HOUSTON THEATER REVIEWS

As I stood outside the Revention Music Center in downtown Houston on Thursday night with a growing line of enthusiastic Just Dance fans, I did not know what to expect when I walked through the doors. Having played Just Dance for the first time back in my middle school days, I was intrigued by this l...

BRIGHT STAR follows two pairs of star-crossed lovers, two decades apart, all against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. And now through March 25, the Tony Award-nominated musical makes its home at the Hobby Center....

I have never written 'tour de force' without a hint of irony. But that's simply the most accurate way to describe RIVERDANCE - THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY WORLD TOUR. The longest-running and most popular Irish-centric international dance act in history has been seen by over 25 million people over 20 years ...

MEMPHIS is a great step for TUTS – a thought-provoking timely piece on race relations featuring a significant number of Houston artists. It's directed and staged well, and the show entertains throughout....

LEAP AND THE NET WILL APPEAR is an evocative theatrical experience, rooted in the intertwined existence of farcical and absurd characters, each seeking love, respect and/or money, and the most potent human driver: acceptance....

THE GREAT SOCIETY does not match the power of its predecessor. But ALL THE WAY is hard to match. And THE GREAT SOCIETY is a fine play in its own right....

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glenn Slater wrote the score and Julian Fellowes wrote the book. The show is nearly as pedigreed as the characters on Fellowes' PBS masterpiece Downton Abbey. (Pun intended.)...

What truly makes us well? Is wellness some otherworldly notion or mindset that we consciously choose or decide not to choose? How much power does an individual genuinely have over their wellness, or lack thereof? Additionally, how much power does an individual have over the wellness of others? These...

The Broadway Across America engagement of the 2016 Tony Award Winning Revival of THE COLOR PURPLE presented a performance brimming with soul and spirit to The Hobby Center. Based on Alice Walker's 1982 novel, the show follows the difficult journey of Celie (Adrianna Hicks), a young black mother in e...

In partnership with Lythgoe Family Panto, Theatre Under the Stars has opened their family-fun, holiday-filled interactive production Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight to Houston audiences. With a star-studded cast, popular music, and a storybook vibe, Kris Lythgoe's Sleeping Beauty and Her Winte...

Last night, On Your Feet! opened with a bang to an enthusiastic crowd at the Hobby Center. An electrifying production, On Your Feet! classifies as a jukebox musical a production that weaves together an iconic artist's most popular songs with their biography (often focusing on the rise to stardom) to...

Opening their 49th Season with the enchanting storybook tale THE SECRET GARDEN, Theatre Under the Stars has welcomed Dan Knechtges as Artistic Director to take over the season that predecessor Sheldon Epps put in place. The musical, directed and choreographed by 5th Avenue Theatre's Artistic Directo...

Planned a year ago as the opening of their 2017-18 season, no one had any inkling how ironic the title HARVEY would be. Playwright Mary Chase's merry little romp seemed like a good idea at the time. And as it turned out, it was....

If you have any dull hatchets lying around, I suggest you bring them along. There are axe-grindings galore on the stage in this play by Catherine Trieschmann, now playing a summer run at the Obsidian Theater....

THE BODYGUARD THE MUSICAL is one of those shows that offers up little else but a warm nostalgia for the original material, but thankfully the source is strong enough to make you tap your toes and smile from ear to ear....

On Friday night The Gravity Players opened a courtroom comedy and exploration of faith, THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, to a lively audience. Set in the Court of Purgatory, a place of redemption and a 'waiting list' between Heaven and Hell, the audience was to witness trials regarding sinners' plac...

It's freaky and fun! Glittery boots, lots of variations on sex and preference, and even a stripper pole front and center means this one is not gonna be a light family musical. If the phrase 'think BARBARELLA meets ROCKY HORROR' makes you shiver in anticipation, then reserve your seats now....

In 1994 Disney's animated feature The Lion King was the cartoon movie that broke barriers and was popular with adults and children. With its textual references to William Shakespeare's HAMLET, this age old tale is one that no one needs to go in depth about. In July of 1997, Julie Taymor along with o...

On June 29, The Ensemble Theatre opened the final production for their celebratory 40th anniversary season with a bang, a belt, and a whole lotta sass! With its powerhouse vocalists, entertaining and sassy storytellers, and vast musical variation, SIMPLY SIMONE is anything but simple....

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SNOOPY simply takes the cake....

FREAKY FRIDAY, a new musical from Disney, is based on the 1976 original movie and 2003 remake of the same name. It's a simple premise. Career mother and teenage daughter don't get along. (Stop me if you've heard this one.)...

It's certainly a relevant piece for our time, and I applaud the intention of bringing it to life in this era of political debate and mistrust of the media. But if you're going to dig this one up then have the nerve to make it feel dangerously close to the outside world....

It's a deeply emotional musical telling the story of a lesbian girl as she navigates her way through life with a closeted gay father. The Broadway Production won the Tony in 2015 for Best Musical as well as top honors for its book and score. It is a handsome show, acted expertly, and it will move an...

Directed by Kim Tobin-Lehl and Jennifer Dean, LOBBY HERO is realistic and gritty with characters that are built from deep within....

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE (the eighteenth century play written by French native Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, not Rossini's opera) makes for a charming spectacle at Classical Theatre Company....