Best Fall Arts Events

10 can't-miss fall arts events: Rothko art, flying dancers, grand openings, Barefoot Contessa — and more

In Houston, we might not get much in the way spectacular autumn foliage but September does bring a beautiful seasonal change to the city’s art landscape. Whether you have a passion for photography, dance, music, theater or even food drama, there’s a colorful array of new visual and performing arts blooming in the fall.

There’s almost too much to choose from, so we’re sharing our own must-see list. Here’s 10 events and shows we’re looking forward to this fall, a mix of those big art blockbusters with a few lovely little flowers you might have missed. Pick and choose what you will, and let’s all have a very artful autumn.

Mercury turns 15 and gives Houston the present of Mezzo star Susan Graham, September 19

Let’s begin with one heavenly voice as America’s favorite mezzo, (according to Gramophone magazine) and Texas native, Susan Graham comes to Houston to join Mercury for their anniversary concert, an evening of opera arias at the Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater.

Under the baton of artistic director Antoine Plante, this Mercury concert features performances of Haydn’s Symphony No. 85 “The Queen”, and Mozart’s Symphony No. 33, K. 319. Arias will include “When I’m laid in earth” from Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and “Ombra ai fu” from Handel’s Serse.  

Mark Rothko at the MFAH, September 20, 2015-January 24, 2016

While Houston art lover might immediately think Menil when the name Rothko is mentioned, this September it will be the Museum of Fine Arts bringing to Houston Mark Rothko: A Retrospective, a more than 60 painting show spanning the career of this master of Abstract Expressionism.

The MFAH, one of the organizers, will be the sole U.S. venue to present the exhibition from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C, the primary recipient of the paintings Rothko held in his own collection at his death. Over the decades, many Houstonians have found a deep spiritual connection to his Rothko Chapel paintings, and now this retrospective might help us gain a deeper understanding of the depth and breadth of his work.

Houston Grand Opera travels into space, September 23 and 24

Yes, opera lovers won’t want to miss Tosca and Eugene Onegin coming in late October, but our NASA loving hearts are beating to see and hear this world premiere chamber opera, O Columbia, that celebrates human exploration from Sir Walter Raleigh’s journey to the New World to race to break through Earth’s bonds and journey into space. Composer Gregory Spears and librettist Royce Vavrek took inspiration from NASA astronauts, scientists, and engineers to bring the story of exploration from the past into the future.

The Alley Theatre Company heads back into the Alley on October 2

After a year long theatrical field trip to UH during the $46.5 million renovation of the Hubbard Theatre, backstage area, and public spaces of the Alley Theatre building, the company settles back home with the West End and Broadway hit and critical sensation One Man, Two Guvnors.

Look for some pre-season celebrations as well, including a grand opening/ribbon cutting ceremony on September 26 that’s free and open to the public.

The Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (MATCH) melodically opens its doors in October

Houston has a lot of performing and visual artists so it’s no wonder we have to keep building and renovating more places to give them that room to create. Though the big celebrations for this 59,000 square foot facility, with a fixed-seat theater and multi box theaters and gallery spaces, won’t happen until the official opening early next year, many music, dance and theater organizations will be dancing, acting and moving in early this fall.

Watch for Uptown Dance, Apollo Chamber Players, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and Musiqa performances early in October. Main Street Theater’s youth season begins October 11. I’m especially looking forward to the first adult theater event, ReadFest Houston on October 23 and 24, a new play reading series that will feature an intriguing mix of new and old favorite local companies including: Ensemble Theatre, Landing Theater, Hune Co., Wordsmyth, Black Lab and Next Iteration Theatre Company.

Matilda the Musical for all the weird kids of all ages, October 6-18

Some of the best musicals come from the strangest subject matter. Case in point, Matilda the Musical because who wouldn’t want to see Ronald Dahl’s fantastical tale about a telekinetic little girl with negligent parents set to music and given big dance numbers. Matilda is one our must-see shows of the Theatre Under the Stars 2015 season. (Weird fun fact: Matilda the Musical began its kid life as a production of the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon.)

Photographic talent as big as Texas, October 8 - November 15

We’re always on the lookout to look at Texas art, so after getting our design on at the CAM’s Texas Design Now exhibition this late summer (until November 29), we can’t wait for The Houston Center for Photography and FotoFest’s annual Talent in Texas Series. This year’s exhibition on view at the HCP and FotoFest Silver Street Studios goes, This Side of Paradise: New Photographic Work by Texas Artists. Curated by Catherine Anspon, the show will feature 17 artists from across the state.

Pippin Flies into the Hobby, October 20-25

The backstage crew at the Hobby Center have barely enough time to sweep the Sarofim Hall stage floor before Pippin replaces Matilda. Director Diane Paulus’s athletic and acrobatic revival of the Bob Fosse classic about a boy prince’s journey through life won four Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival. Tumble quickly to get your tickets because it’s only in Houston for six days and eight performances.

Elizabeth Streb’s Extreme Action Company defies the Forces of gravity, October 30 and 31

Elizabeth Streb’s Extreme Action Company dancers routinely run into plexiglass walls, dodge swinging steel I-beams, fly through their Whizzing Gizmo and once, for the 2012 Olympics, even danced suspended in midair from the London Eye ferris wheel.

It seems appropriate that for this rare show in Houston, Forces, they’ll be performing their extreme dance feats on Halloween weekend. Even better they’ll be hitting, probably literally, the stage of Miller Outdoor Theatre, so both performances are free.

Ina Garten (aka The Barefoot Contessa) cooks up some foodie tales at Jones Hall, November 4

While the words “culinary” and “art” have gone together for centuries, it seems like only recently that the act of cooking and telling food preparation stories has become its own kind of performance art form we all want to watch. A pioneer of that particular form is Ina Garten.

When she comes to Houston as a part of the Society for the Performing Arts 2015-2016 season, she’ll share stories from the making of her television show and the making of her favorite dishes, entertaining tips and maybe even some recipes. She’s also be taking questions from the audience, so you’ll have the chance to get gastronomically wisdom from this foodie royal. 

Mark Rothko, Red and Pink on Pink, c. 1953, tempera on paper mounted on board with acrylic, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, bequest of Caroline Wiess Law.

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fall theater preview

Sneak peek at the 2026 fall performance slates for 15 Houston companies

Theatre Under the Stars presents The Music Man

Photo courtesy of Theatre Under the Stars

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For theater and performing arts lovers, late summer is the most wonderful time of the year, as stage companies across the city begin their new 2026-2027 seasons. But before the curtains rise, most of those companies also give us the gift of Houston Theater Week and all those buy-one-get-one-free discounts.

To get ready, CultureMap has put together this fall theater guide with the opening shows and dates for each company, as well as taking an early look at what the rest of the fall and holidays will bring. So grab those discounted tickets for a fall filled with blockbuster musicals, dramas, comedies, as well as lots of classics and audience favorites.

A.D. Players opens with Holly Street (August 19)
The spiritual and family friendly theater company began its season a bit early with a poignant world premiere set in small town Kentucky in the 1940s after World War II. Holly Street tells the story of two sisters at Christmas time and two unexpected guests.

The company takes a break for a month and then offers one of the funniest, yet heartwarming holiday plays for all ages withThe Best Christmas Pageant Ever, the beloved comedy about a children’s play that goes wrong.

Houston Ballet opens with Pecos Bill (September 11)
HB says howdy to a great fall season with a mixed rep program that holds something for all dance tastes. The performance includes Stanton Welch’s rollicking ballet version of cowboy folklore, Pecos Bill’s adventures. Performances also feature George Balanchine’s elegant and dynamic Symphonie Concertante, and an HB debut, Meadow, a work by celebrated choreographer Lar Lubovitch.

For the first full story ballet of the fall (September 24), HB brings the opulence of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s now classic and tragic Mamon, the doomed love story between an irresistibly beautiful femme fatale and impoverished student. Of course, in November, it wouldn’t be the holidays without Stanton Welch’s version of The Nutcracker Ballet that brings the story’s focus back to the adventurous Clara.

4th Wall Theatre opens with Proof (September 11)
The first of several Pulitzer Prize-winning plays produced this season comes from this intimate stage. Playwright David Auburn’s Proof is the story of the daughter of a genius mathematician who might have inherited both his aptitude for math and his mental instability. The play travels back and forth through the present and past to study the formulas of family, loss, and love

Over the years, 4th Wall has produced several wild and moving adaptations of Jane Austen novels. This year, it will present Are the Bennet Girls Ok? This new version of the Pride and Prejudice story, that had a recent Off-Broadway debut to much critical praise, tells the Bennet girls’ marriage quests from their mother’s point of view.

Main Street Theater opens with Cold War Choir Practice (September 12)
Also earning lots of recent off-Broadway buzz, this genre-defying comedy with music is one of the most intriguing picks for the fall. In Reagan’s America, a young girl is embroiled in intrigue when her estranged uncle, a prominent Black conservative, brings his mysteriously ill, white wife home for the holidays and forces long-simmering tensions within the family to boil.

From Victorian England to a fast food joint, theaters across the world and certainly in Houston have put Dickens’s Christmas Carol into a multitude of settings. For the holidays, MST invites Houstonians to a Dublin pub for An Irish Carol, where rich owner David has lost touch with his own humanity in the interest of self-protection and material success. Now on Christmas Eve, a voice from the past will ask David to look at his relationships in the past, present, and possible future to perhaps change his life for the better.

Theatre Under the Stars opens presenting The Music Man (September 15)
TUTS changes its usual mix of more self-produced shows than touring shows, leaning in on presenting this season. The season begins with this classic musical comedy about a charming con man who gets conned himself by small town sincerity and love.

The touring hits continue in October with Mrs. Doubtfire, the musical based on the Robin Williams comedy about a divorced man who disguises himself as a British nanny to take care of his kids. Then for the holidays, TUTS brings back its own leviathan-sized production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid for under the sea family fun with a cast filled with Houston singing sensations, including students from the TUTS schools.

Rec Room opens with Amadeus (September 17)
The east-ish downtown theater company decided to take some time off after last year's productions of Angels in American to switch from a calendar year season to the traditional fall/spring season that most Houston companies use. Now they’re back and celebrating their 10 year anniversary with plays Houstonians haven’t seen in quite a while, or ever, on a local professional stage. The season begins with the now classic 20th century play about the (mostly one-sided) rivalry between composers Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and its exploration of jealousy and the nature of genius.

For the ultimate holiday show counter programming, Rec Room will produce a new adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo’s The Accidental Death of an Anarchist. It’s Christmas time at the police station, as Rec Room reimagines Fo’s groundbreaking political farce of the 1970s as a contemporary American satire infused with detective noir, Cold War paranoia, and sharp absurdity.

Ensemble Theatre opens with Purpose (September 18)
Ensemble celebrates its 50th season with this recent Best Play Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner by Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins about a prominent and political Black family, the Jenkins. While the patriarch was a leader in the Civil Rights movement, the adult sons are having trouble living up to their father’s legacy. Generational aspirations come to a comic clash for one particularly awkward but purposeful family dinner.

For the holidays, the company brings back an audience favorite, the joyful and soulful A Motown Christmas, which melds Motown hits and choreography with traditional holiday classics.

Stages opens with Come From Away (September 19)
Based on the true story, this poignant and hopeful musical tells the story of a small town in Newfoundland that rallied together to host thousands of stranded international travelers after planes were grounded September 11, 2001. It’s been a few years since Come From Away toured nationally, so Houstonians are definitely looking forward to seeing Stages begin its season with an intimate and homegrown production.

In October, Stages jumps from a musical with a large cast of characters to The Roommate, the Jen Silverman comedy about two 50-something women with very different personalities and life experiences who begin living together. For the holidays, it brings back another audience favorite with all the music, fun, and wild plots found in The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical.

Alley Theatre opens fall with Romeo and Juliet (September 25)
While technically the thrilling Girl on the Train began its 26-27 season, the Alley heats up the fall with the play that originated the term star-crossed lovers and is arguably the greatest romantic tragedy in literature. The entire resident acting company will take the stage in Shakespeare’s wrenching tale of young lovers crushed between their warring families.

In October, the Alley leaps from a classic of world literature to a world premiere satire with Uhuru. This play explores very contemporary themes of access and identity as it follows a group of climbers up Mount Kilimanjaro. Uhuru was developed as part of the Alley All New play reading season. For the holidays, look for both Alley artistic director, Rob Melrose’s, lovely adaptation of A Christmas Carol as well as its very contemporary Texas version of The Night Shift Before Christmas.

Broadway at the Hobby Center opens with The Sound of Music (September 29)
Musical lovers might want to see if the Hobby Center will rent a room this fall, because the TUTS and Broadway combined schedules will fill Sarofim Hall with the sound of music almost every week, including the actual Sound of Music. One of the most beloved musicals of all time, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s story of the von Trapp family and the woman who brought music into their lives tours the country again with new direction from three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien (Hairspray).

Then, just in time for spooky season, the ghost-est with the mostest, the irrepressible Beetlejuice, returns to haunt Houston after being a surprising comic hit a few seasons ago. Then, the Tony Award-winning Buena Vista Social Club arrives. Depicting the backstage story of the Grammy-winning album of the same name, the show transports audiences into the heart of Cuba, beyond the glitz of the Tropicana into the soul of the music.

Houston Grand Opera opens with Susannah (October 23)
Continuing its centenary celebration for the great American composer Carlisle Floyd, HGO opens its season with this tragic beauty of an opera inspired by Floyd’s childhood as a minister’s son. With a score infused with revival hymns and Appalachian folksong, the opera depicts life in a small Tennessee town and the gossip, judgement, and hypocrisy that leads to the ruin of one innocent woman.

HGO elevates spooky season with upGounod’s masterpiece Faust in late October. This production from acclaimed Scottish director David McVicar reimagines Faust as a tormented composer in Belle Époque Paris, before making a deal with the devil for youth and earthly pleasures.

Other fall debuts

While it might only be producing one show this fall, Houstonians still have these plays from some of the city's mid-sized and smaller companies on their must-see lists. In early September, Mildred’s Umbrella gets mad with Jen Silverman’s Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties, a sharp comedy with its synopsis in the title as it depicts the lives of five very different women all named Betty. The recently announced Catastrophic Theatre season scheduled the majority of its shows in 2027, but in September the company will revive Eugene Ionesco’s epic absurdest play, Rhinoceros, about a small town whose citizens begin to transform into a herd of giant horned mammals.

In mid-October, Dirt Dogs presents one of those great dinner parties from hell plays with Donald Margulies’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Dinner with Friends about one couple’s divorce that leads their best friends to question their own marriages. Also in October, Classical Theatre opens its season with one of George Bernard Shaw’s wittiest works from his “Plays Pleasant” collection, Arms and the Man, about a young woman who has romanticized war until she decides to shelter a war-weary enemy soldier.

Photo courtesy of Theatre Under the Stars

Theatre Under the Stars presents The Music Man