Ernest Thompson’s enduring masterwork returns to the stage in a production that feels tailor-made for Big Bear Lake. Set at a summer cottage on a shimmering New England lake, On Golden Pond follows Norman and Ethel Thayer to their summer on the lake, a life long tradition that sparks poignant memories, quick witted humor and the tenderness of a long-overdue family reconciliation. Thompson’s award winning reminds us that it is never too late to say what matters most.

Enjoy an hour-long evening cruise aboard the Big Bear Queen, sip a glass of champagne, and listen to stories, poems and music featuring local authors Lori Brookes and Christie Walker Bos, and a Big Bear High School student. The beautiful music of Randy Boswell will underscore the Spoken Words.

This event pairs well with Friday performances of, “On Golden Pond” by Ernest Thompson, starring Don Most and Judy Norton, at the Big Bear Lake Performing Arts Center June 18 - 28, 2026.

NOTE : please arrive at 4:30 for boarding. 

Our inaugural playwright festival — ‘Creating Worlds’ - is a celebration of original voices and brand-new stories developed in Big Bear. Audiences will be first to experience these works as they come to life on our stage, fresh from the page. Bold, generative, and alive with possibility, Creating Worlds is proof that Big Bear Lake is a place where art is born.

tick, tick...Boom!, an electrifying semi-autobiographical musical by 

Jonathan Larson, creator of Rent, is a high-voltage celebration of creativity, ambition, and the relentless drive to make art that matters. Set in New York City on the eve of a composer’s 30th birthday, tick, tick…BOOM! crackles with urgency and the very real ache of a dreamer racing against the clock.

The Big Bear Theatre Project’s beloved annual tradition returns for another breathtaking reinvention. Each year, our reimagining of A Christmas Carol arrives at the Performing Arts Center feeling cozily familiar and yet entirely new — the ghosts are here, the redemption is here, the magic is here — but delivered in new, unexpected ways. A Ghost Story of Christmas has become more than a holiday show — it is a community gathering, a family tradition, and a reminder of what makes live theater irreplaceable.