Just when you thought Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre couldn’t get any more exciting for the 2025/2026 season— after announcing that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera will be launching its National Tour right from the heart of Charm City in November of 2025— the whole rest of the season announcement has dropped and it’s a glitter bomb of spectacular proportions! Three National Tour launches— not one, not two, but THREE. Seven extraordinary shows; three season options, and a whole lot of amazing opportunities you can’t get anywhere else. It’s a beautiful time to live in Baltimore and enjoy Broadway’s finest in what I’m affectionally going to start calling “Lil Broadway.” In a TheatreBloom exclusive chat, we’ve got Ron Legler, President of The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, to tell us all about this stellar new season and what amazing things we can expect to accompany it this year!

Ron Legler: Good morning, Miss Amanda!

Good morning, Ron! How are you doing on this wonderful morning?

Ron: Good how are you?

I am great! And oh my goodness, when you drop a season, sir, you drop a season!

Ron: You know, it was pretty wild, because the shows were kind of being dropped along the way, and I thought, “If we keep this up, we’re not going to have anything left to announce for the actual announcement!” Everyone tries to get the jump on knowing about the shows that get launched here.

That’s because it’s such exciting news! Now tell me, how in the world did you get not one, not two, but THREE National Tour launches coming out of Baltimore next season? And these are not just some show nobody’s ever heard of, these are huge, recently on Broadway, award-winning, iconic shows! This is Gatsby, Water for Elephants, and of course Phantom, which I know we had chatted about previously.

Ron: It’s word of mouth of the shows that have launched from here. They are telling all the producers how easy it is to work in Baltimore, how easy it is to access Baltimore, the great airport, the great trains, the routes for the trains coming down from New York and how frequent and reliable they are. And the overall great experience of the stay here. We have a beautiful hotel right across the street from the theatre and it’s just the experience overall and the ease of working with the commerce department in Maryland. They really want this extra business. I think the word is starting to get out. We can’t do much more than three to be honest with you!

It really is impressive and most definitely a feather in Baltimore and the state of Maryland’s cap, for sure. Now I know you are just over the moon about Phantom and I share that cosmic enthusiasm with you, we had a whole separate call all about that. But tell me a little bit more about the other two National Tour launches— The Great Gatsby and Water For Elephants.

Ron: The 2025/2026 season is presented by Blue Cross/Blue Shield and our building is a venue managed by an affiliate of Broadway Across America. As you know, Broadway Across America is in 46 markets across the United States and Canada, so it really is bringing the best of Broadway to the backyard of Baltimore. Being so close to New York and being able to see those shows to know what could fit in the season, we’re really excited! Most of the stuff that you see is stuff that came directly from Broadway. Obviously, The Great Gatsby, and then things like Back to the Future, Kimberly Akimbo which won the Tony for Best Musical, Suffs— which I am really proud of. That was a ‘big get’ for us. I just feel like its such an important time to remind people of the power of women and what women have done for this country and how hard they had to fight to just get the right to vote. I think it’s a great statement and I’m super excited that it’s part of what we’re bringing into Baltimore this season.

That’s fantastic. You’ve got a really balanced season. And I see we finally have A Beautiful Noise!

Ron: A Beautiful Noise is a show that everyone has been asking about and wondering when we were going to get it. It was just a matter of timing. And when you do these tour-launches, you have to put the theatre on hold for almost a month or in some cases up to six weeks depending on the show. So it kind of blocks out some time periods where we can’t bring other shows through. But it really all fell together this season. It’s got a lot to offer for families too. And honestly, bringing Phantom back to the United States here through Baltimore is going to be one of the biggest historic things that’s ever happened between Broadway and this city.

But Phantom isn’t the first show of the season, because that’s not here until November (The Phantom of The Opera, 11/7/25 – 11/15/25), so what kickstarts our season?

Ron: It’s actually Water For Elephants (09/28/25 – 10/04/25.) It’ll get here in August and play in September and that will be the official first show of the season, directly off of its Broadway run.

That is so incredible. So we kickstart with this big, brand-new tour of Water For Elephants. Followed by this big, brand-new tour of The Phantom of the Opera.

Ron: When you say brand-new tour, you really get it. This is literally a brand-new tour for Phantom. It’s a brand-new set, it’s brand-new costuming, it’s a brand-new look at Phantom and this is going to be The Phantom for the next 20 years. I think it’s a wonderful collaboration of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh to bring Phantom into the future and to bring it back to the United States. We couldn’t be more excited! And then The Great Gatsby (01/31/26 – 02/07/26) is our third season show, so those will be the first three out of the gate and the first three launches of national tours and our audiences are going to see them first!

That’s so very extraordinary. Gatsby is very near and dear to me, like so many of my vintage I grew up with the book in high school so to see it here, and see it here first, is truly incredible. And that’s just into the New Year—January of 2026?

Ron: Correct.

Awesome. And then we’ve got four other incredible shows in the season plus three amazing season options— who knew that Wicked (12/17/25 – 01/11/26) would be popping back through?

Ron: It’s time for it to come back. We had it here in February and early March of 2020 before everything shut down and Wicked actually has this amazing history and Maryland is part of that history because the producer is from Pikesville. That is a big part of why I think our community loves Wicked so much, and it does better every time it comes through. Then of course with the movie and all the excitement around the movie and the launching of the second part of the movie, which is happening right around the time that Wicked (as a seasonal option/add-on) will be here at The Hippodrome.  

That is really incredible. Because then people who are in love with the movie will get the chance to see where it all began, the whole story in one setting, live on stage. That’s amazing. What about our other two options for ‘season add-ons?’ Hadestown and The Grinch?

Ron: You know, Hadestown (03/13/26 & 03/14/26) was one of the most requested shows that we had. It’s only going to be here for a few performances, but we’re so thrilled to be able to offer it as a seasonal add-on because so many people were asking for it. And then we thought it was time to bring back Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas (11/26/25 – 11/30/25), it’s been over a decade since we’ve had it. Time is flying, I can tell you that!

It surely is. This is such an incredible season. And I know you are most excited about Phantom, you and I could swap Phantom stories all day long, but tell me, what’s the next most exciting show for you in this upcoming season?

Ron: I just think that with everything currently going on in the world and with information from history that doesn’t get translated very well, Suffs is such a powerful and inspiring new musical about the fight for women to have voting rights. It’s direct from Broadway. It’s a powerhouse. I was mesmerized by the show, to the point where I went home, I got on my iPad, and I started a deep google search on these characters. It’s actual history. It’s not a blown-up story, this is actual American history about the women’s fight for equal rights and voting rights. I was blown away by what I didn’t know about the fight for women’s rights. It lived with me for a month. I was obsessed. I am just so excited! Baltimore loves a good underdog story and what a story this is to tell! And how long it took— 50 years of fighting and suffrage, women’s suffrage. That’s what Suffs stands for. The Women’s Suffrage Movement. But you learn so much and it’s so entertaining. You walk out so proud. And also so perplexed. Why was the struggle so long?

Brilliant. Any others that have you— as Glinda might say— ‘thrillified’?

Ron: Water For Elephants. There are moments in that show where you just realize that this is the power of Broadway and that Broadway can be transformational. It’s one of the most beautiful things you’ll ever see on stage. It’s really hard to pick what I’m ‘second-most’ excited about, behind Phantom because they’re all so, so good for different reasons. I mean, like you, I love The Great Gatsby. And of course I love the music of Neil Diamond, I grew up listening to his albums. It’s part of our life’s score, if you will.

Having seen A Beautiful Noise a while back in DC, I am so stoked that you’re bringing it here for Baltimore audiences to experience because it is such an integral part of our musical tapestry that so many of us identify with.

Ron: People were making so much noise for so long about that one, and I’m so glad we got it into this season. But it really is a balancing act. Obviously, we’re trying to maximize the tax credit while programing around it as well. And taking that into consideration, I think I’ve mentioned this in prior chats with you, but every tax credit in Maryland has a ‘sunset.’ They last five years. So if you can imagine, I’ll be going back next year to try to get that re-engaged for the next five years. We want to keep that going!

If anybody can do it, it’s you, Ron.

Ron: Going to the state and telling them how important it was— explaining to them that when a show is able to maximize on that tax credit it means that we’ve brought in ten million dollars of economic impact to the state. These shows are spending money in the state of Maryland. That’s the only way it qualifies. After this season, we’ll have had five shows that have done that. It’s pretty incredible, it’s a lot of money that’s been brought to the state. And the shows and the industry is really enjoying the experience. Baltimore audiences are loving it.

We’ve been doing these wonderful dress rehearsals for students. With Annie that was just here after the holidays, they didn’t do the full tax-credit, but they did a week of rehearsal before they went up to New York. They did a dress rehearsal here at The Hippodrome for 900 kids. I’m going to tell you, watching 900 children enjoying live theatre that was life-affirming. It’s a powerful experience.

That is truly an extraordinary opportunity and for so many of those kids that could have been their first exposure to live theatre and who knows where that will lead them one day. What a remarkable thing to able to offer here in our city.

Ron: It’s incredible. It’s a free program that The Hippodrome Foundation offers and we are maximizing every opportunity we get. The First Lady (Governor Wes Moore’s wife, Dawn Moore) has been so gracious in helping us identify schools that are in need and kids that are in need. It’s really a wonderful program. And the positive stuff never seems to get out there in the media as much as the negative stuff, but we’re doing some amazing positive things. Just sitting in that theatre, watching those kids experience Broadway for the first time? It’s life changing. It’s life changing for us, it’s life changing for them. It’s a beautiful program.

I love that this is one of the amazing things that the foundation does. I also know you guys work really hard to keep Broadway here in Baltimore accessible to everyone. I just recently learned, thanks to a friend of mine who is a subscriber, that your season subscriptions have payment plan options! That is awesome, especially in this economy!

Ron: We can break it up to as many as six payments now, it used to be installments of three, but we’ve got options. Life is hard and we realize that there are a lot of options for people to spend their money and we want to make sure that we’re staying in those options for everybody. We fight every year for $45 individual ticket price for seats in the balcony, and we want to make sure that we’re accessible, and we want to make sure that everyone in the state of Maryland has a chance to come see Broadway. We have student price discounts, we have military discounts, we try to do the best we can to make sure that everyone who wants access to The Hippodrome has access. It’s very important to us as a company and it’s very important to our community and to the foundation, whose mission is to share the assets of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center with the state of Maryland. We take that very, very seriously.

I think the entirety of Maryland thanks you greatly for that. I know there are a lot of people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to get out and see these amazing Broadway shows here in Baltimore without those options. And I’m sure there are other markets out there who don’t have as many accessible options as we have here.

Ron: One of the other things I want to mention in regard to access is that The Hippodrome has an app. It downloads really quickly and easily. A lot of people will go online and they’ll search for Phantom but before they get to us, they’ll find 20 other sites that are brokers. And a lot of the brokers are somewhat legitimate, like StubHub, but I urge people to download our app and get your tickets directly from the source because you’re going to pay the lowest possible price for the ticket.

There are already sites out there claiming that they’re selling tickets for Phantom and other shows. We’re not even on sale yet. So those are probably speculative tickets, which is illegal in the state of Maryland. Please be aware of where you’re buying it. And of course the sites look just like our Hippodrome site, they’re copycat sites. To be the safest you can possibly be, download the Hippodrome App. It’s in the app stores. And that way you can guarantee that your tickets are authentic and that they are the very best price available.

Any other insider tips for the app or ticket purchasing?

Ron: I would also recommend people to join our eClub. When you join our eClub you get offers for ‘LuckySeat.’ We do these programs like lotteries, remember the Hamilton lottery? A lot of the shows will do these programs through LuckySeat. You enter to win and you get chances to get tickets at a very discounted rate— we’re talking $35 range. These are programs that we have that we want to make sure we’re getting to everyone. Broadway isn’t about galas and black ties anymore. It really is about reaching audiences and telling stories. And we want to make sure everyone’s stories are told and that everyone has a chance to see those stories.

I noticed that for this season— we have seven shows (and the three add-ons) and every single one of them are musicals!

Ron: Yeah, it’s all about when shows come out and if they tour. There are so many non-musicals, so many plays that just don’t get the chance to tour. And this season there just weren’t really any that were touring. But we always look for that option when its available, like we just had Life of Pi here and Baltimore really loved it. So it won’t happen this coming season but hopefully next season— 26/27. Broadway is gearing up! There’s lots of stuff that has already opened, lots of excitement about shows that are about to happen. We always keep our eye out for a play that we think our audiences would respond to and enjoy coming to The Hippodrome.

You always keep such a variety of things for us. And this season is no exception! You’ve got the winner of ‘Best Musical’ in there with Kimberly Akimbo (04/28/26 – 05/03/26), and I’ve got to admit, I don’t know anything about that one at all so I am really looking forward to seeing that one.

Ron: It’s the most Tony award winning show of its season. It’s heartfelt, it’s hilarious, it’s a coming-of-age story that I think Baltimore is going to resonate with. I laughed in that show, I cried in that show, it’s one of those shows that just sticks with you. And that’s what we need right now. As we look for the escape from life in all of the things that are going on, I think its really wonderful when a community comes together, you can bring 2,200 people together, they can share an experience in the dark together and it doesn’t matter what’s going on in your life outside, because in that moment you’re getting the escape and you’re becoming part of the story of Broadway. That’s the experience that we want to continue to offer to all of our patrons. Everyone will always be welcome inside the doors of The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center.

That is such a beautiful and important message for so many people right now. Thank you. Now, I know you said that we might be making plans for ‘special guests’ when Phantom rolls into town. Do those plans involve rigging up a chandelier over in the M&T Exchange room?

Ron: You’re funny! Now you know, we’re all just getting everything ready, doing everything they can do, so we don’t actually have specifics on who is actually joining us and what’s going to happen, because everything is still very, very new at this point. But I can tell you this— whoever does come? All the creative people, all the cast, all the crews, we’re going to treat them wonderfully like Baltimore always does. They’re going to enjoy our downtown. We’ve been sending out lists of black-owned businesses, museums, and all these other wonderful things we have to offer while they’re here. They’re living in our community for six weeks at a time— not just Phantom— but all three tours that are launching here. They really are very interested in all of the cultural assets that Baltimore has. They’re dining out, they’re staying in our city, and how beautiful to be here in Baltimore in the fall? It’s a perfect time of year.

That’s so wonderful that all of these casts and creatives are going to get to experience our city and our state and all in part to those amazing tax credits.

Ron: Our Governor and the First Lady— we are so lucky that they believe in the arts the way they do. They believe in the arts, they know how important the arts are for the economy and for cultural activity. They have been so supportive. They have had casts go to the People’s House on several occasions. They have come to the shows on opening night, they are the most gracious people you could ever hope to have in charge of the stage, especially when it comes to the arts.

We feel like we have a partner in our state government. And commerce bent over backwards to make sure that these shows understand the tax credit, know how to maximize the tax credit, and that they hold enough money for them that if they go over a little bit or are under a little bit that they are there for them. They really create a partnership with this tax credit and it’s a game changer. It is an absolute game changer for Baltimore.

Just in the past couple of years we’ve seen Baltimore go from a city that got good shows coming through it, to a city that’s got great shows coming through it and launching national tours from it, to a city that is launching *THE* tour of tours— we’re launching Phantom, which devastated the Broadway community when it finally closed its doors on Broadway. The fact that not only is it returning, but it’s returning HERE and here first— that’s magic that defies description and makes me want to quote Hamilton— ‘look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now.’ We are living in the time of times for Broadway theatre right here in Baltimore.

Ron: You’re absolutely correct.

That’s pretty extraordinary. The Hippodrome gets all these amazing shows and there are options for everyone to see all of them.

Ron: Think about it— you buy a season subscription— that’s a seven show package. It starts at $290 and you see all seven shows in the same seat for $290. Break that down and you can see how valuable that is, it works out to what— $41 a show? And you can pay that in six installments before the season starts. Right now, subscribers can renew their subscriptions. We will go on with new subscriptions in the spring of 2025, that’s just a few months away and there is a waitlist available for that. You can sign up for it on our website, and then individual tickets go on sale throughout the year. And if you have the app? It will tell you when everything goes on sale. It tells you when these things are happening. The app has push notifications so if there’s bad weather, you know what’s happening. If there’s a concert, football game, baseball game, etc. happening, it’ll let you know ahead of time so that you can give yourself a little extra time for traffic or parking. We’ve got great restaurant partners that are in the app as well. We have access to our Group Sales department as well, and a group is ten or more people— that’s five couples— so you would have access to getting your tickets that way before the general public. And it’s all in the app.

If people want to learn more, it’s really easy— BaltimoreHippodrome.com  You can get the app, you can sign up for the eClub, everything that we offer is there first. I cannot stress enough to be aware of those copycat sites. Because we don’t pop-up as the first hit when you google-search for us. Save yourself the trouble, get the app, it’s so easy. And it tells you everything you need to know.

So what I’m hearing is…get the app!

Ron: Correct! We’ve got lots of wonderful stuff, we’ve got such an incredible season, and so many other things to offer to everybody. Whether it’s a date night, a family night, or just an escape, we’re going to be here for our community and we’re looking forward to welcoming everybody. And we’ve got lots of other stuff happening too. You’re hearing it first here—

We’re going to be launching an off-Broadway show at the M&T Exchange this fall.

Oh my goodness. Really!? I’ve been thinking in my head leading up to this call with you, but now I’m going to say it, Baltimore from here on in, needs to be referred to as “Lil Broadway.” We’re launching tours, we’re launching off-Broadway shows, this is wild.

Ron: Yeah, we’re working with the producers right now. We haven’t made the announcement yet but it’s really exciting. And that will be here for almost a month.

Holy wow. That’s incredible. So sometime between September and November…that’s fall the last I checked…you’ll have this unannounced off-Broadway show, launching in Exchange space. Between Water For Elephants and Phantom? Or before Water For Elephants?

Ron: Definitely in September. But I can’t give you all the details. We have to have a reason for another call, Amanda, I love these calls with you.

I do too, Ron, and I have to tell you, I’ve got my whole wardrobe picked out for the 2025/2026. The dress for Gatsby? I can’t wait for you all to see it!

Ron: You always bring it to the table, I have to tell you, anyone who comes on opening night and sees you donned in all your outfits, it’s always fun to see what you’re going to wear. I know our team looks forward to it every time!

Thank you so much! It’s so much fun! Now you said there were more things happening in the M&T Exchange this year? Things that you can perhaps talk about?

Ron: Absolutely. We’ve got Iron Crow Theatre coming back to the M&T Exchange with Hedwig & The Angry Inch in March of 2025 (03/14/25, 03/15/25, 03/16/25) they’re going to be here with a concert version of that show and it’s going to be a powerhouse. We’re doing some great stuff. We had a sold-out engagement of Rent when Iron Crow put that on here, and we love working with our local community and we love working with the arts organizations locally. I think you’re going to see some things in the Exchange space this coming year that are truly groundbreaking.

That sounds fantastic. I can’t wait to catch that one. Ron, it’s always incredible to catch up with you and hear all your amazing plans for the season and for the space as a whole. Personally, I’m always impressed when you pull out all these amazing shows. You can tell you really put thought and effort into pulling this together.

Ron: Thank you, but I’ll tell you, it’s not just my effort. We have a really powerful team here at The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center. It’s a world-class box office and marketing department. The work it takes, the connections it takes just to launch a tour has been a changer for us. We’ve adapted and we’ve worked but we care about our industry. We want to be the leader and the United States is starting to figure it out. These Producers that launch from here, they know we have their back from the beginning to the very end. And our community supports The Hippodrome and it supports Broadway. And for that alone we are so grateful and thankful to our season ticket holders and the individual ticket buyers and the downtown partnership. Shelonda Stokes continues to be one of the best assets this downtown can have. We’re in a lucky place at a lucky time and we’re going to continue to make it grow.

You guys are thriving and do such extraordinary work. I know both the city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland are incredibly grateful. You and your amazing team do really remarkable things for this city. Thank you.

Ron: Thank you for all that you do too, Amanda. Take care and I can’t wait to see what you’re wearing to The Lion King.  

To see the 2025/2026 Broadway show lineup at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, click here.

To join the Subscriber waitlist, click here.

To read the chat with Ron Legler about the national tour launch of The Phantom of The Opera, click here.