broadway is back

Tina Turner, MJ, and can't-miss classics headline Broadway at Hobby Center's thrilling new season

For performing arts lovers, the real most wonderful time of the year has just begun with season announcement season.

Memorial Hermann Broadway at the Hobby Center has revealed its lineup with nine shows to keep our musical theater calendar filled. With new Broadway and West End blockbusters returning classics, bio-musical and lots of '80s inspiration, we’re anticipating one “Thriller” of a 2023-2024 season.

“The 2023-2024 Season delivers on the promise to our audiences to bring the very best of Broadway right here to Houston. The Broadway series is as hot as ever with Houstonians filling Sarofim Hall for performance after performance,” said Hobby Center president and CEO, Mark Folkes in a statement announcing the season. “We are inspired by the enthusiasm we've experienced from audiences in recent months and look forward to another blockbuster season with eight spectacular diverse productions.”

MJ (November 14-19, 2023)

This one doesn’t even need a full name in the title: we know that sound and silhouette of Michael Jackson. The hottest show on Broadway right now makes its Texas debut in Houston bringing the music, moves and story of Michal Jackson. With a book by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage, we expect to go deeper into the rise of the king of pop.

The song list includes global hits like “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Man in the Mirror” but also real surprises like Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Climb Ev'ry Mountain.” the Broadway at Hobby season is gonna Be Startin’ Something with this one.

Tina-The Tina Turner Musical (January 2-7, 2024)

The new year opens with simply “The Best” and all round queen of rock, R&B, soul, pop and really the musical universe. Another Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, this time, Katori Hall wrote the book on Turner’s extraordinary, no holds barred story.

The musical follows her from childhood singing in the church to her rise to stardom, marriage and divorce to Ike Turner and her triumph second, third and beyond acts as a international rock superstar. Who needs another hero when we’ve got Tina Turner.

Les Misérables (January 23-28)

Do you hear the people sing, singing the songs of the show that began a Broadway revolution? Dream a dream and storm the barricades once more with this revival of the Cameron Mackintosh’s acclaimed production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Tony-winning phenomenon.

Beetlejuice (March 5-10, 2024)

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.

Girl from the North Country (April 30-May 5, 2024)

While by definition a jukebox musical, this Girl tells a poignant tale as acclaimed Irish playwright weaves the songs of Bob Dylan into story of lives changed one faithful night. Though Dylan originally wrote many of these songs in the '60s and '70s, they set an authentic mood for this depression era saga.

In Duluth, Minnesota (Dylan’s birthplace), we meet a group of wayward travelers whose lives intersect as they take shelter in a guesthouse one stormy night. The Tony-nominated show reimagines 20 Dylan’s songs as they’ve never been heard before, including “Forever Young,” “All Along The Watchtower,” “Hurricane,” “Slow Train Coming,” and “Like A Rolling Stone.”

Hairspray (June 4-9, 2024)

The musical based on the '80s John Waters film that was later made into a movie musical is back on tour with an all-new production that reunites Broadway’s award-winning creative team led by Director Jack O’Brien and Choreographer Jerry Mitchell.

This dance revolution will be televised as '60s high schooler Tracy Turnblad’s ambition to take her big hair and curves onto the Corny Collins Show opens her eyes to segregation and racial injustice. Filled with some big comedy, the show still packs powerful emotional punch.

Disney’s The Lion King (July 11-August 4)

Long live the king of Broadway with this family-favorite becomes an add on to the lineup. This version of Hamlet as depicted by big cats keeps enchanting each new generation with its music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi and most of all its stunning costumes, set and choreography.

Funny Girl (August 20-25, 2024)

The revival that’s been on everyone’s musical radar for the past year takes to the road in 2024, and we won’t rain on this parade. Featuring one of the most beloved, and sing-along-able scores of all time by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, an updated book from Harvey Fierstein, Funny Girl was one of the first Broadway shows about Broadway.

The show follows the indomitable Fanny Brice climbs her way from vaudeville to musical stardom. For decades she’s reminded us that people who need theater people are the luckiest people in the world.

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Naomi Rodgers channels Tina in a can't-miss musical.

welcome to houston

Musical theater veteran joins prominent Houston company

Courtesy of Stages

Stages has named Valerie Rachelle as its new associate artist director.

A Houston theater company is adding an accomplished artist to its ranks. Stages announced that Valerie Rachelle will be the company’s new associate artistic director beginning in January 2026.

For more than a decade, Rachelle has been artistic director of the Oregon Cabaret Theatre in Ashland, Oregon, where she oversaw artistic vision and operations. That theater specializes in musical theater performances offered in a cabaret setting.

Rachelle comes to Houston with a career spanning nearly 30 years as a director and choreographer. She has extensive experience in developing new musicals and plays for regional theaters and opera companies across the United States, including the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Sierra Repertory Theatre. She was appointed to her position at Stages following a nationwide search.

“I’m beyond thankful for this opportunity to join this incredible company, and I’m excited to be a part of a creative entity that has a strong mission and vision as Stages,” Rachelle said in a statement.

In her role with Stages, she will support artistic director Derek Charles Livingston with season planning and casting; liaise with artists, press, and staff; and coordinate day-to-day operations for the artistic department. She will also assist with crafting educational materials, direct and choreograph productions, and serve as the primary liaison with theatrical unions.

“We are thrilled to welcome Valerie to Stages in this role,” said Livingston. “I have seen her work as a director and director choreographer — she's excellent. Those skills combined with her experience as a theatre artistic director and manager only further fortify Stages' commitment to artistic excellence and community engagement.”

Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, Rachelle began her career as a dancer and apprentice ballerina with the Eugene Ballet Company before earning her BFA in acting from California Institute of the Arts. She received her MFA in Directing from the University of California, Irvine. She has held teaching and directing positions at numerous institutions, including the University of Southern California, Southern Oregon University, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, and others. She has also served as a mentor through Statera Arts, an organization dedicated to gender equity in the arts.

Rachelle teaches musical theater, auditioning, and singing at Southern Oregon University when she isn’t on the road as a freelance director and choreographer. She’s also a classically trained singer and toured the world with her parents and their illusionist show as a child.

“Joining the team that has a long-standing reputation of excellence in theater is an honor,” Rachelle added.

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