov. 2 and 9.
• Where: Tempest Theatre, Elizabethtown College, 1 Alpha Drive, Elizabethtown.
• Details: Amaryllis is determined to win her Girl Scout troop’s cookie-selling contest. When sales drop, she turns to the financial sector for advice and winds up dealing with a payday lender, faking a terminal illness and franchising her methods. It’s a comedic homage to “Glengarry Glen Ross” and send-up of the excesses of the financial crisis.
• Admission: General admission $11.90 and students, employees and seniors $9.83, including fees.
• Info and tickets: etown.edu/depts/theatre/shows.aspx.
‘ONE DAY PLAY’
• When: 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5.
Where: Myers Auditorium, 260 McComsey Hall, East Frederick Street, Millersville University.
Details: The Citamard Players of Millersville University will write, cast, direct and present new plays in a 24-hour period as part of this festival. The public is invited to the performance Sunday evening.
Admission: Free.
Info: instagram.com/thecitamardplayers.
Theatrical concerts
‘TOBY: A SALUTE TO TOBY KEITH’
• When: 1 and 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6, and 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7.
• Where: The Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, 510 Centerville Road, Lancaster.
• Details: Hollywood Yates brings the music of country legend Toby Keith to the stage, with such country anthems as “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” “American Soldier” and “Red Solo Cup.” You can even buy a souvenir red Solo cup.
• Admission: $85 for a meal and show, $58 for show only, including fees.
• Info and tickets: dutchapple.com or 717-898-1900.
‘THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY’
• When: 1 and 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20, and 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21.
• Where: The Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, 510 Centerville Road, Lancaster.
• Details: The music of Karen and Richard Carpenter comes to the stage in a tribute concert that includes such pop hits as “Close To You,” “Rainy Days And Mondays” and “Yesterday Once More.”
• Admission: $85 for a meal and show, $58 for show only, including fees.
• Info and tickets: dutchapple.com or 717-898-1900.
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One night only
‘MASTERS OF ILLUSION’
• When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3.
• Where: American Music Theatre, 2425 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster.
• Details: Magicians from around the world — Anna Dangerous, Greg Gleason, Joel Meyers and Naathan Phan — present modern illusions and comedy magic.
• Admission: $39-$59.
• Info and tickets: amtshows.com or 800-648-4102.
Continuing
— “A Chorus Line” continues at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre. Info: dutchapple.com or 717-898-1900.
— The musical “Disenchanted” continues at Prima Theatre through Oct. 5. Info: primatheatre.org.
— The cozy murder mystery musical “Stolen” continues at Bird-in-Hand Stage, Ronks, through Oct. 22. Info: bird-in-hand.com/stage/2025stolen.
— Ventriloquism, music and comedy combine in “Ryan and Friends: Lifetime of Laughter,” a family-friendly show continuing through Oct. 18 at Bird-in-Hand Stage. Info: bird-in-hand.com/stage or 717-768-1568.
— The biblical story of “Noah” continues at Sight & Sound Theatres, Ronks, through Dec. 31; sight-sound.com/shows/noah. For LancasterOnline stories on the show, celebrating its 30th anniversary at Sight & Sound, visit lanc.news/Noah30 and lanc.news/NoahAnimalTraining.
— At Magic & Wonder Dinner Theater, Paradise, the “Imaginarium” magic show is on stage until Nov. 1, and the “Jukebox Generation” musical show continues through Oct. 18. For tickets to either show, call 717-323-3077 or visit magicandwondershow.com.
Outside Lancaster county
‘GHOST THE MUSICAL’
• When: 7 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 16-26.
• Where: Hershey Area Playhouse, 830 Cherry Drive, Hershey.
• Details: Adapted from the 1990 hit film by its Academy Award-winning screenwriter, the musical tells the love story of Sam and Molly, whose connection remains after Sam’s death in a brutal crime, and the storefront psychic, Oda Mae Brown, who strives to help the two solve Sam’s murder so that his spirit can move on.
• Admission: $25-$30.
• Info and tickets: hap.ludus.com.
‘DEATH OF A SALESMAN’
• When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 16-18 and Oct. 23-25, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 19 and 26.
• Where: Lebanon Community Theatre, East Maple Street and Theatre Drive, Lebanon.
• Details: Arthur Miller’s classic play explores the disappointments, family challenges and struggle for relevance experienced by aging traveling salesman Willy Loman.
• Admission: $16-$20 on Thursdays, $18-$20 on weekends, including fees.
• Info and tickets: lebanoncommunitytheatre.org or 717-833-4528.