curtain up!

Longtime Houston theater company stages new season of local, diverse tales and rousing romps

Stages unveils a strong, in-person lineup at The Gordy.

Photo courtesy of Forney Construction

One of Houston’s most cherished and longstanding theater groups is making a triumphant return to live, in-person performances, just in time for fall.

Stages has unveiled its 2021-2022 season, which will showcase the venerable company’s impressive new campus, The Gordy.

This new lineup promises comedies, musicals, and six world premieres — four of which have been written by Houston-based playwrights, per a press release. Another draw is the fifth-annual Sin Muros Latinx Theater Festival.

Fall family fun
As mentioned, the new season launches in October with celebrated playwright John Leonard Pielmeier’s Hook’s Tale. The family-friendly romp offers a re-imagining of Peter Pan that questions the real price of refusing to grow up.

Another family-friendly offering in October is the hilarious and Tony-award winning scholastic tale, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The rousing musical follows six teens competing for the spelling bee championship of a lifetime.

Ushering in the holiday season, Sister’s Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold marks the return of Houston’s favorite wise-cracking nun (Denise Fennell) and her quest to discover what happened to the Magis’ gold.

Panto fans will delight in the world premiere of Panto Little Mermaid, which makes a splash with magic, romance, and silliness for all ages. The Panto work comes courtesy of Houston-based playwrights Elizabeth A.M. Keel and ShaWanna Renee Rivon.

Tooled-together tale
The new year fun gets whittled together with MacGyver: The Musical, which is based on the original TV series created by Lee David Zlotoff. The rock-n-roll musical comedy pits MacGyver against the Soviet Empire and as added fan fun, the leading actor who plays MacGyver is selected from the audience each night, a press release notes.

Spring flings
February 2022 marks the aforementioned, fifth-annual Sin Muros (Without Walls): A Latinx Theater Festival. Expect free plays and poetry readings by Texas-born and Texas-based Latinx artists, plus workshops and other public events.

March gets a little — but not too — dark with Sunrise Coven, a timely, sharply crafted dark comedy about the American healthcare system, penned by Brendan Borque-Sheil, the Houston-based author of Stages’ hit The Book of Maggie.

ShaWanna Renee Rivon’s You Are Cordially Invited to Sit-In follows later. The spirited story, based in Houston, is set to love songs, dance hits, and game-changing tunes of the 1960s-1970s and follows four Black college freshmen who join the revolution against racism.

Next up is Inda Craig-Galvan’s Black Super Hero Magic Mama. The gripping tale offers “surprising comedy,” press materials note, as a mother loses her son and subsequently retreats inward to a technicolor universe to cope.

Diverse offerings also include Song of Me, which closes out the 2021-2022 season. Yet another Houston-based tale, the story by emerging local artists Mai Lé and Đạt Peter Ton centers on family, tradition, Vietnamese cooking, and growing up in Houston.

Those interested in showtime schedules or season subscriptions ($144 to $513) can call 713-527-0123, or visit the official site.

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untitled art 2026

Prestigious contemporary art fair returns to Houston for 2026

Courtesy of World Red Eye

Untitled Art, the acclaimed contemporary art fair, returns to Houston this October.

A prestigious contemporary art fair is coming back to the Bayou City. Untitled Art, Houston returns this October for its second edition. To mark the occasion and kick off plans, the show commissioned two artist projects that will be unveiled this weekend at the 39th annual Art Car Parade on Saturday, April 11 in downtown Houston.

The art show will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center October 2 to 4. An invitation-only VIP and Press Preview will take place on Thursday, October 1.

Houston was the organization’s first expansion from its home base in Miami. When the show arrived in the city last fall, it showcased the works of contemporary artists from Houston, other parts of Texas, and around the world.

Houstonians showed lots of enthusiasm for last year’s inaugural fair. The organization reported that several galleries reported six-figure sales and sold-out booths, and leaders from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Menil Collection, and Contemporary Arts Museum Houston were in attendance all weekend.

This year, the show promises to be even more dynamic, with programming that includes live podcast recordings, panel discussions, culinary activations, and artist-led projects with an emphasis on embedding the fair within Houston’s civic and cultural fabric. Show attendees can expect an international roster of galleries alongside collectors, curators, and artists increasingly attuned to Houston’s evolving position as both a cultural gateway to Latin America and a substantial force in the international art scene.

“Houston has proven to be a vital artery for the contemporary art market, blending a deep institutional history with a bold, global future,” Jeffrey Lawson, founder of Untitled Art, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to return and deepen our commitment to the city’s creative community.”

Beyond the exhibits at the show, Untitled Art has made a commitment to helping ensure art and art collecting is accessible to the larger community. Last year, programming events took place all over the the city, with private collection visits, studio tours with artists, and guided engagements at institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Menil Collection, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and Asia Society Texas Center, in collaboration with more than two dozen cultural partners.

This year’s Art Car entry marks the first of its kind for the organization. Untitled Art commissioned collaborations with ascendant emerging Los Angeles-based artists Aryo Toh Djojo and Mario Ayala. Ayala's exhibition Seven Vans is currently on view at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

“Houston continues to assert itself as a cultural capital of the South, and the inaugural edition confirmed that there is a serious and attentive audience invested in contemporary art from local, national, and international dealers alike," said Michael Slenske, director of Untitled Art, Houston.

Information about ticket sales will be available closer to the opening.

Courtesy of World Red Eye

Untitled Art, the acclaimed contemporary art fair, returns to Houston this October.

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