raise the curtain

Harry Potter and Wicked star in Broadway at the Hobby Center's new season

Something supernatural stirs within the just announced Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center 2026-2027 season, as blockbuster shows like Death Becomes Her, Wicked, Beetlejuice, and yes, the record breaking Harry Potter and the Cursed Child bring their mesmerizing magic to Houston.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child North American tour

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Broadway at the Hobby Center presents Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Beyond these musical and dramatic enchantments, the season offers the freshest Broadway sensations like Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen, Buena Vista Social Club, Boop! The Musical, and The Notebook. Plus, the Hobby Center will come alive with a new revival of The Sound of Music and the return of Jersey Boys.

“What a season! In recent years, an incredible volume of new musicals have opened on Broadway. The 2026-2027 Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center Season brings the very best of those to Houston with hits like Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her, and Hell’s Kitchen, a few of my personal favorites,” Hobby Center president and CEO Mark Folkes said in a statement. “We balance these productions with return visits of much-loved shows like Jersey Boys and Wicked and a timeless production of The Sound of Music. One of the things that makes Houston unique is our Broadway audiences love plays. For that reason, and more, we’re thrilled to welcome Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Hobby Center audiences are in for a well-balanced season we know they'll love.”

Let’s take a closer look at what Broadway at the Hobby Center will conjure up for Houston beginning in the fall.

The Sound of Music (September 29-October 4, 2026)
One of the most beloved musicals of all time, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music tours the country again with new direction from three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien (Hairspray). But Sound fans shouldn’t worry, because, while a new generation of actors take on the roles of Maria, Captain von Trapp, and the von Trapp kids, the story of love, family, and bravery in the face of evil remains the same — and so do the songs. Prepare to sing along (quietly) to “Climb Every Mountain,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” and, of course, “The Sound of Music.”

Buena Vista Social Club (November 17-22, 2026)
It wouldn’t be a new season of Broadway at Hobby without a few recent Tony award winners, and Buena Vista garnered five last year. Putting a story to the Grammy-winning iconic album of the same name, the show transports audiences into the heart of Cuba, beyond the glitz of the Tropicana. Here, they’ll discover a place where blazing trumpets and sizzling guitars set the dance floor on fire. Inspired by true events, one woman discovers the music that will change her life forever. A world-class band joins a sensational cast of actors and dancers from across the globe for this Buena Vista experience.

The Notebook (January 5-10, 2027)
The season gets literary in the new year with this musical adaptation of the best-selling Nicholas Sparks novel that later became the ultimate romantic film about a love that conquered obstacles and time itself. The show is directed by Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen, Next to Normal, Rent) and Schele Williams (The Wiz, Aida), with a book by Bekah Brunstetter (NBC’s “This Is Us”). Allie and Noah’s iconic love story also inspired beautiful music by multi-platinum singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson.

Boop! The Musical (January 19-24)
Based on the 1930s animated character Betty Boop, the musical teleports super-celebrity, cartoon Betty from her black and white world to a colorful, three dimensional New York City. Though at first overwhelmed to journey into the vivid real world, Betty soon sets off on an adventure and maybe even finds romance and love. Boop! comes from an award winning creative team, including Tony winning director Jerry Mitchell, with music from Grammy winner David Foster and book from Tony winner Bob Martin.

Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen (March 5-14)
The multi-Grammy winning superstar, Alicia Keys, used her own life, music, and community as inspiration for this critical sensation. The show tells the story of 17-year-old Ali growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, New York in the 90s, as she strives for her independence and looks for her place in the world. The music she encounters daily and the artists of her community inspire her to dream and make her own musical mark. Listen for a mix of some of Keys’ greatest hits and new songs she wrote exclusively for the show, all brought to life through exhilarating choreography

Death Becomes Her (April 20-25)
It also wouldn’t be a Broadway season without at least a few shows based on blockbuster movies. The bitting satire and supernatural elements of the original Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis 90s blockbuster makes for hilarious material to build this deadly funny show. Some people will do anything to look eternally fabulous. But famous actress Madeline Ashton and her best frenemy Helen Sharp are about to go too far — thanks to a mysterious woman named Viola Van Horn and a secret potion that’s to die for.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (June 1-13)
The boy who lived grew up to have a magical son of his own. Now, as Harry’ head-strong son Albus sets off for his own adventures at Hogwarts, it sets the stage for the next generation of magical stories and some of the most spectacular theatrical special effects you’ll see live and in person. When Albus befriends the son of Harry's fiercest rival, Draco Malfoy, it sparks an unbelievable new journey for them all, and maybe they'll find the power to change the past and future forever. While this show is sure to thrill the kid in all of us, it also cast a spell during award season, winning six Tony Awards, including Best Play.

Jersey Boys (August 17-22)
The boys are back in town, bringing in one of the most successful biographical musicals of all time. Celebrating 20 years, this show that’s become a musical legend tells the story of those singing guys from Jersey who put together a little group called Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Relive their onstage harmonies and offstage drama, while dancing in your seat to all their hits including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh What a Night,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” and “Working My Way Back to You.”

Along with these eight main selections, the 2026-2027 Broadway package brings back two favorites as season options.

Beetlejuice (November 3-8)
Say his name, say his name, say his name and prepare for chaotic, ghostly fun in this musical based on the '80s Tim Burton film. (BTW, that film now could be seen as a timely exploration of property rights and home renovations when the previous owners won’t move on — because they’re dead).

While the two movie showstoppers “The Banana Boat Song” and "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)” will still have us dancing in our Hobby Center seats, listen for brand new songs written for the show by Eddie Perfect.

Wicked (June 23-July 24)
Everyone's favorite witches fly to Houston for an extended stay when Wicked, the show that defied musical history to become a global phenomenon and film sensation returns. Inspired by The Wizard of Oz, the musical tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a woman with emerald-green skin and a bubbly blonde — until the world decides to call one good and the other wicked. The thrilling score includes the hits “Defying Gravity,” “Popular” and “For Good.”

Broadway at the Hobby Center 7-show and 8-show subscription packages go on sale beginning at 11 am on Tuesday, February 3. Prices start at $331 for 7-show packages and $369 for 8-show packages. Subscribers may add the return of one or both of Beetlejuice and Wicked as season options.

On-sale dates for individual shows will be announced throughout the year.

performing-arts broadway at the hobby center

Best April Theater

The 9 best plays, musicals, and operas to see in Houston this month

Photo by Joan Marcus

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Houston theater companies seem to be feeling a bit nostalgic as they offer up some timeless and contemporary classics shows for audiences this month. Drama gets political, comedy gets historical, and an array of queens, knights, lunching ladies, and barbers sing. Celebrate the classics, and one world premiere, as theater blossoms across the city this month.

Brother Andrew at A.D. Players (now through April 26)
The family friendly and spiritual theater company's latest new work is this musical inspired by the New York Times Bestseller, God's Smuggler. The true story follows a young Dutch man who, after a dramatic conversion, takes on a new calling as Brother Andrew and risks his life to smuggle Bibles behind the iron curtain during the cold war. With music and lyrics by Christian rock star Neal Morse, Brother Andrew becomes an inspirational, thrilling musical, and Houston theater goers can be the first to see it.

Six presented by Broadway at the Hobby Center (April 7-12)
Let’s sing out “Yas, Queens!” as six divas take the Hobby stage once more to have (and belt) it out over who had a worst marriage to the king of bad husbands, Henry VIII. With those marriage outcomes being: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived, they’ve got a lot to sing about. Coincidentally resembling some of the hottest pop stars of our age, the 16th century royals: Catherine, Anne, Jane, Anna, Katherine with aK, and the second Catherine with a C (Henry had a type for names), finally get to tell their own side of the story in this theatrical concert extravaganza. Six is one of those rare musicals that after many years is still going strong on Broadway, but you don’t have book a flight to seek an audiences with the queens, as Broadway at Hobby brings them back to Houston.

Company from Garden Theatre (April 10-19)
Garden continues to celebrate its fifth season by remounting some of its audience's favorite shows, and the final musical of the season is no exception. Stephen Sondheim’s exploration of New York marriages through the eyes of a single and singular man, Bobby, also gave us Sondheim fans some of our most adored songs, like “Ladies Who Lunch” and “Being Alive.” Through a series of dinner parties, first dates, and candid conversations, Bobby explores the highs, lows, and absurdities of modern relationships, gaining insight into marriage, commitment, and his own persistent bachelorhood. Garden Theatre’s founding artistic director Logan Vaden, plays Bobby, alongside a cast of Garden regulars.

The Designated Mourner from Catastrophic Theatre (April 10-25)
Because of scheduling and production issues, Catastrophic made some changes to its announced season and brought back this contemporary political classic by American playwright and actor Wallace Shawn. Unfolding in a series of monologues and short scenes, three characters, a husband, wife, and her father, talk us through a labyrinthine tale spanning the years before, during, and after a populist uprising in an unnamed country. Now teetering on the edge of authoritarianism, the government has targeted artists and intellectuals for imprisonment and execution. Catastrophic co-founder Jason Nodler, who will direct, says the power of Designated Mourner is that it pushes audiences to reflect on their own beliefs and ideals if confronted by such circumstances. Previous productions have left audiences thinking and questioning long after the final lines.

Spamalot presented by Theatre Under the Stars (April 15-26)
Clap your coconut shells together as the revival of the smash Broadway hit clops into Houston. As the original description so honestly stated, Spamalot is lovingly ripped from the film classic, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but fans know the musical definitely expands on the film.

Follow King Arthur and his nights of the Round Table on a set of meandering adventures through ancient England, a land full of flying cows, killer rabbits, French taunters, dancing girls, shrubbery, and watery lake tarts dispensing swords. While this revival garnered critical acclaim on Broadway for its new design and staging, the original book, lyrics, and music by Python member Eric Idle still remain, so expect to sing along with knightly songs like “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” “The Song That Goes Like This,” and “Find Your Grail.”

Othello from Classical Theatre Company (April 16-May 2)
The Houston theater company that specializes in bringing new perspectives to theatrical masterpieces describes its 18th season as “sad plays for sad days.” In keeping with that theme, it brings the always complex and provocative Othello to the DeLuxe stage.

The play follows the heroic Moorish general in the Venetian army, Othello, whose life is destroyed by his insidious and conniving ensign, Iago. Calling Othello his favorite Shakespeare play, company founder John Johnston finds many parallels between the play and our current political landscape, especially Othello’s blight and Iago’s ability to manipulate others using fear and racism as a wedge.

Messiah from Houston Grand Opera (April 17-May 3)
As the music rises to the heavens, the Wortham stage will be filled with images reminiscent of fantastic dreams in this rare staging of Handel’s Messiah, arranged by Mozart, as a full operatic production. Though classical music lovers likely are more accustomed to hearing Handel’s Messiah as a holiday tradition in concert halls, Wilson’s acclaimed production becomes a surreal, transformative experience.

Performed by the HGO Orchestra and Chorus alongside soprano Ying Fang, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, tenor Benjamin Bliss, and bass-baritone Nicholas Newtona, as well as internationally celebrated dancer Alexis Fousekis, this Messiah production will be one audiences will not soon forget.

Fences at Alley Theatre (April 17-May 10)
It’s been some time since the Alley produced a work by August Wilson, one of the great American playwrights of the late 20th century, but this Pulitzer and Tony winner is certainly a momentous one to welcome Wilson’s work back to the Hubbard stage. Fences tells the story of a former baseball player, Troy Maxson, who struggles with the realities of life and the pursuit of happiness. The play explores themes of racial prejudice and unfulfilled dreams, while depicting the challenges of parenthood and the strength and bonds of family when they are tested.

The Barber of Seville from Houston Grand Opera (April 24-May 10)
One of the most beloved comic operas, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville gets a colorful and exhilarating new staging created and directed by Joan Font, founding director of the Barcelona-based company Comediants. The opera follows the story of the dashing Count Almaviva, who is captivated by the mysterious Rosina but thwarted in his pursuit by her pompous old guardian, Dr. Bartolo. In order to get close to the cloistered beauty, Almaviva enlists the help of the scheming barber Figaro and his clever tricks, leading to a series of elaborate disguises, intercepted letters, and outrageous mix-ups before true love triumphs at last.

Photo by Joan Marcus

Broadway at the Hobby Center presents Six.

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Best April Theater

The 9 best plays, musicals, and operas to see in Houston this month