HOUSTON THEATER REVIEWS

As the holiday season approaches, Gerald LaBita and the Houston Arts Scene are saying a fond farewell to Theater LaB Houston's venue on Alamo Street in the First Ward Arts District. Gerald LaBita and his team have performed over 120 Houston premieres in the 63 seat, 1600 square foot intimate perform...

Based on the endearing Little House on the Prairie book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Main Street Theater's Theater for Youth is presenting a feel good children's holiday show that the whole family can enjoy. A LITTLE HOUSE CHRISTMAS, adapted by James DeVita, is inspired by the Christmas happening...

Nordstrom's may not be ready to get into the Christmas spirit before November 27, but Stages Repertory Theatre is reprising last year's wildly popular musical celebration of the season. Roger Bean's WINTER WONDERETTES is more a yuletide cabaret than a musical with plot. The barely-there story is ab...

Ann Bannon, a puesdonym for Ann Weldy, wrote six lesbian themed pulp novels from 1957 to 1962. These novels are collectively known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, and have experienced several renaissances of rediscovery. The most recent was when Cleis Press rereleased the series from 2001 to 2003 w...

Laurence Connor and James Powell's direction of the current tour is energetic and lively from opening to close. There are cleverly paid notes of homage to Trevor Nunn and John Caird's original direction of the piece. Yet, the team really takes advantage of being able to breathe new life into the sho...

Theatre Southwest is currently presenting THE OLDEST PROFESSION by Paula Vogel, who is known for her decidedly strong, controversial works like HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE that examines incest and THE BALTIMORE WALTZ that is about AIDS. In THE OLDEST PROFESSION, she gives audiences a chance to see a soft...

It is the mission of The Catastrophic Theatre to destroy audiences with impressive and unique theatre. Unfortunately, the World Premiere of FLEAVEN only destroys audiences by sending them out into the world wondering what was missing. At 27 years old, I thought maybe it was not living through the Di...

The Country Playhouse is presenting Charles Marowitz's MURDERING MARLOWE in their Black Box Theatre. With a healthy dose of elevated Elizabethan language and speculative fiction, the play tells the story of jealousy run awry. William Shakespeare, a fledgling artist, takes advantage of the government...

Providing the Regional Premieres of both the play and playwright, Stark Naked Theatre Company's production of BODY AWARENESS by Annie Baker is an exciting and captivating examination of familial dysfunction and how destructive and liberating the self-objectification and exploitation of the human bod...

Houston Grand Opera is performing Gioachino Rossini's splendid, humorous, and simply delightful L'italiana in Algeri or THE ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS for the first time. Even knowing that comedic operas exist, it is still seems somewhat like a contradiction to this opera novice. With that said, being ...

Just under a week until Halloween, Bayou City Theatrics kicks off their inaugural season with Richard O'Brien's cult-favorite, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW. While audiences at the Toyota Center waited for the original material girl to take the stage, Bayou City Theatrics channeled 80s inspired glam pop-pun...

Houston Grand Opera is opening its 2012-2013 season with a lavish and fresh production of one of the world's favorite operas, LA BOHÈME by Giacomo Puccini. The familiar opera tells the story of four bohemian artists that live in the same garret (apartment) in 1830s Paris. The poet, Rodolfo, falls f...

Clear Creek Community Theatre, which is in their 48th season of producing theatrical events, is providing audiences with the opportunity to enjoy Edward Albee's well-known hit play WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?. Whether you read it in school, saw the film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burt...

One would never guess that [title of show] is only Standing Room Only Productions' 6th production. The show is perfectly polished, and every aspect of the production is simply magnificent....

As many gear up for Halloween, Music Box Musicals' inaugural production is striking a different nerve-a political nerve. With a wonderful production of John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim's thought-provoking musical ASSASSINS, Music Box Musicals invites audiences to listen. Not only to the tales they ...

Theater LaB Houston, continually bringing the best of contemporary theater in the Off-Broadway genre to Houston, is presenting Steven Fales' critically acclaimed and controversial one-man show MISSIONARY POISTION. The hilarious and poignant show is the second installment in The Mormon Boy Trilogy....

Campy horror always has a comfortable home during the Halloween season; therefore, programming the ultimate camp feature EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL is a natural choice. Country Playhouse is currently presenting the raucous, irreverent musical as part of their Halloween Creature Double Feature....

Halloween time is upon us, and Country Playhouse is offering audiences a spine-chilling dramatic version of Mary Shelley's classic horror tale FRANKENSTEIN. The play, penned by Victor Gialanella, met a tragic end in New York City when it flopped in 1981 after 29 previews and 1 performance. Under the...

With stunning emotional clarity, The Alley Theatre is presenting Arthur Miller's quintessentially American and classic family drama DEATH OF A SALESMAN as part of their 2012-2013 season. The play premiered in 1949 and has become a show of legendary status in the development of American dramatic thea...

Frank Wildhorn's JEKYLL & HYDE has been reinvented and completely reworked. The new production is not a revival of the show, but a revisal-a reimagining of the material for a contemporary audience. Over the course of a whirlwind 25 weeks, this production is touring the nation before it opens in Apri...

Founded in 1993, Houston's Encore Theatre is returning to its midtown roots by opening a performance space at the corner of Main Street and Wentworth Street. It has been Encore Theatre's goal to provide quality theatre to Houstonians, especially to those who are economically disenfranchised and wis...

Originally set to close September 2 Stages Repertory Theatre extended the Roger Bean crooning jukebox musical LIFE COULD BE A DREAM until October 14, 2012. The bubbly, fun, and popular musical is still going strong and delighting Houston audiences with its light story and amazing vocals....

Main Street Theater's Theater for Youth 2012-2013 Season is starting with a resounding QUACK! To help young audiences understand the electoral process in the United States, they are producing the effervescent and spritely comedy DUCK FOR PRESIDENT. The show is based on Doreen Cronin's National Best-...

In Houston, The Ensemble Theatre is proudly opening its 36th season with Pearl Cleage's THE NACIREMA SOCIETY REQUESTS THE HONOR OF YOUR PRESENCE AT A CELEBRATION OF THEIR FIRST ONE HUNDRED YEARS, often shorted to THE NACIREMA SOCIETY. The play premiered to fantastic audience reception on October 20,...

Classical Theatre Company (CTC) is opening its 5th season with August Strindberg's seminal drama, MISS JULIE. Comfortably at home in their new performance space, Studio 101 at Spring Street Studios, CTC's production of this taught and intense drama is a fantastic miasma of contemporary social issues...