Events & Shows

We triple dog dare you to see this show!

Set in the 1940s in the fictional town of Hohman, IN, the musical follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker and his quest for the Holy Grail of Christmas gifts: an Official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. Rebuffed at every turn with a similar echoing response, Ralphie plots numerous schemes to achieve his desperate desire for the coveted BB gun. All the iconic scenes from the movie are here: Ralphie’s friend, Flick, getting his tongue stuck to the flagpole; his brother, Randy, getting dressed in his snowsuit; the bullies, Farkus and Dill; the leg lamp award; the bunny suit; the Chinese restaurant; Christmas dinner; and many others.

A strobe light is used in this performance.

Family Theatre Age Intention: Playhouse family theatre productions are intended for ages 5 and up.

Content Advisory: The Playhouse does not rate subject matter as sensitivities vary from person to person. If you have questions about content, age-appropriateness, or other aspects of the show (ie strobe lights and other theatrical effects), please contact the ticket office at 515-277-6261.

Come early and enjoy the sounds of the season in the West Lobby from these local artists. Performances begin 20-30 minutes prior to curtain times listed below.
Dec. 6, 7:00 PM performance: Trastevere Winds
Dec. 7, 1:00 PM performance: Urbandale Community Swing Band
Dec. 7, 5:00 PM performance: Fermata the Blue
Dec. 8, 1:00 PM performance: The Christmas Belles Handbell Quartet
Dec. 8, 5:00 PM performance: Nathan Thiessen
Thursday, Dec. 12, 7:00 PM performance: WFAE Singers from the DMCPH
Friday, Dec. 13, 7:00 PM performance: Pella Madrigals
Saturday, Dec. 14, 5:00 PM performance: Corbett Reeves
Sunday, Dec. 15, 1:00 PM performance: Harp Choir
Sunday, Dec. 15, 5:00 PM performance: Molto Voce
Thursday, Dec. 19, 7:00 PM performance: Stefanie Harper
Friday, Dec. 20, 7:00 PM performance: GottaZING!
Saturday, Dec. 21, 1:00 PM performance: Michael Howland & Sierra Howland
Saturday, Dec. 21, 5:00 PM performance: Heather Tragesser
Sunday, Dec. 22, 1:00 PM performance: Jenny Throckmorton
Sunday, Dec. 22, 5:00 PM performance: John & Anne Claes
Monday, Dec. 23, 5:00 PM performance: Bailey Dorr & Bobbi Jo Dorr

The performance at 1:00 PM on Sunday, Dec. 15, will have live audio description, provided by IRIS. Please contact our ticket office at 515-277-6261 if you would like to use this free service.

“Where there’s hope, there’s life.” – Anne Frank

Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation of the original, Pulitzer Prize award-winning script by Goodrich and Hackett draws from previously unpublished parts of Anne Frank’s real-life diary. For nearly two years, Anne, her father, mother, and sister, joined with the Van Daan family, hide in a secret annex space above her father’s former office in Amsterdam as the Nazis deport the Jews of Holland to their deaths. In her secret attic, Anne comes of age: she laughs, plays, fights with her mother, and falls in love for the first time. In spite of her oppressive circumstances and the horrors that surround her, Anne’s spirit transcends, as she voices her belief that “in spite of everything, people are truly good at heart.” Anne’s dynamism, her luminous spirit, and her story of resilience continue to resonate deeply, making her story as vital today as when her diary first was published.

Mainstage Content Advisory: The Playhouse does not rate subject matter as sensitivities vary from person to person. If you have questions about content, age appropriateness, or other aspects of the show (ie strobe lights and other theatrical effects), please contact the ticket office at 515-277-6261.

The performance at 2:00 PM on Sunday, Feb. 2, will have live audio description, provided by IRIS. Please contact our ticket office at 515-277-6261 if you would like to use this free service.

For anyone who’s ever been on a family vacation and laughed to tell about it.

Don Browning, a middle-aged writer, returns home to put his father’s ashes to rest. When Don discovers that Grandma’s house in now a grocery store, he has a new mission – to trek across Iowa to find a proper resting place – and he’s dragging his entire family along with him! Join Don and his family on a family road trip that will bring them face to face with colorful characters from a motormouth waitress to eccentric Civil War reenactors and more.

Mainstage Content Advisory: The Playhouse does not rate subject matter as sensitivities vary from person to person. If you have questions about content, age appropriateness, or other aspects of the show (ie strobe lights and other theatrical effects), please contact the ticket office at 515-277-6261.

The performance at 2:00 PM on Sunday, June 7, will have live audio description, provided by IRIS. Please contact our ticket office at 515-277-6261 if you would like to use this free service.

Adventures this big don’t grow on trees!

A magical peach! An imprisoned boy! Giant talking insects! The incredible tale of James Henry Trotter will fulfill the fantasy of anyone who has ever dreamed of escaping to a new and exciting world. Roald Dahl’s story comes hilariously to life in this delightful dramatization that reveals the wickedness of some, the goodness of others, and the indecision encountered by many when they are faced with crises. James and the Giant Peach is high adventure for the whole family!

Children’s Theatre Age Intention: Playhouse children’s theatre productions are intended for ages 5 and up.

Do you believe in fairies? Because they believe in you!

Everyone thinks they know Peter Pan. But until you have heard Tinker Bell’s side of the story, you really have not heard it at all!

When all the fairies in Neverland start dying, Tinker Bell comes to London to find a friend. There she meets a young boy named Peter Pan who has just run away from his family so he can be a little boy forever and have fun. When Tink takes Peter to Neverland, all sorts of wonderful and amazing things happen: flowers grow, animals appear and pirates arrive. But as Peter brings more Lost Boys and the Darling children back to her island, Tink finds she doesn’t like sharing her friend with anyone else. Especially that Wendy girl.

This fresh and intensely theatrical adaptation of the classic story emphasizes play and fun as well as the complicated nature of friendship. A new, twinkling light shines on all the characters you love as J.M. Barrie’s story is reborn from this feisty fairy’s point of view. 

Children’s Theatre Age Intention: Playhouse children’s theatre productions are intended for ages 5 and up.

Rules are made to be broken.

On the outskirts of town stands a ramshackle house. It may not seem like much until you peek through the railings. Then there’s a horse on the porch, a monkey in the kitchen, and a freckle faced, red-pigtailed, whirlwind of a girl in mismatched stockings presiding over all! This is the domain of Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim’s Daughter Longstocking. She has what she needs to get by, and if she doesn’t she’ll make something up that will do the trick.

Children’s Theatre Age Intention: Playhouse children’s theatre productions are intended for ages 5 and up.

2019-2020 Dates Now Available!

Fall Session: Ages 6-16 • Saturdays, 9:00-10:00 AM • Sept. 7-Oct. 26, 2019

Winter Session: Ages 6-16 • Saturdays, 9:00-10:00 AM • Jan. 4-Feb. 29, 2020

Spring Session: Ages 6-16 • Saturdays, 9:00-10:00 AM • Mar. 28-Apr. 25, 2020

$5.00 per session (payable by check or cash at the door each session)

Join us for a fun hour of drama! Come to one session or come to all! Open to any student, Spectrum Stories is a theatre class experience designed for the unique interests and needs of students on the autism spectrum. Through storytelling, creative play, social interaction and non-verbal communication, your student can work on social skills, flexible thinking, self-expression, empathy for others and self-confidence. Siblings and friends are welcome as well. Pre-registration online at dmplayhouse.com is encouraged but drop-ins are also welcome!

An additional emergency contact form is available at the door specifically for those who tend to elope. Parents are asked to remain in the building during class time, and may accompany their child into class if they wish.

Click here for the Spectrum-Stories-Social-Story – A pictorial guide explaining what to expect when attending these classes.

For more information, contact Robin Spahr, education director, 515-974-5365.

Who will take the presents to the children on the other side of the mountain?  When everyone else refuses, the smallest of all the engines volunteers to help. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…I thought I could! 

Interactive Theatre Shows for Children Ages 4-6! Great for preschools, child care centers, kindergarten classes, and families. Join the Clubhouse at the Playhouse Gang each month as they dramatize a favorite story using their imaginations and the costume pieces and props they find in their Magic Trunk. A new story is presented each month, October through May. Children learn the Clubhouse pledge and secret handshake, and listen for the word of the day.

The performance at 10:45 AM will have live audio description, provided by IRIS. Please contact our ticket office at 515-277-6261 if you would like to use this free service.

After slaying seven flies with one swat, can one little tailor use brains instead of brawn to get the best of some goofy giants and a crafty king?  It’s not her fault if, along the way, a giant thinks she slayed seven giants, now is it? 

Interactive Theatre Shows for Children Ages 4-6! Great for preschools, child care centers, kindergarten classes, and families. Join the Clubhouse at the Playhouse Gang each month as they dramatize a favorite story using their imaginations and the costume pieces and props they find in their Magic Trunk. A new story is presented each month, October through May. Children learn the Clubhouse pledge and secret handshake, and listen for the word of the day.

The performance at 10:45 AM will have live audio description, provided by IRIS. Please contact our ticket office at 515-277-6261 if you would like to use this free service.

In this Clubhouse at the Playhouse favorite, a young child drops his mitten in the snow and does not realize it is missing.  As woodland creatures seek warmth inside the mitten, it magically grows and grows!

Interactive Theatre Shows for Children Ages 4-6! Great for preschools, child care centers, kindergarten classes, and families. Join the Clubhouse at the Playhouse Gang each month as they dramatize a favorite story using their imaginations and the costume pieces and props they find in their Magic Trunk. A new story is presented each month, October through May. Children learn the Clubhouse pledge and secret handshake, and listen for the word of the day.

The performance at 10:45 AM will have live audio description, provided by IRIS. Please contact our ticket office at 515-277-6261 if you would like to use this free service.

Rapunzel has been locked away in the tower by the witch, with only the forest animals to talk and sing to. Will she be rescued by the prince, or can she rescue herself?

Interactive Theatre Shows for Children Ages 4-6! Great for preschools, child care centers, kindergarten classes, and families. Join the Clubhouse at the Playhouse Gang each month as they dramatize a favorite story using their imaginations and the costume pieces and props they find in their Magic Trunk. A new story is presented each month, October through May. Children learn the Clubhouse pledge and secret handshake, and listen for the word of the day.

The performance at 10:45 AM will have live audio description, provided by IRIS. Please contact our ticket office at 515-277-6261 if you would like to use this free service.

A naughty shepherd has played one too many tricks on the village. What happens when they don’t believe him anymore? Will it be too late for the sheep, or will they take matters into their own hands?

Interactive Theatre Shows for Children Ages 4-6! Great for preschools, child care centers, kindergarten classes, and families. Join the Clubhouse at the Playhouse Gang each month as they dramatize a favorite story using their imaginations and the costume pieces and props they find in their Magic Trunk. A new story is presented each month, October through May. Children learn the Clubhouse pledge and secret handshake, and listen for the word of the day.

The performance at 10:45 AM will have live audio description, provided by IRIS. Please contact our ticket office at 515-277-6261 if you would like to use this free service.

The donkey brays, the dog howls, the cat meows, and the rooster crows.  See what happens when a group of sassy animals on their way to audition for The Voice meets up with a gang of rowdy robbers.

Interactive Theatre Shows for Children Ages 4-6! Great for preschools, child care centers, kindergarten classes, and families. Join the Clubhouse at the Playhouse Gang each month as they dramatize a favorite story using their imaginations and the costume pieces and props they find in their Magic Trunk. A new story is presented each month, October through May. Children learn the Clubhouse pledge and secret handshake, and listen for the word of the day.

The performance at 10:45 AM will have live audio description, provided by IRIS. Please contact our ticket office at 515-277-6261 if you would like to use this free service.