Theatre Under The Stars Announces 2011-2012 Season - Guys & Dolls, Bring it On, Annie, La Cage & More

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) President and CEO John C. Breckenridge announced today TUTS' 2011-2012 Season: Seeing Is Believing, running September 2011 through June 2012 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. "Moving into our 44th season, we're excited to showcase the biggest, boldest and best musical theatre in Houston. Our upcoming season includes a little of something for everyone. With such an amazing line-up - everything from the beloved classics to the most dynamic new productions - you really will have to see it to believe it," says Breckenridge.

September 27 - October 9, 2011

Guys and Dolls

Guys and Dolls, one of the greatest Golden Age musicals to grace the stage and double Tony Award winner for Best Musical, returns to Houston for TUTS' season opener. Made popular by the film starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, Guys and Dolls follows a group of gamblers, gangsters and gals in the seedy, after-hours underworld of the city that never sleeps. The slickest high rollers are in town, and they're depending on Nathan Detroit to score a secret spot for their floating craps game. Throw in Salvation Army songbird Sarah Brown, who's short on sinners at the mission; Sky Masterson, who accepts Nathan's bet that he can't lure Sarah to exotic tropical Havana; the notorious showgirl Miss Adelaide, who's desperate to marry Nathan; and the lively lyrics and music of Frank Loesser, and you've got a musical to remember! Guys and Dolls runs September 27 - October 9, 2011. Featuring all new scenery and filled with hits like "Luck Be A Lady" and "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat," this show is one the whole family will enjoy - you can bet on it!

December 6 - 18, 2011

White Christmas

TUTS, in response to popular demand, will revive its dazzling production of Irving Berlin's White Christmas, which is based on the 1954 movie "White Christmas" starring Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby - war-buddies turned vaudeville showmen. The plot thickens when they meet two showgirl sisters and romantic antics ensue. The story culminates when the stars host a musical review in honor of their retired Army captain, drawing the audience into a richly choreographed musical number commemorating the troops' gratitude. No production of White Christmas would be complete without snow, and TUTS' production does not disappoint: snow will fall throughout the theatre onto all the guests below! With a cast of more than 30, nearly two-dozen musicians, elaborate staging, choreography and costumes, the show is a true spectacle. Showing December 6 - 18, TUTS' presentation of White Christmas also serves as the perfect framework for the presentation of Berlin's hit songs "Blue Skies," "Count Your Blessings" and the title song, "White Christmas."

January 24 - February 5, 2012

Bring It On: The Musical

Two squads. Two schools. One mission: claim the title at the National Cheerleading Championships. The high-stakes world of competitive cheerleading meets the cutthroat rivalries of high school politics and romance in this bold and explosive new musical comedy. Learning how to be true to the team and to oneself sometimes has to get ugly before it gets pretty. Game on! This wholly original new musical is the product of an original libretto by Tony Award winner Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q), music and lyrics by Tony Award-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda (In The Heights), music by Pulitzer and Tony-Award-winning composer Tom Kitt (next to normal) and lyrics by Broadway lyricist Amanda Green (High Fidelity). Additionally, Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler (In The Heights), whom patrons will remember as the featured dancer in TUTS' blockbuster production of West Side Story, serves as the director and choreographer. TUTS features the Houston premiere of Bring It On: The Musical January 24 - February 5, 2012.

March 20 - April 1, 2012

Annie

You can bet your bottom dollar that Annie will bring a smile to your face! Everyone's favorite redhead orphan is back to belt her heart out and dance up a storm. You loved this nine-time Tony Award winner as a kid, and now your children will too! Annie, along with her dancing, singing orphan pals and an adorable dog, will once again face off against Miss Hannigan, the funniest villain this side of a Disney cartoon, and find her way home with Daddy Warbucks and his lovely companion aptly namEd Grace. A special delight, viewers will see the best of Houston's young talent, courtesy of TUTS' Humphreys School of Musical Theatre, in one of the most beloved productions to ever grace the stage. Featuring such memorable songs as "It's The Hard Knock Life" and "Tomorrow," Annie returns to TUTS from March 20 - April 1, 2012.

April 24 - May 6, 2012

La Cage Aux Folles

Welcome to La Cage Aux Folles! Winner of three Tony Awards including the award for Best Musical Revival, this hilarious new production of La Cage Aux Folles was the biggest hit of the 2010 Broadway season, leaving audiences in stitches night after night! La Cage tells the story of Georges, the owner of a glitzy nightclub in lovely Saint-Tropez, and his partner Albin, who moonlights as the glamorous chanteuse Zaza. When Georges' son brings his fiancée's conservative parents home to meet the flashy pair, the bonds of family are put to the test as the feather boas fly! La Cage is a tuneful and touching tale of one family's struggle to stay together... stay fabulous... and above all else, stay true to themselves! With a glorious score of hummable melodies and a dynamite cast featuring the "notorious and dangerous Cagelles," La Cage is an indisputable musical comedy classic... and this extraordinary new version shows you why! TUTS presents La Cage Aux Folles April 24 - May 6, 2012.

June 14 - 26, 2012

The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas

It's all big songs and big hair in this sassy, spirited musical about a real-life brothel in Texas. Based on the "Chicken Ranch", the infamous, long-running house of ill repute, this tongue-in-cheek story chronicles Miss Mona Stangley, a classy yet brassy madam with a heart of gold, as her "business" becomes the center of a media controversy. Thrusting the Chicken Ranch into the spotlight is Melvin P. Thorpe, a loud-talking televangelist based on Houston's own late Marvin Zindler. Spicing up the story line is a hot-headed town sheriff who is sweet on Miss Mona, the Texas A&M football team that's looking to "romp and stomp and whoop it up" at the Chicken Ranch, and Miss Mona's risqué girls who can give the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders a run for their money. The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, running June 14 - 26, 2012, will be a feisty, fun-filled treat. The musical includes favorites "A Lil' Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place" and "Hard Candy Christmas".

New and renewing subscriptions to the Theatre Under The Stars 2011-2012 Season are available online at TUTS.com, by phone at (713) 558-TUTS, outside the Houston area at (888) 558-3882, or in person at the Theatre Under The Stars Box Office (800 Bagby at Walker). For a full season brochure, call Theatre Under The Stars at (713) 558-2600. Discounted group subscriptions of 15 or more are also available by calling (713) 558-8888.

In addition to a phenomenal season schedule, TUTS continues to provide new and exciting theatre experiences. With each show, come a number associated events and opportunities:

• Exclusive VIP events including intimate cast talk-backs
• Dinner packages throughout the season in partnership with incredible local restaurants
• UP@TUTS, the urban professions group which offers everything from cast parties, talk-backs, backstage tours and exclusive events, to educational and community outreach opportunities. Visit TUTS.com/UP for more information.
• OUT@TUTS, the GLBT-friendly group which hosts a cabaret-style evening in Artista restaurant the first Thursday of each show. Visit TUTS.com/OUT for more information.

Throughout the season, special event information will be available at TUTS.com/Events.

Founded in 1968, Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) is Houston's acclaimed non-profit musical theatre company under the direction of President and CEO John C. Breckenridge. TUTS was the first theatrical organization in Houston to perform free to the public in 1968 at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park, and is the only Houston arts organization that has performed there free to the public every year since the building opened. Since its founding by Frank M. Young, TUTS has produced more than 300 musicals including many local, national and world premieres such as Kopit and Yeston's Phantom, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Jekyll & Hyde, and Irving Berlin's White Christmas as well as critically acclaimed re-inventions of classics Cabaret and Les Miserables. Through its membership in the Independent Presenters Network, TUTS has helped bring Bombay Dreams, 9 to 5, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Spamalot, Legally Blonde, Ragtime, Curtains and The Color Purple to Broadway. TUTS is one of three lead producers for the year long National tour of 9 to 5.

As a way to continue the tradition of musical theatre, TUTS' Education provides instruction and stage experience for more than 21,000 students annually, allowing students to flourish in a year-round schedule of classes. With a common goal - to expand arts access to children of all abilities - The River Performing and Visual Arts Center (The River) merged with TUTS in 2010, creating a unique, barrier free, arts education model for non-profit musical theatre performing arts organizations. With the merger, TUTS Education now provides extended on-site programming as well as off-site programming for children in schools, hospitals and other community-based sites. Housed in the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, TUTS also annually presents the Tommy Tune Awards, honoring the best and brightest in Houston's high school musical theatre programs.

 

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