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Houston, Texas

Houston: Theater

A world-class city like Houston needs world-class theater, and for a veritable Broadway in the Bayou City experience, your ticket to the excitement and splendor of the live stage can be found in every part of this bustling city. Downtown visitors can bask in the glow of some of the nation’s premier stages in the theater district, including the Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre and Theatre Under the Stars, or enjoy a diverse array of professional and experimental theater troupes in every corner of town.

Home to an amazing variety of shows each week, including exclusive world and regional premieres rarely found outside of the Big Apple, Houston is a destination city for the theatergoer. Well known for its charm and beauty, the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts beckons patrons to its dual booking of touring Broadway Across America shows and TUTS’ annual season of musicals, drawing talent from New York and Los Angeles to the Houston stage. Meanwhile, across town at the only professional theater company between Houston and Dallas, the Texas Repertory Theatre grows in the city’s northwest side, staging seven plays and musicals each season.

As one of the nation’s premier cities for theater education, the Humphreys School of Musical Theatre, The University of Houston School of Theatre & Dance, and Tribble School of Professional Musical Theatre are all helping to shape the next generation of performers, with graduates seen in major professional theaters across the country today. (Brandon De Hoyos)

Houston Theater: Theater Around Houston

Below are our Houston Theater recommendations, with information on location, admission, transportation/parking, theater history and other points of interest in Houston Art.
 

A.D. Players Theater

Originally launched as the “After Dinner Players” in 1967, this unique Christian-based theatrical organization has grown to encompass an acting academy, a children’s company and a professional theatre producing five shows annually. The A.D. Players continues to “celebrate the adventure” with recent groundbreaking on an ambitious arts complex that will house a 450 seat Mainstage, a 300 seat children’s theatre, and a 150 seat black box, all under one roof …more…

Alley Theatre

Its name couldn’t be less appropriate: the Alley Theatre actually looks like a squat castle with towers, terraces, and a spiral staircase. On the verge of its 50th anniversary, the Alley was awarded the 1996 Regional Theatre Tony in honor of its commitment to creating high-quality theater for Houston. It has continued to fulfill that mission to this day.

The company’s annual season of 11 shows is presented on two stages: …more…

Bobbindoctrin’s Annual Puppetry and Film Festival

Since 1995, the Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre, one of the most unique theatrical organizations in the country, has produced experimental adult puppet performances with unique puppetry techniques. Now in its 8th year, the Bobbindoctrin Annual Puppetry and Film Festival features short, five-minute puppet centered works from various Houston artists of the stage and screen.

The eclectic lineup includes shadow puppetry, hand puppetry, video projection, sock puppets, dolls, and live dance, …more…

Ensemble Theatre

Devoted to exploring the African-American experience through the arts, the Ensemble is one of the largest black theatres in the Southwest. Staging six prominent plays each year, past productions on the company’s mainstage have included challenging works such as Mark Clayton Souther’s Ashes to Africa and August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, as well as audience favorites like The Wiz and Ain’t Misbehavin’.

The company’s Touring Education Program Initiative offers schools a diverse lineup rooted in …more…

Main Street Theater

Founded in the mid 1970s to give the booming city of Houston an intimate alternative for challenging plays and musicals, the Main Street Theatre provides local audiences with a welcome array of contemporary classics and area premieres by such respected playwrights as Tom Stoppard (Arcadia), Terrance McNally (Master Class) and Alfred Uhry (The Last Night at Ballyhoo). Boasting two theatre locations (Rice Village and Chelsea Market) that keep audiences in close proximity to …more…

Stages Repertory Theatre

Priding itself for taking theatrical risks that are unlikely to be found at any other theatre in Houston, Stages Repertory has been offering innovative productions and unique interpretations for over thirty years. Producing a strong assortment of regional and world premieres,  Stages Rep’s six show season includes works by vital contemporary playwrights like Tracey Letts (The Man from Nebraska) and Stephen Karam (Speech & Debate) as well as a healthy dose …more…

Texas Repertory Theatre

A young and vital company, Texas Rep opened its doors on Houston’s NW side in February 2006 with a production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. Highlights of recent seasons include such plays as A Flea in Her Ear, Barefoot in the Park, I Hate Hamlet, and Steel Magnolias, and such musicals as Always, Patsy Cline, Little Shop of Horrors, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. The company has a Summer Performance Training Intensive for …more…

Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS)

One of the biggest producers of musical theatre in the country, Houston’s infamous Theatre Under the Stars (more commonly known as TUTS) has launched such world premiere productions as Zorro, the Musical, Annie Warbucks and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, as well as countless tours and regional stagings, featuring the biggest names in entertainment of the past forty years. Originally named for its first home at an outdoor theatre in Hermann Park, TUTS …more…