Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center just announced their 2025-2026 season, and this might be one of the freshest and most literary lineups ever. Gone are the days when Houston musical lovers had to either fly to New York or wait many years for the hottest show to tour. Several of these big shows only debuted on Broadway a year or two ago, and the season brings to Houston both the Tony-winning Best Musicals for 2023 and 2024, Kimberly Akimbo and The Outsiders. Yet, for such a selection of recent smash hits, many of these shows look to timeless novels and stories for inspiration.

“Over the past couple of years, so many exciting new musicals have opened on Broadway,” said Hobby Center President and CEO Mark Folkes about the season. “The 2025-2026 Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center Season welcomes a dynamic group of productions to Houston, including the Tony Award winning best new musicals from each of the past two Broadway seasons. Boasting classics and family favorites to fresh new shows, this is a season that will absolutely thrill Houston audiences.”

While we’ve got plenty of performances still to see for the rest of the 2024-2025 season, let the musical anticipation begin.

Kimberly Akimbo (September 30-October 5, 2025)
Winner of the 2023 Best Book, Best Score, and Best Musical Tony Awards, this bittersweet musical comedy won over audiences and critics alike. The show follows the story of teen Kimberly, who struggles with a rare genetic disorder and fitting in when she moves to a new town in suburban New Jersey. Kimberly makes wishes for a better life, as she navigates her family’s dysfunction, unrequited love, clueless friends and possible felony charges. Ever the optimist, she is determined to find happiness against all odds and take a journey on at least one great adventure.

A Beautiful Noise: the Neil Diamond Musical (November 4-9, 2025)
In the tradition of jukebox musicals about music stars like Jersey Boys and Tina, this latest musical biography puts the life of Neil Diamond at center stage. Created in collaboration with Diamond himself, the show chronicles his beginnings as a poor kid from Brooklyn to became a chart-busting, American showman with 120 million albums sold. Featuring some of the biggest songs of Diamond’s catalogue, including “Sweet Caroline,” “Love on the Rocks,” and “Kentucky Woman,” Beautiful Noise draws connections between the songs’ powerful lyrics and important moments in Diamond’s life.

The Outsiders (November 18-23, 2025)
The most recent Best Musical Tony Award-winner on the list is based on the classic young adult novel by S. E. Hinton, as well as Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film adaptation. Set in 1960s Oklahoma, The Outsiders tells the story of orphan Ponyboy Curtis, his brothers, his best friend Johnny Cade and their Greaser found-family of ‘outsiders.’ Always in battle with the upper-class Socs, the Greasers live in a world of violence where “nothing gold can stay” but dream about a better life filled with love and acceptance. Yet in the end, hope might live in the act of storytelling.

Disney’s Beauty & the Beast (January 6-18, 2026)
Thirty years ago, Disney made theatrical history and put its lasting mark on Broadway with the timeless story of Belle and her beastly prince. Houston was a part of that history, as the musical had an early tryout here. Now, get ready for a new production to celebrate the 30th anniversary. While beloved songs like “Be Our Guest” and “Beauty and the Beast”remain the same, look for spectacular new sets and costumes. Reuniting to create this new production are members of the original Tony Award-winning artistic team, including composer Alan Menken, lyricist Tim Rice, book writer Linda Woolverton, with direction and choreography by Matt West.

Water for Elephants (January 27-February 1, 2026)
Another Broadway show in the lineup inspired by a novel — in this case the best-selling historical romance by Sara Gruen — Water for Elephants was a critics’ favorite in 2024. After losing what matters most, a young man jumps a moving train unsure of where the tracks will take him and finds a new home, family, and love among the remarkable crew of a traveling circus. Seen through the eyes of his older self, his adventure becomes a poignant reminder that if you choose the ride, life can begin again at any age. Experience all the light, color, and music of a 1930s circus in this emotional extravaganza.

The Great Gatsby (March 3-8, 2026)
We travel back to the Roaring Twenties for this glitzy, glamorous musical based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's great American novel. The show takes us into Gatsby’s jazz-age world filled with wealth and nonstop parties. But that ritzy facade hides stories of lost love, failed relationships, and tragedy. Director Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) brings this story of extravagance and longing to life onstage set to a jazz and pop-influenced original score that will leave audiences roaring for more.

Some Like It Hot (March 24-29)
If you like your musicals with lots of big dance productions, this Tony winner for best choreography is the show for you. Based on the gender-bending, beloved Marilyn Monroe film, the Prohibition-set story follows Joe and Jerry, two club musicians who are forced to flee Chicago after witnessing a mob hit. To escape, they join an all-women jazz band headed to California. Joining the band, of course, requires some changes in outfits and outlooks. The music and spectacular dance numbers give Some Like It Hot an old-Broadway, retro feel, while the bold, updated lyrics and book deliver a 21st century sensibility.

Clue (June 9-14)
The one play in the lineup is the ultimate comic whodunit based on the cult 80s film, which was based on the classic board game. Six mysterious guests, who may or may not know each other, assemble at Boddy Manor to dine on red herring and then play a little after dinner game of blackmail, threats, and murder. Was it Mrs. Peacock in the study with the knife, Colonel Mustard in the library with the wrench, or Miss Scarlet in conservatory with a candlestick? Did the butler do it all along? Or perhaps the twisty ending only leads to more comic thrills.

The season also boasts two additional optional selections, audience favorites making their return to Houston. In February, 2026, the road to hell is full of bad intentions but the best music as the Tony winning Hadestown entwines the ancient Greek love stories of Hades and Persephone with Orpheus and Eurydice into one epic show. As the first song, “Road to Hell” spoils, don’t expect a happily-ever-after with these stories, but do listen for a different bluesy take on these classic Greek myths.

  

Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Broadway at the Hobby Center presents The Great Gatsby.

Then April, 2026 brings a rocking version of British history, as the Sixwives of Henry VIII engage in a singing competition over who had the worst marriage. With those marriage outcomes being: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived, they’ve got a lot to sing about.