Lexington Theatre Company brings Broadway names to summer show lineup
The Lexington Theatre Company is opening its 2026 season big — Broadway big — building off of a historic 10th season last year.
Both productions scheduled for this summer will be professional premieres of storied global hits, “Les Misérables” and “Matilda the Musical.”
“Les Misérables,” will open on June 6 at the Lexington Opera house and run for six showings over four days. Directly after, “Matilda the Musical” will begin its two-week rehearsal period, before its set of six shows, which runs from June 30 through Aug. 2.
Though the songs, scripts and parts of the sets are coming from as far away as France, the productions will showcase Lexington’s local arts community, alongside Broadway-seasoned talent. Professionals with Broadway resumes will be starring and helping create the productions.
The Lex founders Jeromy Smith and Lyndy Franklin Smith wanted to create a space that allowed local artists not only to dream big but, providing steps stones and connections to top-tier talent in the industry.
“The combination of talent is distinctly the Lex,” said Lyndy Franklin Smith, co-director. “Jeremy and I started the company to bring a different level of theater, this professional New York caliber theater, and we wanted to be a training ground, so that the young people who are in the company, who are just in the beginning steps of their career, can start to feel what it feels like to work at that level.”
“This is what we strive for,” Jeromy Smith said. “All three of them [guest leads], if you watch them interact with the company, they want to pass on the craft. They have that mindset we built the company on, and so when we find people who can come and pour into other people while we’re doing theater, it makes it so much more special for everyone.”
Equally important to the founding team was creating the possibility for talent to thrive here in Lexington. Establishing an arts community that can sustain and give back to the community in more ways than just providing entertainment, they said.
“To be able to craft full-time work in the arts in Lexington, Kentucky, is a really big deal,” Lyndy Franklin Smith said. “It’s something that I never imagined was would be a possibility ... and so to be able to be building a place where we’re building careers in the arts in Central Kentucky, is really huge, because we need the arts, it’s beyond our quality of life it’s essential to being human.”
“Les Misérables”
The first of two summer productions is “Les Misérables,” one of the highest-grossing and most popular stage musicals of all time. Written by the French poet Victor Hugo, originally published as a novel in 1862, it wasn’t until over 100 years later that the stage adaptation premiered in France.
Inside the Lexington Theatre Company’s building, the scenes in the rehearsal room go back in time to the docks of 18th-century France, as a cast of local, regional and national talent learn from each other to put on one of the biggest professional productions the Lex has ever programmed.
From the Broadway cast of “Les Misérables,” Jeremy Landon Hays will be starring as Jean Valjean and co-directing alongside Lyndy Franklin Smith.
“What’s so great here about The Lex is that, I truly do feel like Lexington is a home away from home,” Hays said. “That’s what’s so important about having a local theater company, is that it truly enriches the community; it’s made here, it’s for here, and then the growth that comes out of all that work stays here, and it’s so much different than a show passing through.”
The Lex rehearses shows for two weeks, fitting costumes, setting tracks and working with a fourteen-instrument orchestra to bring a story to life. The fast pace pushes all levels of the cast, but creating a collaborative community ensures that all the moving parts sync harmoniously by opening night, said Erin Elizabeth Clemons, playing opposite Hays as Fantine.
“It’s kind of always intimidating to put your mark on something in a different way, and that part’s fun too, to just create it again with like new faces and young people who are like doing the show for the first time, because I feel like they’re falling in love with it too, while I’m re-falling in love,” Clemons said.
George L. Brown, who has national tour credits, will play Javert. Like Clemons, for Brown, stepping into a historic role can bring the pressure of all those who came before
“Just seeing names that have played Javert, number one, it’s an honor to be able to step into a role, but I won’t lie, it’s intimidating also, because it’s such, it’s such a heavy lift for such a heavy show,” Brown said.
“Les Miserable” is the longest-running musical of all time, but Hays said audiences can still take something new away from the show.
“Everyone wants a second chance,” Hays said. “I think no matter where you are in your life, you understand the meaning behind the show, which is everyone deserves the right to choose their own destiny, and the show offers the audience an opportunity at the end to choose how they want to live the rest of their life, and I think that’s that invitation, I think that’s what keeps bringing people back.”
“Matilda the Musical”
The second show on the schedule this summer is the professional premiere of “Matilda the Musical” in Lexington. The cast will also be a mixture of local and national talent with a twist: Maddox Ellis, a Veterans Park Elementary fourth grade student from The Lex’s Artist Development Program, will play the title role of Matilda.
Adapted from Roald Dahl’s 1988 book of the same name, “Matilda the Musical” was developed by the Royal Shakespeare Company and premiered in 2010.
“It’s unbelievable,” Maddox said. “I can’t believe how I got here. How did I go from a school play all the way to being the lead in a big play like this with people from New York who have experience from Broadway shows? It’s crazy.”
For the co-directors, seeing students like Maddox rise to the occasion was a key deciding factor in putting “Matilda” on, providing an opportunity for students to put their work on stage and give them something to further motivate them going into a new year of classes, said Lyndy Franklin Smith.
Justin Packard stars as Miss Trunchbull, bringing experience from the national tour of “Matilda.” Kristen Beth Williams takes on the role of Mrs. Wormwood, returning to The Lex bringing Broadway, national tour, and West End credits to the production. Matthew Michael Janisse plays Mr. Wormwood, also adding national tour experience to the ensemble.
Behind the scenes, “Matilda” is directed by Drew Humphrey, a longtime friend and colleague of the company. The production is choreographed by Elizabeth McGuire, who has a long history with the theater, appearing in the company’s very first show as an ensemble member and now making her choreographic debut with “Matilda.”
McGuire’s journey represents the kind of opportunity for growth and confidence to dream big the company hopes to foster, Jeromy Smith said. It fosters a love for learning and a professional training ground to prepare students for the next stage, Lyndy Franklin Smith said.
“I think like, just because you’re young doesn’t mean that you can’t do big things, and doesn’t mean that you can’t dream and do amazing things,” Maddox said.
Making Broadway and new horizons accessible to anyone has been one of the most meaningful parts for the co-directors, they said. Program graduates have been led all over to collegiate programs and even the Broadway stage.
“When you start a theater company out of your living room, it’s a leap of faith,” Lyndy Franklin Smith said. “And then to still be here a decade later, and to be able to have the caliber of performing artists that this rehearsal room feels just like the rehearsal rooms I remember in New York; it just feels really, really great to be able to create an environment here in the Bluegrass and pay it forward.”
“Les Misérables”
Performed by: The Lexington Theatre Company
Where: Lexington Opera House, 401 W Short St.
When: July 9 7:30 p.m.; July 10 7:30 p.m.; July 11 1 p.m., 7:30 p.m.; July 12 1 p.m. 6:30 p.m.
Tickets: https://www.lexingtontheatrecompany.org/events-collection/les-miserables
“Matilda the Musical”
Performed by: The Lexington Theatre Company
Where: Lexington Opera House, 401 W Short St.
When: July 30 7:30 p.m.; July 31 7:30 p.m.; Aug. 1 p.m., 7:30 p.m.; Aug. 2 1 p.m. 6:30 p.m.
Tickets: https://www.lexingtontheatrecompany.org/events-collection/matilda
