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    Top Theater Picks

    5 top theater picks for adventurous Houston audiences — sexy killers and fat kitty included

    Tarra Gaines
    Tarra Gaines
    Oct 10, 2013 | 1:39 pm

    Fall brings a dramatic few months for Houston theater lovers. Most theater companies' new seasons have just begun, yet there's usually enough time to offer only one or two plays before thespians have to climb up into their figurative attics and drag out holiday decorations for the multitude of Christmas shows.

    The good news is that many companies use those two months before the elves arrive to present some of the most provocative shows on their schedules. With the seasonal window closing quickly, audiences have to rush to their seats to catch it all.

    To help you plan, here are five picks that bring the fun, the sexy, the unusual and enough of the creepy that you'll be set for Halloween.

    Catastrophic Theatre presents The Pine

    I saw this play opening night and am still pondering what it means. Set in two sad hotels, one on the shores of Lake Michigan, the other on a spiritual plane between life and death, the play feels like an absurd comedy one minute, a gothic romance the next. With allusions to Emily Dickinson, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and perhaps a small nod to the Eagles' "Hotel California," The Pine muses on the nature of grief, love and storytelling. The play makes Death a heroic character and warns against love when it's warped by grief.

    Did I mention the whole story is told in verse?

    While The Pine could probably use an edit of 20 minutes from the beginning and middle, the acting is stellar. Special kudos goes to the performance from Catastrophic's newest and furriest company member, Fat Fat the cat.

    Details: Runs through Oct. 19; tickets are pay-what-you-can, $25 suggested.

    TUTS Underground presents Lizzie

    When I interviewed Bruce Lumpkin more than a year ago, when he began settling into his new role as Theatre Under the Stars artistic director, the idea for TUTS Underground was just a proverbial gleam in his eye. Lumpkin wanted to create a second TUTS season of contemporary musicals of a "different flavor" for the Hobby Center's smaller Zilkha Hall, which might appeal to audiences looking for something more rock 'n' roll and risqué.

    Now, Underground has finally been dug and Lizzie, a hard rock look at the life, legend and murders of Lizzie Borden, is taking the stage. With what looks like Victorian punk costuming and TUTS promising 32 utterances of the word "fuck," I'm already primed to love the ax-wielding craziness.

    Details: Runs through Oct. 19; tickets start at $24.

    Alley Theatre presents Venus in Fur

    Moving from a figurative underground to a literal one, Alley Theatre patrons know when they head downstairs to the Neuhaus Stage that they're in for eclectic performances they can practically reach out and touch. Venus in Fur seems like a good fit for the smaller space.

    The Tony-nominated play by David Ives was a hit on and off Broadway two years ago. Now, regional theaters across the country are picking up this sexy, dark comedy about an actress' private audition with the writer/director of a new play based on the Leopold von Sacher-Masoch novel, Venus in Furs. (Fun etymology fact: The word masochism derives from Sacher-Masoch's name.)

    Nicole Rodenburg, who plays actress Vanda, and Michael Bakkensen, who plays director Thomas, will undoubtedly end up on each others' laps. And who knows, in Neuhaus, they might end up on yours, as well.

    Details: Runs through Nov. 10; tickets start at $26.

    Stark Naked Theatre presents All Girls

    Stark Naked believes in truth in advertising, if All Girls by playwright Anna Greenfield is any indication. With the writer, director and cast being all women, the tale of the horrors and joys of being a 13-year-old girl is probably in good hands. The play, which just debuted in New York last spring and earned much critical praise, chronicles the lives of three best friends who find that friendship might not last forever when the therapist mother of one of the girls want to psychoanalyze them and their relationships.

    Committed to the all girl theme, Stark Naked will host a visual arts exhibit to run concurrently with the show. Finding Self: An All-Woman Art Show will be available for viewing one hour in advance of each performance.

    Details: Runs Friday through Oct. 26; tickets are $20 adults, $17 seniors, $10 students; Oct. 21 performance is pay-what-you-can.

    Stages Repertory Theatre presents Veronica's Room

    Another Halloween appropriate production comes from Stages Repertory Theatre as the company revives an Ira Levin play you probably didn't know existed. First performed a year after the publication of Levin's The Stepford Wives and six years after Rosemary's Baby, the play sounds like the creepy love — or maybe horror — child of the two novels.

    The story unfolds when a strange older couple convinces a young gal to impersonate Veronica, a dead woman, in order to console Veronica's mentally ill sister. What could possible go wrong? The ending is said to have more twists than the next thriller in the Levin canon, Death Trap.

    Details: Runs through Nov. 3; tickets start at $19.

    Lizzie, presented by TUTS Underground, is a hard rock look at the life, legend and murders of Lizzie Borden.

    TUTS Underground announcement July 2013 Lizzie Borden
      
    Photo courtesy of Theatre Under the Stars
    Lizzie, presented by TUTS Underground, is a hard rock look at the life, legend and murders of Lizzie Borden.
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    Metallica concert review

    Heavy metal legends Metallica roll into Houston with thunderous riffs

    Craig Hlavaty
    Jun 15, 2025 | 12:59 am
    Metallica concert Houston NRG Stadium 2025
    Photo by Brittaney Penney
    Metallica played a career-spanning set on June 14, 2025.

    Heavy metal is a baton that has been passed on for generations now. Now, more than ever, metal has turned into family entertainment. On Saturday night at NRG Stadium, the Metallica family reunion left ears ringing and hearts full, with a few scorch marks from hellacious pyro.

    Metallica — 44 years into this — is a frenetic, multigenerational machine. Four gray hairs from San Francisco that can still pack out a football stadium. The current lineup of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo is the longest-running one in the band’s history.

    Hetfield’s frenzied screech from 1981 is now a smoky, barrel-chested growl. Hammett’s metallic, exploratory guitar lines are a part of the metal vocabulary, and Trujillo — still the new guy — has been the sturdy thunder below it all. Urlich’s reliable drumming is its stadium-honed heart.

    Openers Suicidal Tendencies and Pantera provided direct support, with ST serving as a bracing thrash appetizer. Keeping it all in the family, Trujillo’s 21-year-old son Tye is now playing bass for ST, just as Robert did in the ‘90s. The band’s set whizzed by before most fans were able to enter the building, but those who arrived early witnessed a masterclass in ‘80s hardcore thrash.

    Texas sludge legends Pantera have been celebrating the lives of departed brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul since the group reformed in 2022. Collapsing in acrimony in 2001, the band and its fans never got a proper sendoff, and, with the violent shooting death of Dimebag and Paul’s death due to heart disease, the current lineup only features two original members in lead singer Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown. Guitar hero Zakk Wyle, stepping into Dimebag’s shoes, is a Hall Of Fame avatar for Dimebag, perhaps the only living human that could have delivered the appropriate riffs. Anthrax’s Charlie Benante now handles drumming duties.

    It’s 2025, and I’m watching a Pantera pit on the floor of NRG Stadium from a comfortable seat in the end zone. Anselmo, seemingly ageless, stalked Metallica’s sprawling, jaggedly circular stage barefoot and howling, splitting the difference between Henry Rollins and Rob Halford. Heathen anthems “Walk” and “Cowboys from Hell” still slice with precision, just as they sounded in the adjacent Astroarena in 1995.

    Before Metallica hit the stage around 9 pm, bored fans passed the time by doing the wave in NRG Stadium, but it only made a few laps before fizzling out.

    Kicking off with “Creeping Death” from 1984’s Ride The Lightning, Metallica reveled in rumbling NRG Stadium’s foundations.

    “For Whom The Bell Tolls” sounds as apocalyptic as ever, one of the early highlights of the night. The band has embraced it’s Load and Reload era recently, with the latter’s “The Memory Remains” and “Fuel” making setlist appearances. The crowd deftly filled in for the late Marianne Faithfull during the former. There’s still a lot of love for ‘90s eyeliner Metallica.

    Metallica’s 2023 album 72 Seasons saw the quartet reconvening for a loose and unrelenting collection of songs. “Lux Æterna” and “If Darkness Had a Son” have a slithery swing to them, borne from those famous Metallica jam sessions that sometimes appear on YouTube.

    1991’s “Nothing Else Matters” is still a romantic ballad for metalheads, a Gen X wedding staple.

    Few hard rock bands can still pack a football stadium in 2025, which makes Metallica among the last of a dying breed. All in their early ‘60s, they’re not unlike a performance hot rod team with 30 or so souped-up machines in the garage that only they know how to drive. They just have to take a few more breaks than they used to in between laps. Those four guys together still make magic via extremely loud noises.

    Closing out with “Master of Puppets and “Enter Sandman,” Metallica pushed Houstonians out into a humid Saturday night, covered in each other’s sweat, looking forward to the next Metallica family reunion.

    Setlist

    Creeping Death
    For Whom the Bell Tolls
    Ride the Lightning
    The Memory Remains
    Lux Æterna
    If Darkness Had a Son
    Kirk and Rob Doodle ("Hit the Lights" and ZZ Top's "La Grange")
    The Day That Never Comes
    Fuel
    Orion
    Nothing Else Matters
    Sad but True
    One
    Seek & Destroy
    Master of Puppets
    Enter Sandman

    Metallica concert Houston NRG Stadium 2025
      

    Photo by Brittaney Penney

    Metallica played a career-spanning set on June 14, 2025.

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