prices down, curtain up

First-ever Houston Theater Week stages BOGO deals for 77 of the season's hottest shows

Houston Theater Week offers BOGO tickets for the October performances of Disney's Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Stage Adaptation.

Hobby Center Courtesy Photo

With the curtain soon rising on Houston’s 2022-2023 performing arts season, many of our favorite arts companies and institutions want to welcome audiences back with the performance deal of the year. Music, theater and dance lovers should mark those calendar for the first Houston Theater Week,whicharrives August 22-29.

What is it? Think of Houston Theater Week as the ultimate, limited-time performing arts experience. To entice fans, Theater District Houston Association and Houston First Corporation have partnered to bring audiences a BOGO (buy one get one free) ticket sale for some of the most anticipated shows of the upcoming season.

Most of the usual Houston Theater District performing arts suspects, including Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet, Alley Theatre, Houston Grand Opera, DaCamera, Performing Arts Houston, Theatre Under the Stars, and The Hobby Center.

Some favorite local performing arts organization outside the district are welcoming audiences back with the same savings. ROCO (River Oaks Chamber Orchestra), Dirt Dogs Theatre Company, Main Street Theater, Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Kinetic Ensemble, 4th Wall Theatre Company, Mildred’s Umbrella and more will also take the sale spotlight.

With 77 shows on the BOGO list — from Legally Blonde the Musical, presented by Theatre Under the Stars, to Houston Symphony’s glorious holiday Handel’s Messiah to Performing Arts Houston’s presentation of Dance Theatre of Harlem to Houston Ballet’s Good Vibrations — there’s a show for every performance taste.

Houston Theater Week officially runs August 22-29 for the purchase of tickets at the exclusive discounted rate, but the select shows run at various dates throughout the entirety of the 2022-2023 season.

Consider this a chance to finally catch the shows we preview each month — or smart way to get that holiday, birthday, anniversary shopping done early.

“Houston Theater Week was developed to showcase and strengthen Houston’s diverse professional performing arts portfolio,” said Houston First President & CEO Michael Heckman. “We are proud to partner with resident companies in the heart of downtown as well as community theater groups located throughout our city and look forward to this campaign continuing to grow in popularity and success.”

To view all the offers and purchase tickets, visit the Houston Theater Week official site and use the special offer promo code: HTXARTS.

Houston Ballet brings some Good Vibrations to Houston Theater Week.

Houston Ballet Courtesy Photo

Houston Ballet brings some Good Vibrations to Houston Theater Week.

symphony opera music theater dance

taking center stage

Stage adaptation of iconic Black movie Jason's Lyric to debut in Houston

Courtesy of Jason's Lyric

Most of the movie's cast will appear in the play.

Next year, Houston writer/producer/director/promoter Je’Caryous Johnson will be bringing another beloved Black movie to the live stage.

Jason’s Lyric will join New Jack City and Set It Off in the lineup of ‘90s Black-movie favorites that Johnson has adapted for the stage. The 1994 made-in-Houston drama stars Allen Payne and a pre-Will Smith Jada Pinkett as young lovers trying to maintain a relationship as conflicts and obstacles keep getting in the way.

Jason’s Lyric Live will go on a nationwide, 22-city tour, premiering right here in H-Town on Thursday, February 13 — just in time for Valentine’s Day.

“Houston is my home, and bringing Jason’s Lyric Live to life here first is my way of paying homage to the city and its people who inspired this story,” Johnson said in a statement. “This is more than a play; it’s a love letter to the community.”

Payne will reprise his role as Jason, with actress/model Eva Marcille stepping in Pinkett’s role as Lyric. Naughty by Nature rapper Treach, who played Lyric’s criminal big brother Alonzo in the movie, will also return to the role for the stage production. Tyrin Turner (Menace II Society), K. Michelle (Love & Hip Hop), and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Welcome Back, Kotter) will round out the cast.

"Jason’s Lyric is one of the films that defined my career as an actor,” Payne said. “To bring it to life on stage for audiences who loved the movie — and a new generation experiencing it for the first time — is an incredible honor."

Marcille is also psyched for the show, taking on the role that Pinkett memorably brought to life. "Lyric is a character who embodies resilience and hope, and I’m honored to bring her story to life on stage,” Marcille said.

Tickets will go on sale this Friday, December 13, at 10 am. For a full list of dates and ticket information, visit the website.