Dave Malloy's A Cappella Musical Octet Makes DC Premiere at Studio Theatre

Studio Theatre will kick off 2026 with something delightfully unusual: the DC premiere of Dave Malloy’s a cappella chamber musical Octet, running January 14 through February 22, 2026. Known for pushing musical theatre into strange, smart, genre-bending territory (including Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), Malloy brings Washington audiences a show that’s all voice, all story, and all too recognizable in its modern obsession.

Octet at Studio Theatre in DC

In Octet, eight people gather in the orbit of digital dependency, trying to name what keeps pulling them back online—and what it’s costing them—using nothing but the analog electricity of human sound. Without a traditional band or instrumental score to lean on, the music becomes the room: witty one moment, haunting the next, and unexpectedly lush as it traces the characters’ compulsions and their yearning for real connection beyond screens.

Studio’s Artistic Director David Muse is at the helm, and the production goes into rehearsal this week with a cast featuring Amelia Aguilar, David Toshiro Crane, Angelo Harrington II, Aidan Joyce, Jimmy Kieffer, Ana Marcu, Tracy Lynn Olivera, and Chelsea Williams. It’s also a notable moment for Studio’s recent history—Octet will be only the second musical the company has produced in the 2020s, following Muse’s direction of Fun Home in 2023—making this run feel like both an event and a statement about what kinds of musical storytelling belong in Studio’s intimate spaces.

Muse summed up the excitement—and the challenge—of bringing Malloy’s work to DC audiences: “Dave Malloy is one of the most influential and groundbreaking composers working in musical theatre today,” said Muse. “Dave is lyrically expansive, musically inventive, and drawn to a range of unique subjects. He’s like the Tom Stoppard of musical theatre, and in Octet, he has found perhaps his most relatable subject: addiction and 21st century technology. In a move emblematic of Dave’s inventiveness, he has created in Octet an a cappella musical. And if a cappella makes you think Pitch Perfect, trust me that Dave has something stranger and more deeply wonderful in store for you.”

That “stranger and more deeply wonderful” promise is built directly into the staging as well: Studio is presenting the show in a custom-built octagonal performance space, designed to spotlight the choral style and the unadorned power of the human voice. For musical fans used to big orchestrations and familiar structures, Octet offers a different kind of thrill—one that feels intimate, immediate, and daringly current.

Over its 46-year history and more than 425 productions, Studio Theatre has earned a reputation as a national leader in contemporary work, pairing bold play choices with deliberately intimate spaces and top-tier acting and design. Octet fits that identity perfectly: a buzzy modern piece that’s inventive in form, sharp in ideas, and tailor-made for an audience ready to lean in and listen closely.