This story is sold out. Yeah, that's right, so many people clicked on it, liked it, posted, tweeted, digged, e-blasted, or turned it into paper airplanes that it crashed the CultureMap server and maybe a tree or two.

OK. Not. But wasn't that a fun fantasy?

Looking back over the season, I see that several Houston arts groups basked in problem everyone loves to have. Just now, I got a "Sorry, we are sold out" e-mail from Aurora Picture Show about their Extremely Shorts Film Festival. Sometimes, it's the case of the lovable chestnut that always sells; other times, it's more complex, like a confluence of factors all converging at one moment, sending people into a frenzy of ticket buying desire.

"Popular, you want to be popular," chirps Galinda in Wicked, now a hot ticket at Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Yes, we do Galinda.

Opera in the Heights (OH) knew it had a hit on its hands with La Boheme, it's one of the most produced operas of all time. Yet, they had no intention of resting on the opera's track record and set out a multi-level effort to get warm opera-loving bottoms in the seats.

A full on attack included multiple radio ads, Facebook presence, board members getting behind it, Houston Young People for the Arts events, George Geary underwrote student tickets, press coverage of Brian Byrnes' opera directorial debut by yours truly and the list goes on. "There's nothing like a sellout to generate desire for ticket sales," Bill Haase, OH's chairman of the board, says.

"They would come if it was Romeo & Juliet on ice," Dominic Walsh quips during the after-party. The nicely timed Valentine's Day weekend run created a mania of its own. The choreographer found the atmosphere charged. "It's amazing to walk into the theater knowing you have a sold-out show," Walsh confesses. "The dancers' instincts were so authentic, vulnerable and powerful for those performances."

Who didn't want to watch The Flu?

A ticket to Mildred's Umbrella production of Will Eno's The Flu Season proved impossible to get your hands on during the final weekend, even while mobs of people were also attending the opening of FotoFest. My own case of Eno-mania had me telling complete strangers about this show. For at least a week, I started every sentence with "Have your seen The Flu Season?"

Eno's work is riveting, this was a stellar production directed by Matt Huff and the show featured some of the best actors in town. Edward Albee was in the audience too. Perhaps under his handlebar mustache a whiff of approval emerged. Mildred's artistic director Jennifer Decker has her own musings on the subject.

"With The Flu Season the buzz started with our company members diligently spreading the word on Facebook," she says. "It didn't hurt that there were cute guys in the show. Bobby Haworth seems to be popular with our female patrons."

Buzzing to Bug

I wasn't the only one who drove westward to Theatre Southwest's cozy digs to see Tracy Letts' bizarre play, Bug. Who would think people would swarm to see a play about a delusional guy and his girlfriend who are convinced that bugs are crawling under their skin?

Several factors accelerated the bug-o-steria. Letts is one hottie playwright right now; his Pulitzer and Tony-Award winning August: Osage County heads to the Alley Theatre next season. Stages Repertory Theatre just wrapped up a bang up job on Letts' Man From Nebraska. Our appetites arrived pre-whetted for Letts' weirdness. Bugs director Ananka Kohnitz gave Letts' gritty play its bite. "Amazing actors, realistic wounds, bloodbath and train heading for a brick wall kept the audience spellbound," Kohnitz says. "And don't forget the itching, everyone scratched afterwards."

The stars were aligned for Classical Theatre Company's production of Tartuffe at Barnevelder. Executive artistic director John Johnston finds the sellout no accident.

"We had good reviews, a new communications director who reached out to more media outlets than ever, and strong word-of-mouth buzz," Johnston reports. "Producing a comedy also brought them in. Audiences love a good laugh, and Tartuffe is full of them."

The fact that no one had heard of Lydia Diamond's Stick Fly did not get in the way of the show having some sold-out nights at the Ensemble Theatre. According to artistic director Eileen J. Morris, the play touched a nerve. "Stick Fly depicts a well-educated, highly intellectual family with problems just about everyone can relate to, including sibling rivalry, parents with high expectations and a few dark secrets of their own," Morris says.

Five Guys Named Moe is playing right now. It's one nonstop blast of a show, so it's no surprise that there's limited seats left for the entire run.

It's a bittersweet situation for Catastrophic Theatre chief Jason Nodler. Typically, their shows sell out closing weekend, while seats go empty during the middle of the run.

"People tend to put off seeing a show until the last weekend," Nodler says, "and some wind up missing the show."

Patrons sometimes ask for an extension so they can bring friends. Nodler's advice is to bring them early in the run. "There's something so wonderful about the vibe in a sold-out theater for both artists and audience." Nodler is coming off a run of a 94-percent-sold run of The Designated Mourner.

About now, Catastrophic is in that middle week, so if you want to see Hunter Gatherers quit reading this and skedaddle over to DiverseWorks right now.