It may be rodeo season in Houston, but in the Theater District, it’s all about season announcements — with a big one coming out on March 3: the Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center 2020-2021 lineup.
The season looks to bring some quirky surprises, like the Blue Man Group, to the traditional mix of mega-musicals still on Broadway, and the occasional revival putting new perspective on a classic. Most of all, the season brings the best of Broadway and beyond.
Here’s what to look forward to for 2020-2021.
My Fair Lady (September 29 – October 4, 2020)
Bartlett Sher’s Lincoln Center production of one of the greatest classical musical, Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, became the 2019 hot ticket in New York. While keeping the book and songs intact, this revival is said to turn the focus more on Eliza Doolittle’s ability to transform herself than Henry Higgins as master linguistic magician. This show that could have danced all night sets the tone for the season.
The Blue Man Group (November 17-22, 2020)
With the motto the men are still blue but the rest is all new, expect the music and quirky play of previous Blue Man shows but with new original content and music. Featuring pulsing music, custom-made instruments, surprise audience interaction, and absurd antics for a blue-tiful experience for audiences of all age.
Tootsie (January 5-10, 2021)
Based on the–edgy for the '80s–comedy about a struggling actor who creates a female persona to win a lead role on a soap opera, the David Yazbek and Robert Horn musical exchanges the soap world for, you guessed it, a satire on the world of Broadway musicals. The New York run, which won a Tony for best book, only closed in January, and now the drag show takes to the road.
To Kill a Mockingbird (February 23-28, 2021)
Every few years, a Broadway play wins so many accolades it goes on tour like the multitude of musicals. This season that work is Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing) certainly knows his way around a courtroom drama, but also look for powerhouse performances as adult actors play the kids in the show.
Mean Girls (March 16-21, 2021)
Sixteen years ago, Tina Fey tried to make a movie about the cutthroat world of high school popularity wars happen, and girl did it happen. The film became a comic icon and then in 2018 became a smash musical. Now Cady, Regina, Gretchen, and the rest of the girl gang head to Hobby to sing their way to the top of the class.
Jesus Christ Superstar (May 11-16, 2021)
One of the surprises of the lineup, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s classic rock musical hits its 50th anniversary, so what better way to celebrate than a new revival. This production out of London won the the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival and pays tribute to the historic 1971 Billboard Album of the Year while resonating with a 21st-century perspective.
Hadestown (June 8-13, 2021)
The big Tony winner of 2019 that recently also grabbed a Grammy, Hadestown might be the highlight of this season. Head all the way down town for twisty underworld love stories loosely base on the myths of Hades and Persephone and Orpheus and Eurydice. Spoiler alert: Don’t expect a happily ever after, but also don’t expect those tame version of Greek myths you learned in junior high.
Season options
Broadway at Hobby tends to bring back some perpetual touring favorites to the mix every year and 20-21 will be no different with Beautiful-The Carole King Musical (March 22-24, 2021) and the show that has defied the idea that musicals will eventually end their runs, Wicked (June 23-August 1).
As an added incentive for season subscribers, Broadway at Hobby has also revealed news you probably won’t be able to let it go, Frozen will blow into Houston for the 2021-2022 season.
Mean Girls happens at Hobby in March 2021.
