In 2018, a stage musical called Jukebox Hero featuring a variety of classic songs by Foreigner premiered, and now a new musical also showcasing the legendary rock group’s tunes is preparing to debut in 2026.
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The production, titled Feels Like the First Time – The Foreigner Musical, is scheduled to premiere in April of ’26 at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on Long Island University’s Post campus in Brookville, New York. The musical will be directed by veteran Broadway performer Adam Pascal, whose acting credits include Rent, Aida, Chicago, and more.
To help support the Feels Like the First Time musical, Foreigner will play a special one-off acoustic concert at Tilles Center on September 5. The benefit event, dubbed “Foreigner: The Hits Unplugged,” will be hosted by the band’s original frontman, Lou Gramm. The intimate show will feature renditions of many of the group’s biggest hits, including “Cold as Ice,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” “I Want to Know What Love Is,” and “Hot Blooded.” Foreigner will be joined by a choir from Uniondale High School in nearby Uniondale, New York, during the concert.
Gramm and Pascal also will perform with Foreigner at the acoustic show.
Meanwhile, Gramm will be on hand to greet attendees at an exclusive VIP cocktail reception before the concert. A limited number of premium tickets that will offer admission to the pre-show gathering are being sold at TillesCenter.org. Some VIP passes also will include a photo opportunity with Lou and Foreigner’s current members, as well as special signed memorabilia items.
More About the Feels Like the First Time Musical
Feels Like the First Time – The Foreigner Musical is a collaboration between the band, Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, and Long Island University’s Post Theatre Company. The production is being developed as part of the school’s and the Tilles Center’s New Works Initiative.
Feels Like the First Time will feature 14 classic Foreigner songs. The musical will be workshopped and developed in the coming weeks, with a staged reading scheduled for fall 2025. The production will get its world premiere on April 17 at LIU’s Little Theatre, and will run through April 26.
Pascal, who is the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at Long Island University, is leading a creative team that includes book writer Stephen Garvey and orchestrator/arranger David Abbinanti.
Founding Foreigner guitarist/songwriter Mick Jones shared his excitement about the forthcoming musical in a statement.
“When I wrote ‘Feels Like the First Time,’ I had no idea how far that song would take Foreigner,” said Jones. “It is a personal thrill for me to know that the amazing Adam Pascal has elected to use it as the title of our new musical. I am very confident that he and the whole team will create something very special, and I look forward to seeing the completed work in 2026, the 50th Anniversary year of the founding of Foreigner.”
Foreigner’s Upcoming Tour Plans
As previously reported, Foreigner has dozens of upcoming concerts scheduled in the U.S. and Canada. Gramm is slated to join the group as a special guest at select shows.
Longtime Foreigner frontman Kelly Hansen, who replaced Gramm as the band’s lead singer in 2005, will be retiring from the group at the end of this summer. Singer/guitarist Luis Maldonado, who joined Foreigner in 2021, will be the band’s new lead singer.
Foreigner’s itinerary currently is mapped through a five-date Las Vegas residency at The Venetian Theatre in March 2026. The shows, which will celebrate Foreigner’s 50th anniversary, will feature the band performing with an orchestra.
Foreigner’s Deluxe 4 Reissue
In other news, Foreigner will release an expanded version of its chart-topping 1981 album 4 on September 12. The deluxe reissue will be available as a four-CD/one-Blu-ray collection featuring the new mixes of the original album, five previously unreleased songs, 14 early and alternate versions of various tunes, 15 instrumentals, and 15 live performances recorded in various locations in 1981 and ’82. The package also will feature a booklet boasting more than 60 exclusive photos.
One of the reissue’s unreleased tracks, “Fool If You Love Him,” debuted recently as an advance digital single. The song, which was co-written by Jones and Gramm, was started during the 4 sessions but was shelved before it was finished. Earlier in 2025, Lou recorded new vocal parts and the current band finally completed the track.
In celebration of the deluxe 4 reissue’s release, Foreigner has scheduled a series of eight special concerts. Gramm will join the group’s current lineup during the run to sing a few songs at each concert.
The shows are mapped out from a December 3-4 stand in Port Chester, New York, through a December 13 performance in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The 4 reissue can be pre-ordered now.
(Photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images; Photo by Adam Gorodetzer)
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