• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    best december theater

    These are the 10 best December performances no Houston theater fan should miss

    Tarra Gaines
    Dec 6, 2022 | 10:32 am

    The most wonderful time of the year ... for holiday shows is upon us. Along with The Nutcracker, A Christmas Carol, Panto, and Austen Christmas November highlights, December brings a plethora of new holiday performing arts delights.

    From a flying nanny to an immersive Potter party, from a Tejana Scrooge to amazing aerial circus acts, Houston performing arts has the ticket for a night filled with live music, comedy, dance and drama. Here are the best bets for this holiday season.

    What-A-Christmas at Alley Theatre (now through December 24)

    Along with their new adaptation of the original Christmas Carol, the Alley gives Scrooge a decidedly 21st-century, Tejana new look in this one-woman show from playwright Isaac Gómez. Working the Christmas Eve night shift at Texas’ most iconic fast food joint, Margot is about to find out the usual grumpy drive-thru customers and an equally grumpy robotic Santa is the least of her worries, as her dead friend Jackie Marley stops by with a gaggle of ghostly customers.

    A Beatles Holiday Cabaret at Music Box Theater (now through December 28)

    El Milagro del Recuerdo
      
    Photo courtesy of Houston Grand Opera
    Houston Grand Opera presents El Milagro del Recuerdo (The Miracle of Remembering)

    As the year-round place for cabaret style shows in Houston, Music Box Theater, started a unique holiday mashup tradition a few years ago mixing classic and contemporary holiday songs with Beatles standards. In a double (triple?) mixture, the fantastic five, tend to intermix these numbers with comedy routines and sketches, making for a fun holiday happening.

    Harry Potter: A Yule Ball Celebration (now through January 20, 2023)

    We can’t argue that Potter lore has theatrical possibility. After all, a Hogwarts, next-generation new adventure play has already made it to Broadway. But this Houston Yule Ball is a very different, live way to experience the wizard world (as we noted in our full story here).

    Part immersive theater, part themed holiday gala and part Potter cosplay event, this Yule Ball gives Potter fans the ultimate party with themed food and drinks, a stunning ballroom, and multiple yule-decorated spaces to explore. A team of performers playing Ball hosts and Hogwarts House (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin) leaders get everyone in the Yule Ball spirit with special themed dances and displays of magic.

    With a fashion parade, Goblet of Fire drawing and magical indoor snow fall, Potter fans of all ages can immerse themselves in this ultimate party play.

    Houston Symphony holiday concerts (now through December 18)

    The symphony has a concert for almost every music lover’s taste this month. For the traditionalist there’s the glorious Handel’s Messiah (December 9-11) performed by the Houston Symphony, the full chorus, and guest soloists. For a rockin’ holidays Broadway star, N’Kenge, joins the Symphony and Chorus for a Very Merry Pops (December 15-18) concert brimming with traditional carols, festive favorites, and plenty of yuletide cheer.

    For kids and kids at heart, the Ho-Ho-Holiday! Polar Express, Frozen & More singalong concert urges everyone to raise their voices to holiday favorite songs. We’ve heard there might even be a visit from the big guy in red.

    Mary Poppins! from Theatre Under the Stars (December 6-24)

    TUTS gifts us a spoon full of musical sugar for our holidays with the family favorite based on the Disney film and book by P.L. Travers. Forget Marvel, this physics-defying, flying singing nanny was Disney’s first real superhero. See her live as she sets her powers to give new life to the Banks family.

    Their holiday show is usually TUTS’s biggest of the year and features a cast of Broadway vets, Houston favorites and students from TUTS theater schools, so get set for a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocioius time.

    El Milagro del Recuerdo (The Miracle of Remembering) from Houston Grand Opera (December 8-18)

    HGO brings back this holiday prequel to the famed first Mariachi opera Cruzar, El Milagro del Recuerdo that HGO debuted more than a decade ago, this opera revisits some of Cruzar’s characters earlier in their lives. Cruzar’s librettist and director Leonard Foglia returns and partners with Mexican composer Javier Martínez continuing the legacy of mariachi opera established by his late father, José “Pepe” Martínez.

    Much of the original cast returns for this revival production, including mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte as Renata and the members of virtuoso mariachi group Trio Chapultepec. Acclaimed bass-baritone Federico De Michelis makes his role debut as Laurentino.

    Christmas with the King at A.D. Players (December 12 and 13)

    As part of the Artist Lounge Live series, A.D. Players will present this holiday concert-styled show with a very different king: Elvis. Touring star Brandon Bennett (Chicago's Million Dollar Quartet) will rock December with some of Presley’s most beloved holiday hit-making renditions, including including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Blue Christmas,” “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” and “Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me.”

    Bennett is the winner of Graceland's prestigious "Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist" competition, with his concert retrospective featuring humor, heartfelt storytelling, and unforgettable hits

    Cirque Dreams Holidaze from Performing Arts Houston (December 23 and 24)

    Circus arts meets Broadway during these Christmas Eve (and Christmas Eve eve) magical performances. The production features an ensemble of aerial circus acts, sleight-of-hand jugglers, fun-loving skippers, thrilling acrobatics and clowning.

    Set to an original music score including new twists on seasonal favorites such as “Deck the Halls,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” the family-friendly show will likely live audiences in a dreamy, holiday daze.

    theater
    news/arts
    popular

    most read posts

    Houston loses top-10 rank in 2025 list of America's best cities

    2 Houston universities declared among world's best and more top stories

    Houston fave Frank Billingsley's house hits the market for $1.5 million

    Salutations, Soo Youn

    Houston Ballet principal dancer announces retirement after 13 years

    Holly Beretto
    Jun 20, 2025 | 10:00 am
    ​Houston Ballet Principal Soo Youn Cho
    Photo by Amitava Sarkar (2016). Courtesy of Houston Ballet.
    Houston Ballet Principal Soo Youn Cho and in Theme and Variations.

    Houston Ballet principal dancer Soo Youn Cho has announced her retirement, after 13 years with the company.

    For more than a decade, she has captivated audiences with her elegance, emotional authenticity, and technical brilliance. Audiences have seen her in roles such as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Kitri in Don Quixote, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Suzuki in Madame Butterfly, among many others.

    Cho’s retirement follows a period of recovery from spinal surgery prompted by chronic back issues that intensified during and after her pregnancy.

    "This decision was not made lightly, but with a great deal of reflection and acceptance over the past year," said Cho. “Since I first began ballet at the age of four, it has been the greatest love of my life. Even through pain and injury, I felt joy and purpose in every moment. I gave my best to every step along the way, and I now leave the stage with a peaceful heart and deep gratitude.”

    Cho further said that even before becoming pregnant, she had been managing chronic back issues throughout her career.

    “With dedication, careful conditioning, and the unwavering support of those around me, I was able to continue dancing for many years,” she said. “Despite my best efforts to recover, I’ve come to the difficult realization that I won’t be able to return to dancing at the level I once did. With a heavy but full heart, I’ve decided to retire from the stage.”

    Born in Korea and trained there, as well as in Canada and Germany, Cho danced with Opera Leipzig Ballet in Leipzig, Germany and the Tulsa Ballet in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she was promoted to principal in 2010. She joined the Houston Ballet in 2012 as a demi soloist. She quickly rose through the ranks, promoted to soloist in 2014, then first soloist in 2016. In 2018, she became the Houston Ballet’s first Korean principal.

    Upon achieving the designation, she said, “I feel like I have made an important mark in history, along with other great dancers, for my people in such a great company.”

    Cho’s roles onstage reflected her wide artistic range and commitment to storytelling through dance. Her Houston Ballet colleagues and audiences admire and praise the passion and sincerity she brought to every performance. One of those, Cho’s portrayal of Suzuki in Madame Butterfly, is especially close to her heart, not only for its emotional depth but for the lifelong friendship it sparked with fellow principal Yuriko Kajiya.

    “Becoming part of this Company and working alongside such extraordinary people has been one of the greatest blessings and privileges of my life. I close this chapter with a full heart and immense appreciation for the art, the audiences, and the people who made it all so meaningful.”

    Cho said that while she doesn’t yet know what will come next, she departs the company filled with gratitude.

    “Looking back, I feel nothing but gratitude,” she said. “Gratitude for the incredible colleagues and mentors I’ve shared the studio with. Gratitude for the audiences who supported us performance after performance. And gratitude for the art form itself — so demanding, so beautiful, and so deeply rewarding. I leave the stage with peace in my heart. Because I gave everything I had to this journey, I can move forward without regret.”

    \u200bHouston Ballet Principal Soo Youn Cho
      

    Photo by Amitava Sarkar (2016). Courtesy of Houston Ballet.

    Houston Ballet Principal Soo Youn Cho and in Theme and Variations.

    houston balletsoon youn choperforming-arts
    news/arts
    popular

    most read posts

    Houston loses top-10 rank in 2025 list of America's best cities

    2 Houston universities declared among world's best and more top stories

    Houston fave Frank Billingsley's house hits the market for $1.5 million

    Loading...