Montgomery County is home to a vibrant performing arts scene, with a top-tier concert hall, multiple acclaimed professional theater companies, and a panoply of music, theater, dance and children’s theater to satisfy any age and taste. The following cross-section of dance, music, theater, comedy and arts events are excellent options for anyone looking to enjoy local arts this spring.
Art
Mark your calendars for the 2026 Bethesda Fine Arts Festival, which features fine art created by 120 of the nation’s best artists, along with live entertainment in Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle, along Norfolk, Auburn and Del Ray Avenues.
May 9-10, rain or shine. Free, parking available in public garage on Auburn Avenue. bethesda.org/bethesda-fine-arts-festival
Comedy
For anyone who needs a laugh, Improbable Comedy — the Silver Spring-based producer — brings three days of funny business to the Black Box Theatre in Silver Spring. The SPRUNG! Comedy Festival features 10 different comedy shows with jokes and bits to suit every taste. In D.C.’s homegrown musical comedy duo Griefcat, two 30-something women skewer late-stage capitalism, spreadsheets and single life in the city. Other shows include: “Law and Order Comedy,” Elena Torres and Amigos in Spanish, Science Comedy, Queer Special, “The Original All-Native Comedy Show,” a “Squeaky Clean Comedy Show,” and “GI Jokes.” March 12-15, improbablecomedy.com/sprung.
Dance
While biologists might recognize the name pilobolus as a specific genus of fungus, to dance and movement aficionados Pilobolus is a beloved collective of dancers who push the limits of human physicality and imagination. The “Other Worlds Collection” offers a journey traversing nature and the human condition that teeters from humor and whimsy to darker recesses and wonder. March 5, The Music Center at Strathmore, strathmore.org/events-tickets/in-the-music-center/pilobolus.
Music
Every second Wednesday, the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County hosts a free evening of jazz at the Betty Mae Kramer Gallery in downtown Silver Spring. Jazz at the Kramer, advanced registration required. creativemoco.com/kramer-gallery/second-wednesdays-jazz-at-the-kramer-gallery
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s “The Doo Wop Project” recalls the tight street-corner vocal harmonies of the 1940s. From The Crests and The Flamingos to Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and even Maroon 5, this evening at Strathmore will take you on a trip down memory lane. March 20,
strathmore.org/community-education/our-partners/bso/the-doo-wop-project.
The intoxicating South African rhythms and a cappella harmonies of Ladysmith Black Mambazo will reverberate in Strathmore’s acoustically near-perfect concert hall. The group attained international fame collaborating with singer and songwriter Paul Simon on his 1986 album “Graceland.”
March 26, strathmore.org/events-tickets/in-the-music-center/ladysmith-black-mambazo.
Silver Spring-based pianist Brian Ganz has been on a quest to play every note written by composer Frédéric Chopin. After 16 years, he will complete his Extreme Chopin project at the Music Center at Strathmore with the National Philharmonic. The program includes 3 Mazurkas, Op. 63; 2 Nocturnes, Op. 62; 4 Mazurkas, Op. 67, among other works. April 11, strathmore.org/community-education/our-partners/national-philharmonic/natphil-extreme-chopin.
Aniello Desiderio and Zoran Dukić have been called two of the most celebrated classical guitarists of their generation. As A to Z Duo their repertoire ranges from Baroque transcriptions to Bach’s Chaconne, Scarlatti, tango interpreter Astor Piazzolla and more. Hear them at the Montgomery College Silver Spring Cultural Center. May 3, culturespotmc.com/event/2025-2026-john-e-marlow-guitar-series.
Theater for Families and Children
Based on The New York Times best-selling book by actress Julianne Moore, “Freckleface Strawberry, The Musical” will charm kids and adults alike. Freckleface Strawberry will do anything to get rid of her freckles, including wearing a mask. Will her classmates notice? Will she learn to love her differences? Find out at Adventure Theater MTC at Glen Echo Park. Through March 29, adventuretheatre-mtc.org/shows/2025-2026-professional-shows/freckleface-strawberry.
Wheaton’s InterAct Story Theatre presents a free public performing arts series featuring theater, dance, storytelling and world music on Saturdays for school-age kids and their families. Storyteller TAHIRA weaves a web of song and story in a high-energy performance that captures minds of young and old with tales that evoke laughter, tears and even social awareness.
April 18 – 19, interactstory.com/wheaton.
Theater
Two siblings battle over the estate of their recently deceased father in “Appropriate” at Olney Theatre Center. This sharp and dark comedy unravels old rivalries and grudges and, of course, family secrets.
March 18-April 19, olneytheatre.org/whats-playing/appropriate.
Directed, designed, stage managed and performed by high school students mentored by Round House Theater professionals, this year’s Sarah Metzger Memorial Play, “At the End of the World,” wrestles with teenagers’ fears, hopes and wishes in a desolate new world aflame in an environmental meltdown.
March 27-29, roundhousetheatre.org/on-stage/explore/at-the-end-of-the-world. High school and college students can see this production free: roundhousetheatre.org/FreePlay.
A bit of American poet Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” filters into this musical drama about Caroline, chronically sick and missing school, and a kid she doesn’t remember, Anthony, who shows up to work on a homework assignment with her. Music and lyrics drawn from Whitman’s poetry are by American Idol’s Ari Afsar in “I and You,” which has been called a magical new work by Lauren Gunderson. April 23-May 24, Olney Theatre Center, olneytheatre.org/whats-playing/i-you-musical.
At 15, Christopher, who is autistic, has been accused of killing a neighbor’s dog. He decides to find the real killer using his out-of-the-ordinary thinking skills in unusual ways. His journey becomes both inspirational and life changing in this adaptation of novelist Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” at Rockville Little Theater. May 1-10, rlt-online.org.
Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks takes on founding father Thomas Jefferson in “Sally & Tom,” examining his relationship with his enslaved lover, Sally Hemings. The setup includes a play-within-a-play as a theater troupe stages its own production about the pair. Art and life collide as rehearsals peel back uncomfortable truths about power, racism, and art in America. The Round House Theatre production is sure to be a theatrical rollercoaster. May 27-June 28, roundhousetheatre.org/on-stage/explore/sally-tom.
Gilbert and Sullivan operettas never get old. The Victorian Lyric Opera Company brings an updated version of the duo’s satirical “Patience,” set in a mid-century university coffee shop, with a story that pokes great fun at trend-chasers and love triangles. Perfect for our fashion-forward social media age. June 5-14, vloc.org/2025-2026-season.html.
