Spring blooms a wild diversity of shows on Houston stages this March. Houstonians can do some time traveling at the Hobby Center, going back to the past for some 1920s and 30s set big Broadway musicals before heading Back to the Future. Theater companies are also inviting us to some delicious onstage comic teas and dinner parties. Emotional dramas bring us stories of life’s devastations and survivals, and the Houston Ballet joins the Frida Kahlo fanfare with the soaring Broken Wings.
The Great Gatsby presented by Broadway at the Hobby Center (March 3-8)
Travel back in time to the Roaring Twenties for this glitzy, glamorous musical based on the classic American novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 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 might just leave audiences partying on after the curtain falls.
The Importance of Being Earnest at Alley Theatre (March 6-29)
The Alley gets witty and Wilde with one of the great classical comedies filled with friendship, romance, and much spilling of tea, both literal and figurative. No one is earnest but practically everyone is called Ernest when two friends create alternate egos in order to lead one life in the city and one in the country. Mix in two lovely society ladies, a judgmental grand dame who gets all the best lines, a ditzy but aging governess, a confused parish rector, and life changing piece of lost luggage. Oscar Wilde brewed this all together to give audiences a satire that’s retained its sparkle for over a century. Alley artistic director Rob Melrose conducts the chaos with a cast of Alley resident actors and Houston stage veterans.
Broken Wings from Houston Ballet (March 12-22)
One Houston institution is not enough to hold our love for Frida Kahlo. Houston Ballet adds to the Museum of Fine Arts Fridamania with this mixed-rep production. The title work is choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s celebrated ballet depicting the drama of Kahlo’s life and beauty of her art and self-creation. Taking audiences into the mind and imagination of Kahlo, Broken Wings features three human characters, with male dancers representing Kahlo’s self-portraits, symbolizing her strength and grounded nature.
Along with Ochao’s ballet portrait of Kahlo, each performance will also feature Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort, a danced contemplation on life and death that's set to two of Mozart’s most beloved piano concertos. Rounding out the program, HB artistic director Stanton Welch has created a world premiere ballet set to composer Mason Bates’ “Stereo is King" composition, which features cultural instruments like Thai gongs and Tibetan prayer-bowls amid tribal grooves and surreal ambience.
Mrs Krishnan's Party presented by Performing Arts Houston (March 12-22)
Immersive and interactive theater gets joyous with this production from New Zealand’s Indian Ink Theatre Company and brought to Houston by PAH in partnership with the Asia Society Texas. Mrs Krishnan is throwing a party, and we’re all invited. What starts as a small gathering in the back room of her convenience store quickly becomes a full-blown celebration when dozens of unexpected guests (that’s us) turn up.
Garlands decorate the ceiling, music flows, and food simmers on the stove as Mrs Krishnan and her tenant, a wannabe DJ named James, cook up dhal and rice right in front of her guests. The party celebrates Onam, a beloved South Indian harvest festival — think Diwali, Holi, or Easter. Ticketed seating for the show allows the audience to choose whether they’d like to participate, and maybe help cook, or hang back and just observe, but everyone is invited to taste the dhal at the end.
Of Mice and Men from Houston Grand Opera (March 13 and 15)
HGO continues its showcase of American opera with this new and special production of Carlisle Floyd’s 20th century classic. Based on John Steinbeck’s great American novel, the influential 1970 opera was composed by Floyd to his own libretto and blends folk tunes and blues melodies to create a haunting score. Set during the Great Depression, the opera depicts the lives of two laborers looking for farm work: George (bass-baritone Sam Dhobhany) and Lennie (tenor Demetrious Sampson Jr.). Together, the friends set out to pursue their piece of the American Dream, but their story ends in tragedy.
Choir Boy at Ensemble Theatre (March 20-April 12)
Ensemble introduces audiences to this play that was a critical darling in London and on Broadway in 2019. Though a play, Choir Boy uses occasional bursts of soaring music to tell the story of Pharus, the star singer in the choir of an elite prep school for boys. As we follow Pharus’s school days, always steeped with music, we meet his fellow choir members, antagonists, and teachers in a rehearsal halls and classrooms filled with pride but also hypocrisy. As the characters navigate issues of bullying, identity, and sexuality, Choir Boy unfolds a coming-of-age story that highlights human difference and multifaceted characters whose lives hold together through the humanity they share and the beautiful music they make.
Some Like It Hot presented by Broadway at the Hobby Center (March 24-29)
People who like musicals with lots of big dance productions, this Tony winner for best choreography is the show to see. Based on the gender-bending, beloved Marilyn Monroe film, the Prohibition set story gives chase to Joe and Jerry, two club musicians who are forced to flee Chicago after witnessing a mob hit. To escape with their lives, 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.
Red Maple from Mighty Acorn Productions (March 26-April 4)
The plot of two married couples airing dirty laundry during a disastrous dinner party has been a theater staple for decades, but in this contemporary comedy by David Bunce, the dinner devastation is taken to deadly extremes. Facing dueling midlife crisis, two couples, who are long time friends, meet for a dinner to lend each other support. As they dig in, secrets are revealed, and then a surprise party crasher throws their lives into greater disarray. The comedy holds lots of dramatic emotional moments while exploring the importance of connection and shared humanity. Fittingly, Red Maple grows from Mighty Acorn, an actor producing company that’s given us several outstanding, thoughtful shows at MATCH over the seasons.
Tiny Beautiful Things at Stages (March 27-April 19)
Based on the Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling book chronicling her time as the advice columnist “Sugar,” the play brings to life the stories of the women and men struggling with challenges and seeking guidance from a stranger. This is theater from creators with lots of film cred, as Things was adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and of course the Reese Witherspoon’s film Wild brought to the screen another of Strayed's memoirs depicting her own journey of self-discovery on a 1,000 mile hike.
Leopoldstadt at Main Street Theater (March 28-April 26)
Last year, the world lost one of the most acclaimed and beloved contemporary playwrights with the death of Tom Stoppard. With its sprawling chronicle of the lives and generations of one Jewish family in Vienna from the late 19th century to post World War II, Leopoldstadt would have likely been considered one of Stoppard’s best works, even if it hadn’t been his last. Leopoldstadt garnered almost every award possible, including the Tony for best play when it was produced on Broadway. While other theater companies in Houston have staged Stoppard’s plays, MST has been a devotee, tackling some of his most expansive works over the years, so their production of Leopoldstadt has been on our must-see list even before Stoppard’s passing. We can’t wait to see this epic and shattering play performed by some of Houston’s best character actors in the intimate MST space.
Back to the Future: The Musical presented by Theatre Under the Stars (March 31-April 5)
TUTS invites us to hop into their DeLorean to travel back to the 50s with a pitstop in the 80s as they present the Broadway musical sensation based on the iconic Robert Zemeckis movie. Bob Gale, who wrote the original screenplay with Zemeckis writes the book for the musical. But for this live onstage version, Marty McFly, Doc, and even bully Biff sing.
The show includes both original music and songs featured in the film, like "The Power of Love,” "Earth Angel,” "Johnny B. Goode,” and "Back in Time.” To save the present and future, teen Marty must travel back in time to his parents’ past. Stranded in the alien land of 1950s suburbia, he must team up with the younger version of his mentor, Doc Brown. When the show first premiered to raves from audiences, it was said to have some of the most impressive theatrical effects ever seen on London’s West End and then Broadway. Strap in and prepare to break the musical time barrier.
