Hamilton Headed to H-Town

Hamilton is headed to H-Town, but you'll still have to wait to see Broadway's runaway hit

Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of Hamilton

Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda, right, and cast members in a scene from the hit musical.

Photo by Joan Marcus

It's just about impossible to attend Broadway's biggest musical in decades — Hamilton — even if you have thousands to try to find a ticket and airfare to New York. But now there's hope for Houstonians who are itching to see what everyone is taking about.

But you'll still have to wait a while.

Producer Jeffrey Seller and Houston theater officials announced Tuesday that the national tour of Hamilton will be the centerpiece of the 2017-2018 Broadway at the Hobby Center season. Exact dates and information on how to purchase groups and single tickets will be announced at a later time, they added.

Hamilton tells the story of America's founding father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant who became George Washington's right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the new nation’s first Treasury Secretary. The score, blending hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway, has drawn raves and recently won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album.

Creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast performed the opening number during the recent Grammy telecast. The musical is expected to sweep the Tony Awards in June.

The national tour opens in Chicago in September for an extended run and will also visit Los Angeles and San Francisco before coming to Houston either in the fall of 2017 or spring of 2018.

However, given the show's amazing popularity, officials said the best way to guarantee tickets to the Houston production is to purchase a season subscription for the Broadway at the Hobby Center 2016-2017 season. Subscribers who renew for the 2017-2018 season will be able to guarantee their seats before tickets become available to the general public.

music

let's roll

Soccer star and Grammy-winning singer will lead Houston Art Car Parade

Courtesy of the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art

Art Car weekend returns April 9-12.

If you see a lot of unusual-looking automobiles on the streets and freeways next month, it’ll be for one simple reason: the Art Car Parade is back.

The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art announced the return of the Houston Art Car Parade Weekend presented by Team Gillman, taking place Thursday, April 9 through Sunday, April 12. This will culminate in the Houston Art Car Parade – its 39th – on Saturday, April 11, featuring more than 250 one-of-a-kind, rolling works of art.

The four-day celebration transforms the city into a canvas of color, creativity, and community, with the parade serving as the weekend’s crowning spectacle, drawing more than 315,000 spectators annually and making it the largest free cultural event in Houston. Serving as the 2026 Featured Artist is Phillip Pyle II, a visual artist, graphic designer, and photographer whose work engages with issues of race and popular culture through the lens of graphic design.

This year’s grand marshals, former Houston Dynamo player Brian Ching and singer/The Suffers frontwoman Kam Franklin, represent two powerful pillars of Houston’s cultural identity: sports and music. Ching and Franklin join a distinguished list of past marshals, including Bun B, Carl Lewis, Marilyn Oshman, J.J. Watt, Dan Aykroyd and George Clinton.

“This year’s Orange Show Art Car Parade honors Kam Franklin and Brian Ching as Grand Marshals,” said Orange Show executive director Jack Massing. “Selected for their positive contributions as Houstonians, both are dedicated community leaders committed to fostering creativity through music and sports, helping build a happier, healthier city.”

Attendance remains free and open to the public, reinforcing the Orange Show’s mission to make art accessible to all. For those looking to immerse themselves in the parade’s energy while supporting its mission, the VIPit offers a festival-style atmosphere with limited tables and reserved grandstand seating starting at $250. Admission includes complimentary food and beverages from Houston favorites, private restrooms, and premium parade views. Proceeds directly fund year-round Art Car programming at the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, including Art Cars in Schools, a curriculum aligned with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards that brings hands-on creative learning into classrooms across the region.

For more information, visit the Orange Show website.

art car parade brian ching kam franklin houston