Penelope — An Epic New Musical

PENELOPE waited twenty years for Odysseus to return from the Trojan War. Now she's ready to share her side of the story — but she's going to need a drink first.

Starring Broadway's Grace McLean, this contemporary chamber musical brings one of history's greatest epics to life through a Richard Rodgers Award-winning folk-pop score. Sharp, funny, and unexpectedly moving — this is Penelope's Odyssey.

The way this show's music wraps itself around the book and lyrics feels so thoroughly intimate it's nigh on sexual.

— The Washington Post

A delicate, contemporary, unconventional musical.

— The New York Times

See Penelope
this August in Edinburgh

Venue Underbelly, Cowgate — Belly Button
Dates August 5–30, 2026
Running Time 60 minutes
Grace McLean in Penelope
Grace McLean performing in Penelope
Penelope at Ancram Center for the Arts
Full ensemble on stage in Penelope

The People
Behind Penelope

Starring

Grace McLean

"Phenomenal" — The New York Times

Music, Lyrics & Arrangements

Alex Bechtel

Richard Rodgers Award–winning folk-pop score

Book

Alex Bechtel, Grace McLean & Eva Steinmetz

Directed by

Eva Steinmetz

A wonderfully ingratiating new musical. A kind of escape, travel without moving, storytelling in the time-stealing mode of Scheherazade. I left thinking I would gladly have listened for another day.

— The Washington Post

Penelope's cleverness, patience, and resilience is on full display in this highly entertaining musical.

— TheaterMania

A brilliant, emotionally-riveting and thought-provoking one-woman musical.

— Lehigh Valley Press