Cottonwood High’s theatre season will feature well-known stories with creative twists, allowing students to explore their talents in fresh ways.

“It’s a year of story books, but with a unique twist on them, which will be so cool,” said Cottonwood High theatre teacher and director Adam Wilkins. “All year it’s stories, but told in different, innovative and fun ways.”

The season kicks off with the 16-member improv team performing at 7 p.m., Oct. 23 at the school, 5715 S. 1300 East. Tickets are $5, with monthly shows to follow.

On Oct. 27, from 6-8 p.m., the school will host a free Haunted Hallway event, with adjustable spookiness levels, offered alongside an indoor trunk-or-treat organized by Latinos In Action.

“Haunted Hallway started off as a small little party we did for my theater students, and then it just morphed into something we did for our performing arts department, and then it changed into the combined activity with LIA (Latinos In Action)—and it’s so fun. It grows bigger and better every year,” he said.

The fall musical, “Seussical,” runs 7 p.m., Nov. 19-22. Tickets are $10 at cwoodtheatre.com.

“I love the stories of Dr. Seuss. We all do,” Wilkins said. “I love all the great characters, but I've never been a huge fan of the traditional way the show's played. The message is good, and the music is killer, but it comes across juvenile with cartoony characters. So, we’re going to rip the cartoon out of it and portray these characters not as animals, but rather real people telling these stories. We won’t have a guy in big Dumbo ears, but instead we’ll have Horton in a gray hoodie as a busker on the streets. We’re telling the beautiful story, but we’re telling it a little bit differently. It's still light, families and kids will love it, but it's told in a way that’s more relatable to kids of all ages.”

The same messages of friendship, acceptance and believing in oneself will have a deeper meaning, he said, as students and patrons learn about the characters seen in this interpretation navigating the “jungle” of bustling city streets.

In the spring, students will stage “The Little Prince,” which also will be their regional competition piece. The show will run March 25-28, 2026. Tickets are $10.

“We’re doing ‘The Little Prince,’ but we’re telling it in a creative way. We're doing it with puppets; most of our actors are puppeteers,” he said, adding the students will make the puppets themselves. “I was dedicated to make the season where everything feels, connects and is told in new ways. I was researching stories when I learned ‘The Little Prince’ is the most translated novel so I read it. When I did, I knew I had to include the show with puppetry. It gives my students this skill of how I can portray this or how can I show this with puppets.”

The final production, “Alice By Heart,” runs 7 p.m., May 13-16, 2026, with $10 tickets.

Wilkins, a fan of musician Duncan Sheik who composed the music for the show, saw West Valley Arts’ performance recently.

“I want to absorb anything new he's got so when I saw it, then read the script, I knew we would do the show,” he said. “It fits perfectly with the storybook season. It has iconic characters of ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ but it has the gift of seeing something in a different way and that's beautiful.”

About 50 students also will attend Utah Theatre Association’s DramaCon in Cedar City, participating in workshops and seeing performances. Wilkins, who attended DramaCon as a student, now serves on the UTA board.