White Plains Performing Art Center Kicks Off New Season

As the White Plains Performing Arts Center (WPPAC) approaches its 22nd year of productions, its 2025-26 season presents three distinct shows, which Executive Director Stephen Ferri hopes will appeal to “Westchester’s huge gamut of people” that are as varied as the season’s lineup.

The season selection – Jagged Little Pill in October, Finding Neverland in December and Catch Me If You Can in April – which is decided upon by WPPAC staff and board members, answers three main criteria: What are people interested in? What do actors want to audition for? What shows make the theater stand out in comparison to other Westchester regional theaters? This season’s selections, all similar in their contemporary style but distinct in their themes and scores, each aim to “fill a specific niche [and] create a really unique season” says Ferri.

He explains: “I always try to pick stuff that remotely is drastically different, so you don’t feel like you’re seeing the same show over and over. It allows you to experience different shows altogether in one season. I know a lot of theaters pick themes—we don’t really do that.”

Appealing to a Larger Range of Talent

The 410-seat theater on the third floor of the White Plains City Center provides self-produced, professional theater opportunities for actors who are in the Actors’ Equity Association and those who aren’t. They also cast internally, meaning that the organization does not use a casting director. During the initial audition period, Ferri says “the creative team will watch…sometimes over 1,500 video submissions.”

The unique audition process also allows all actors, regardless of Equity status, to be considered for all roles and contracts. Because of the extensive opportunities offered for both local Westchester and New York City-based artists, the season allows opportunities for different actors of various strengths and, therefore, appeals to a wider range of talent.

The 2025-26 season does not differ from this custom, as Ferri explains that this season, auditioners and audience members alike can expect “a pop-rock score from Alanis Morissette [in Jagged Little Pill], a British musical theater and pop score from Finding Neverland and a sort of big band contemporary musical theater score from Catch Me If You Can.”

The Upcoming Season

WPPAC has already posted auditions for the first show of its season, Jagged Little Pill (October 3-26) and looks forward to the theater’s new directorial approach with the Broadway show that is closer to the original script. Inspired by Morissette’s album of the same name, the story follows the Healy family in their attempt to maintain picture-perfect lives after truths from their pasts are uncovered. The story delves into the reality behind the “perfect” American family and leaves audience members learning from themes of resilience, love and courage.

For WPPAC’s production of Jagged Little Pill, things will look different from the 2021 Broadway show, and will be more akin to their directorially driven vision. “This will not be a remount of what was there. It’s going to be a very unique [and] different take on it. It will make the show more accessible to a broader audience, which is always one of my goals,” says Ferri.

Two other productions, both based on films, round out the season. Finding Neverland (December 12-January 4) tells the story of Peter Pan’s playwright, J.M. Barrie, and his encounter with a widow, Sylvia, and her four sons. The stories of Peter Pan begin to paint their way into Barrie’s life, as he rediscovers the spirit of childhood and imagination as an adult man. Catch Me If You Can (April 10-May 3) closes WPPAC’s 2025-26 season and follows the undercover life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who “actually grew up in Bronxville,” as Ferri recounts. The pilot, doctor and lawyer charms his way to a wealthy life and a dream girl until FBI agent Carl Hanratty begins to investigate his crimes.

Collaborative Goals and Orchestration

Alongside working with professional actors, Ferri describes WPPAC’s process of hiring a creative team after their initial season selection. His position as an executive director is supplemented by his background in technical theater. So, when hiring designers, he says that he looks for more of a community of artists rather than individual design niches. “It’s not just about who’s the right fit for the show stylistically but who works well as a collaborative team. I always say producers are really matchmakers: if we do our job well…everyone’s able to help each other to get to the final product…versus it feeling like every designer has to do their own thing.”

The WPPAC’s philosophy in collaboration has been ingrained in its mission since its founding. Similar values are found in the theater’s musical direction and orchestration selection. Ferri also serves as the theater’s resident music director. In that role, he directs the vocals, hires the orchestras and conducts each show of the season. Ferri claims that WPPAC is one of the only theaters in the area that hires full orchestrations for its shows. “Finding Neverland and Catch Me If You Can will have fifteen pieces, or something like that, in the orchestra. Jagged [Little Pill] is written for seven, and it’ll have seven,” says Ferri.

The challenge of large orchestrations typically limits a regional theater’s season selection, but WPPAC commits itself to producing the scores as they were written. Ferri remarks that the theater has had the distinct opportunity to “showcase the scores a little more than other regional theaters [and] deliver Broadway [to] White Plains.”

Innovative Approaches

The theater prides itself on its Broadway-level productions but notably takes its productions towards its own innovative interpretations in direction and design. Ferri recounts the theater’s first production after the pandemic—Masquerade: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber—and its unique redevelopment. He recalls that the production “was a really great way to reintroduce people back into the theater. We added a huge video section to the show, where Andrew Lloyd Webber sort of narrated you through the show on how he came behind writing scores and learning facts [about him]. By doing a show like that, [the audience] was seeing something that was unique to White Plains. They weren’t going to see that show being done anywhere else.”

These productions even maintain a legacy beyond their runs at WPPAC, with Ferri recalling that production teams have been able to “collaborate with…other regional theaters that are about to add these shows into their season…[and] learn from each other. I always love that aspect of getting to share what we’ve done and [discussing] what worked or didn’t work before a show finds its home in another regional theater.”

On producing this diverse season, Ferri says that he hopes “people [will] take away that you don’t need to necessarily go to Broadway to have the same experience—theatrically, artistically, whatever that may be. You can get that at home. It’s always the greatest joy as a producer to see people leave the theater…from kids that are about to be six years old to seniors who are 85…just saying ‘I loved the two and a half hours I [spent] inside that theater to see this great show.’”