September might just be the best and busiest month for theater and performing arts lovers in Houston. Local theater companies begin their 25-26 seasons and presenters bring in some of the biggest shows of the year.
Across the city, stages rock on with killer musicals, thrilling drama, and cutting comedy. We’ve got plays and musicals with some blockbuster cinematic history, shows with Tony Award-winning credentials, and dramas to inspire. And if that’s not enough, the Houston Ballet struts its stuff with the classics — classic rock that is.
American Psycho from Houston Broadway Theatre (September 2-September 14)
As one of Houston’s newest theater companies, HBT won attention for their anything but ordinary Next to Normal production last year. For their second show, they’re staging this killer musical based on the best-selling novel by Bret Easton Ellis and the now iconic 2000 film. The novel, film, and musical chronicle the fashion-perfect life of Patrick Bateman, a slick New York investment banker turned serial killer at night. Or is he?
This musical version of the twisty story first debuted in London in 2013 with music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Duncan Sheik and book by noted television and film writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The show made its move to Broadway a few years later. Now, the creative team are working with HBT and director Joe Calarco on a revised script and score for a new vision of the thriller musical.
The Last Yiddish Speaker from Mildred’s Umbrella (September 4-21)
Early this year, the partnership between Mildred’s, Houston’s original women-focused theater company, and the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC brought us one of our favorite productions of the winter, the poignant and surprising The Wanderers. This next offering seems to be a very timely dystopian play. A teen, Sarah, struggles to get through her high school senior year while dealing with the usual stresses like moving to a new town and making new friends. But not so usual is a dark version of America, where an insurrection was successful and everything has changed. When an ancient Yiddish-speaking woman is deposited on their doorstep, Sarah and her father must decide whether to help the woman hide or to save themselves.
Onegin from Houston Ballet (September 5-14)
Ballet gets theatrical with the return of legendary choreographer John Cranko’s Onegin. Based on Alexander Pushkin’s novel Eugene Onegin and set to a dramatic score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, this ballet weaves a tragic love story set in 19th-century Russia. The worldly aristocrat Onegin must face a life of regret when he rejects the love of the innocent, devoted Tatiana. Years later, he must face the consequences of his choices.
Dancing Lessons from Lionwoman Productions (September 10-21)
Lionwoman roared onto the Houston theater scene last year with some impressive theatrical and producing experience from the company’s founder, Michelle Britton. As a follow up, they're presenting Mark St. Germain’s comedy about a scientist in need of dance lessons to avoid social embarrassment and a professional dancer who turned to teaching after an injury ended her career. While she looks to the past and what might have been, her new pupil pursues dance with an almost scientific methodology. Together, they take steps towards an unlikely friendship. Britton will direct.
Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch at Main Street Theater (September 13-October 12)
MST opens and celebrates their momentous 50th season with this satirical comedy. Ossie Davis’s Purlie Victorious debuted on Broadway in 1961. Davis starred as Purlie, a traveling preacher who returns to his small Georgia town hoping to save the community’s church and emancipate the cotton pickers who work on oppressive Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee’s plantation. The show was later turned into a Tony-nominated musical. After a somewhat fallow period, the original play caught Broadway acclaim from critics and audiences alike with a New York revival two years ago. MST gives Purlie its much deserved regional premiere with a stellar local cast.
Kimberly Akimbo presented by Broadway at the Hobby Center (September 16-21)
The second of this month’s several shows about teens in extraordinary situations, Kimberly Akimbo also opens the big Broadway at the Hobby season. The show won many Tony Awards in 2023, including Best Musical. As the musical opens, Kimberly struggles with both ordinary high school drama, like fitting in at a new school, hanging out with outcast friends, and dodgy relatives. But Kimberly also has a rare genetic disorder that causes her to appear much older than she is. The bittersweet comedy follows Kimberly’s crazy life as she navigates her family dysfunction, unrequited love, clueless friends, and possible felony charges.
Rock, Roll & Tutus from Houston Ballet (September 18-28)
For their rocking second production of the month, Houston Ballet presents four contemporary dances, including recent creations and audience favorites. Premiering just last year, Houston's own choreographic sensation ISHIDA’s new work, what i was thinking while i was waltzing, offers a kinetic meditation on memory and human connections. The celebratory Illuminate, by Houston Ballet Soloist Jacquelyn Long, explores how inspiration leads to creation.
The company plays with fire for Christopher Bruce’s Rolling Stones inspired Rooster. With cool, strutting movements and some of the Stones’ best songs from the 60s, this one is a true crowd pleaser. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Houston Ballet mixed-rep production without at least one work from co-artistic director Stanton Welch. In Vi et animo, Latin for “with heart and soul,” Welch’s choreography will showcase Houston Ballet’s full ensemble in all their athletic power and elegance.
Endgame from Catastrophic Theatre (September 19-October 11)
Houston’s home for Absurdism and avant garde theater opens its fall season with this Samuel Beckett classic that defies easy description. Amid some dystopian landscape, a blind despot Hamm (who can’t stand up) lords over his weary attendant Clov (who can’t sit down). Each is dependent and endlessly complaining about the other. And let’s not forget Hamm’s parents who occasionally offer commentary and monologues while living (and perhaps dying) in separate trash cans. As one of the few Houston companies who regularly produce Beckett plays in all their dark comic glory, Endgame has become something of a favorite for the company, as they've brought it to stage in 1995 and 2012. Catastrophic co-artistic director, Jason Nodler once again directs a cast of company core artists, including Greg Dean, reprising his role as Hamm, Luis Galindo, Jeff Miller, and Julia Oppenheim.
Eureka Day at 4th Wall Theatre (September 19-October 11)
For its 15th season, 4th Wall offers their own production of this recent Tony winning Broadway hit that couldn’t be more timely. When a mumps outbreak hits a progressive private school in Berkeley, California, parents must navigate personal freedoms, public health, and the chaos of online discourse. As the school’s executive committee struggles to reach an agreement, they face a pressing question: How do you find consensus when no one agrees on the truth? 4th Wall’s artistic director Jennifer Dean directs a company that includes 4th Wall’s founders, Kim Tobin-Lehl and Philip Lehl.
Akeelah and the Bee at Ensemble Theatre (September 19-October 12)
Extraordinary kids and adolescents are definitely a theme this month, and another one takes the stage as Ensemble Theatre opens its momentous 49th season with this heart-warming drama. Based on the 2006 Keke Palmer film about a girl from South Central Los Angles, young Akeelah Anderson has a talent for words. Though she faces many personal and family challenges, the pressures of her tough neighborhood, and societal obstacles, she won’t let that stop her from succeeding in the national spelling bee. Ensemble artistic director, Eileen J. Morris, helms this inspirational production.
The Lehman Trilogy at Stages (September 19-October 12)
This Tony Award winner for best play depicts a truly American story of ambition, risk, capitalism, and family in all their complexities. The show chronicles Hayum Lehmann's arrival to United States from Bavaria in the mid-1800s. Changing his name to Henry Lehman, he begins a new life in America, setting up a small fabric shop in Montgomery, Alabama. As he reunites with his brothers, year-by-year the family builds a business to hand down to their descendants. Over generations that business will transform into one of the most powerful finance firms in the world — until the crash of 2008 brings it all tumbling down. Local actors Spencer Plachy, Orlando Arriaga, and Robby Matlock will tackle a combined 70 roles, spanning 160 years of history.
Photo by Joan Marcus
Broadway at the Hobby Center presents Kimberly Akimbo
The Da Vinci Code at Alley Theatre (September 19-October 19)
The Alley unlocks this first of three shows in their 25-26 season that audiences might also know as blockbuster films. Best known as a mega-hit Tom Hanks film and a best-selling novel, Dan Brown’s story of symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu's race to solve a deadly puzzle will play out live on the Alley stage. Following the clues hidden in ancient symbols and imagery, Langdon and Neveu uncover secrets that lead them on a dangerous quest to solve a mystery of the ages.
Though this show was a hit in the UK, only a few theaters in the U.S. have produced it. The suspense might be a killer as Alley artistic director Rob Melrose directs the resident acting company along with some stellar Alley regulars. Look also for the design team to get as inventive as a certain Renaissance master, as they transport us across Europe for this globe-trotting mystery.
