While everything from a Trojan battle to ballads about hating William Shakespeare occurs on the School of Dramatic Arts mainstage, the four Second Stage productions — as well as an additional mainstage show — have been announced to give USC theater enjoyers even more student work for their theatrical needs. 

The Second Stage program is part of the classwork for Bachelor of Fine Arts Musical Theatre students at USC. These productions are given fewer resources by the school in an attempt to highlight the text and the students’ craft. These productions are put on by the students of the given cohort and are meant to give students a deep connection to each other and the work.

In addition to the Second Stage and mainstage productions, there will also be a Master of Fine Arts Year 2 Playwrights’ Workshop from April 17 to 19 at the 24th Street Theatre, which will feature “spices” by Moriya Dichter, an MFA junior majoring in dramatic writing, as well as “The Normal Force” by Jason Grasl, an MFA student majoring in dramatic writing.

In addition to that, there will be the regular Spring 2025 Culminations featuring students in Ghosts of USC: The Wedding, Theatre Clown, Theatre in the Community, Solo Performance, Stand Up 2: Becoming A Pro, Introduction to Stand Up Comedy and an MFA Acting Year 1 Devised Production.

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream 

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a magical Shakespeare comedy with a tale of royal fairies, torn lovers and shenanigans that all go down in the forest beyond Athens. With iconic imagery featuring a donkey-headed man, this show has been done many times all across the globe, and in Shakespeare’s Globe. 

The show will run from April 10 to 13 at McClintock Theatre and will feature the Y2 BFA in Acting for Stage and Screen students under the direction of Laura Flanagan. It is another opportunity to see how SDA will adapt, or not, Shakespeare for the University audience. As a vocal coach for April 2024’s production of “Richard III,” Flanagan is no stranger to Shakespeare’s work.

Stuff Happens

Following looting in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld attended a Pentagon press conference on April 11, 2003, where he said, “Stuff happens … it’s untidy, and freedom’s untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.” This moment inspired playwright David Hare to create the show “Stuff Happens” about the process leading up to the American invasion of Iraq.

Twenty-two years and six days after that initial speech, the students in the Y3 BFA in Acting for Stage and Screen program will bring the show to McClintock Theatre from April 17 to 20. The students will take on historical roles of everyone from George W. Bush to Dick Cheney and of course, Rumsfeld himself. The show will be directed by Denise Blasor, whose previous credits include 2018’s “Labyrinth of Desire,” 2021’s “Everybody” and most recently 2024’s “Broken Shells” as a part of the SDA New Works Festival.

Bat Boy: The Musical

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a Bat Boy? Based on a series of tabloids in The Weekly World News, the self-proclaimed “only reliable news source” and “the authority on aliens, mutants, conspiracy theories, biblical prophecies, health cures, and wayward politicians,” “Bat Boy: The Musical” tells the story of a half boy, half bat found in West Virginia. The USC community will witness Y2 BFA in Musical Theatre students tell the story of how this unique boy is taught to be normal to fit in — a tale far too common in university social life. 

It isn’t long before his secret begins to come out, and Bat Boy’s fate comes into question. From April 24 to 27, his tale — no pun intended — will unfold in McClintock Theatre, as written by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe. The production will be directed by Jared Gertner, best known for musical comedy and for playing Elder Cunningham in “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway, in the national tour and in the London productions.

A Man of No Importance

We all have our confidants with whom we can tell our secrets but for Alfie Byrne, a Dublin bus driver in the 1960s, that confidant is Oscar Wilde, or at least an imaginary version of the world-renowned writer. Byrne decides to stage a production of Wilde’s “Salome” but is faced with shame around “love that dare not speak its name.” With a book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, the musical dives deep into a dramatic story with powerful and moving music. 

The show is the final of the Second Stage shows, which runs May 1 to 4 in McClintock Theatre put on by the Y3 BFA in Musical Theatre students. The show is set to be directed by Jenni Barber, who directed “She Loves Me” last fall and will feature musical direction by Barber’s previous collaborator Anthony Lucca.

Deep Blue Sound

“Deep Blue Sound” is not a Second Stage production but rather an additional, recently announced, mainstage production. On a beautiful island in Puget Sound, a town is in mayhem after all the whales have gone missing. The personable townsfolk all work together to try and find the whales but also to find friendship, love, help and community. Even in a show with whales so central to the story, it is the people who leave a mark on the hearts of the audience.

Written by Abe Koogler, audiences will find humor and humanity in Sanctuary Theatre from March 6 to 9 under the direction of the Director of MFA Acting, David Warshofsky. The show will feature MFA Y3 acting students who are coming right off of a breathtaking performance in Peter Weiss’ “The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade.”