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THE CATASTROPHIC THEATRE

3400 Main Street
Houston, TX 77002

Upcoming Shows

Tamarie's Greatest Hits, Volume 3
Tamarie's Greatest Hits, Volume 3
Jun 19 – Aug 1, 2026

As every good Houstonian knows, Tamarie Cooper creates wholly original, full-scale musicals every dang summer—a Houston institution featuring wildly irreverent scripts, riotously funny songs, wackadoodle...



Review: WAITING / REX at ISHIDA


by Brett Cullum - June 13, 2026

ISHIDA DANCE had a world premiere with their presentation of waiting / REX at the Asia Society Texas Center. This program is an adaptation of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Both are choreographed by the company’s artistic director....

Review: CLUE from BROADWAY AT THE HOBBY CENTER


by Brett Cullum - June 11, 2026

There’s not much to critique here; CLUE is just fun. If you love the game or the movie, you know what you are in for ahead of time. It’s an hour and twenty minutes that flies by, leaves you laughing, and lets you forget the world for a bit....

Review: MISERY at ALLEY THEATRE


by Brett Cullum - June 08, 2026

Whether you’re a #1 fan of Stephen King or just coming in the door, this MISERY is worth enduring. The acting is top-notch, and the tech puts the film to shame....

Review: SPAMILTON & 21 CHUMP STREET at Stages Houston


by Jonathan Netek - June 06, 2026

It’s a Broadway Roast in this hilarious double bill!...

Review: AIRLINE HIGHWAY at DIRT DOGS THEATRE CO.


by Brett Cullum - May 26, 2026

AIRLINE HIGHWAY is a fascinating slice of life from Lisa D’Amour. It feels like we are watching everything happen in real time, and it seems so authentic to New Orleans. It has a wonderful sense of place....

Review: BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL at THEATRE UNDER THE STARS


by Brett Cullum - May 23, 2026

TUTS makes it live up to its name. It’s a handsome production, a great cast, and it feels like an old faithful friend. When you’re down and troubled, and you need a helping hand, just call the box office. ...

Review: THAT DRIVE THRU MONTEREY at Stages Houston


by Jonathan Netek - May 17, 2026

Young Love, Love Lost and Genuine Storytelling in Stages’ Sin Muros Festival’s first fully developed production....

Review: DEAR ALIEN at Alley Theatre


by Brett Cullum - May 15, 2026

This is Sartre for the America of today, and the Alley Theatre kicks it off in grand style in its Neuhaus auditorium below their mainstage....

Review: WHO ALL OVER THERE at The Ensemble Theatre


by Jonathan Netek - May 09, 2026

WHO ALL OVER THERE Balances Comedy With Honest Conversations on Race and Relationships...

Review: FENCES at The Alley Theatre


by Jonathan Netek - April 23, 2026

Building Fences, Breaking Bonds: A Powerful Portrait of Family and Fallout...

Past Shows

THE DESIGNATED MOURNER
THE DESIGNATED MOURNER
Apr 10 – Apr 25, 2026

Jack, his former wife Judy, and her famous poet father Howard relate the story of an authoritarian country which has targeted its cultural intelligentsia for imprisonment...

Katy Perry Candy Darling Mary Magdalene
Katy Perry Candy Darling Mary Magdalene
Feb 13 – Mar 7, 2026

“What about all the in-betweens?”Rock and roll was invented by corporations to sell cars and sex to teenagers. Indie rock was invented by teenagers who...

Beautiful Princess Disorder
Beautiful Princess Disorder
Nov 21 – Dec 13, 2025

 A fuzzy-edged sibling drama for the only child. WORLD PREMIERE.

ENDGAME by Samuel Beckett
ENDGAME by Samuel Beckett
Sep 19 – Oct 11, 2025

“You’re on earth. There’s no cure for that.”An apocalypse has engulfed the world outside. A single interior stands shelter to the blind tyrant Hamm, his...

Another Ding Dang Tamarie Show
Another Ding Dang Tamarie Show
Jun 27 – Aug 2, 2025

For 28 straight years Tamarie Cooper has created all-new, smash-hit musicals. Maybe that’s why everyone’s always saying, “It wouldn’t be summer in Houston without a...

Frozen Section
Frozen Section
Apr 4 – Apr 19, 2025

A post-apocalyptic comedy with a side of existential dreadThe Catastrophic Theatre presents the World Premiere ofFROZEN SECTION by Lisa D’Amour, Directed by Jason Nodler.“Welcome to Tyler’s, where a stranger is...

Miss LaRaj's House of Dystopian Futures
Miss LaRaj's House of Dystopian Futures
Feb 7 – Mar 1, 2025

In a world where civilization and the environment that birthed it has been decimated by myriad human-made cruelties, the question remains: will humans ever learn?In...

LOVE BOMB
LOVE BOMB
Nov 15 – Dec 7, 2024

An experimental new musical featuring songs from 1970’s icon, Melanie. You’re invited into the dance hall where there’s nothing people won’t do to find love.

Spirits to Enforce
Spirits to Enforce
Sep 20 – Oct 12, 2024

A group of telefundraisers attempt to raise money for an upcoming production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, to be performed by local superhero team “The Fathom...

Tamarie's Texas Toast!
Tamarie's Texas Toast!
Jun 21 – Aug 3, 2024

The Catastrophic Theatre presents the World Premiere of TAMARIE’S TEXAS TOASTby Tamarie Cooper and Patrick ReynoldsJune 21 through August 3 at MATCH(Midtown Arts & Theatre Center...

CLEANSED
CLEANSED
Apr 5 – Apr 27, 2024

Regional Premiere of Sarah Kane’sCLEANSEDApril 5 through April 27"LOVE ME OR KILL ME"Written by the most notorious playwright of the late 20th century, CLEANSED is perhaps the...

It Is Magic
It Is Magic
Feb 9 – Mar 2, 2024

IT IS MAGIC by Mickel Maher,Directed by Jeff Miller“Things are getting crazy at the local Playhouse…”Deb and Sandy are auditioning Tim for the role of...

The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw
Nov 17 – Dec 9, 2023

(World Premiere) The Turn of the Screw is a new environmental and multimedia theatrical adaptation of the celebrated Gothic ghost story of the same name by...

Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Sep 29 – Oct 14, 2023

WAITING FOR GODOTby Samuel Beckett"We are all born mad. Some remain so."Beckett’s absurdist, tragicomic masterwork in which two penniless tramps stand waiting on a country...

Tamarie's Totally True Revue (plus lies too!)
Tamarie's Totally True Revue (plus lies too!)
Jun 22 – Aug 5, 2023

Tamarie and her cast of musical comedy maniacs are back for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in the 26th installment...

A Maroon's Guide to Time and Space
A Maroon's Guide to Time and Space
May 26 – Jun 17, 2023

A Groundbreaking, Mind-expanding Exploration of Afrofuturism“This is not a play.”The latest new work from Houston writer, actor, and director Candice D’Meza is a multidisciplinary, immersive...

Eddie Goes to Poetry City
Eddie Goes to Poetry City
Feb 10 – Mar 4, 2023

Eddie Goes to Poetry Cityby Richard Foremandirected by Greg Dean“You’re a mirror, Eddie.”Eddie dreams of escape—from cruel co-workers, a doctor who is not a doctor,...

They Do Not Move
They Do Not Move
Jan 9 – Feb 6, 2023

The Catastrophic Theatre is  pleased to open up some treasures from their video vault for you to explore!First up, the world premiere of Brian Jucha’s THEY...

THEY DO NOT MOVE
THEY DO NOT MOVE
Nov 18 – Dec 10, 2022

Using found text, music, stylized physicality, and an abundance of pop culture references They Do Not Move winds its way through an imagined American future in which...

Tamarie 20/20
Tamarie 20/20
Jun 25 – Aug 9, 2020

After a 2019 hiatus, Tamarie and her merry band of misfits are back again with an all-new, ridiculous, riotous musical! Escape the summer heat with...

Fefu and Her Friends
Fefu and Her Friends
Apr 3 – Apr 26, 2020

"Life is theatre. Theatre is life. If we're showing what life is, can be, we must do theatre."A signature work of feminist theatre by a...

The Book of Grace
The Book of Grace
Feb 14 – Mar 8, 2020

"Sometimes the Alien is right in your own home. Sometimes right in your own blood. And you've got to build a wall around it."Grace is...

Baby Screams Miracle
Baby Screams Miracle
Nov 22 – Dec 15, 2019

"The weather has been bad since the beginning of time."With BABY SCREAMS MIRACLE, The Catastrophic Theatre introduces Houston audiences to one of the most exciting...

Tragedy, A Tragedy
Tragedy, A Tragedy
Sep 27 – Oct 20, 2019

"It's the worst world in the world here tonight, Frank."Reporting live on an unfolding crisis, Frank in the Studio is aided by his team of...

Speeding Motorcycle
Speeding Motorcycle
Jun 28 – Aug 4, 2019

An all-time Catastrophic favorite returns! The original rock opera, based entirely on the songs of legendary outsider musician and artist Daniel Johnston, was originally performed...

Toast
Toast
Apr 12 – May 5, 2019

TOAST takes audiences on a raucous and mind-bending journey through Dantes Nine Circles of Hell! This original, collectively-realized work brings together eight members of Catastrophics...

Bootycandy
Bootycandy
Feb 15 – Mar 10, 2019

Robert OHaras semi-autobiographical and wildly subversive comedy tells the story of Sutter, a young gay black man on an outrageous odyssey through his childhood home,...

First Suburb
First Suburb
Nov 15 – Dec 9, 2018

Five preteens teeter on the brink of adolescence when a shocking and violent act interrupts their insular world of personal struggles and triumphs. Catastrophic favorite...

Song About HImself
Nov 11 – Dec 3, 2016

Mickle Maher; dir: Jason Nodler....

Buried Child
Sep 9 – Oct 1, 2016

Buried Child is a play by Sam Shepard first presented in 1978. It won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national...

Tamarie For President (Greatest Hits, Vol. 2)
Jul 8 – Aug 6, 2016

Ronnie Blaine, Tamarie Cooper, Patrick Reynolds; lyrics: Tamarie Cooper, Miriam Daly, Joe Folladori, DeWitt Gravink, Patrick Reynolds....

Everything Will Be Different: A Brief History of Helen of Troy
Everything Will Be Different: A Brief History of Helen of Troy
Nov 20 – Dec 12, 2015

Teenage Charlotte's beautiful mother is dead. Turning for comfort to the story of Helen of Troy, Charlotte is convinced that beauty, desire and fame can...

The Danube
The Danube
Sep 25 – Oct 17, 2015

American businessman Paul visits Budapest and quickly falls in love with native Eve. As the play makes its way through a militaristic fever-dream, the characters...

The University of Tamarie
The University of Tamarie
Jul 17 – Aug 29, 2015

This summer, school's in session at the University of Tamarie! Tamarie takes on the Texas State Board of Education, drama departments, high school memories, schoolyard...

The Hunchback Variation
The Hunchback Variation
Apr 10 – May 2, 2015

In The Hunchback Variations, noted composer Ludwig Van Beethoven and noted hunchback Quasimodo team up to chair a panel on sound design. More specifically they...

The Blackest Shore
The Blackest Shore
Feb 13 – Mar 7, 2015

Stuart, 16, is making a movie: graphic violence, extreme sex, the walking dead. Of course it's also a love story. And it's all true. In...

clean/through
Feb 7 – Mar 1, 2014

Miki Johnson; dir: Jason Nodler....

Marie and Bruce
Marie and Bruce
Nov 22 – Dec 14, 2013

The Catastrophic Theatre’s love of Wallace Shawn is well documented by its hit productions of Our Late Night and The Designated Mourner, each of which...

The Pine
The Pine
Sep 27 – Oct 19, 2013

This one’s been a long time in the making and we’ve been talking it up since The MAP Fund awarded Catastrophic a grant to commission...

Videos


Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Houston Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
A.D. Players at the George Theater (6/24-8/02)
Khalid & Lauv at 713 Music Hall in Houston Khalid & Lauv at 713 Music Hall
Khalid & Lauv at 713 Music Hall (6/18-6/18)
Anarkali Reimagined in Houston Anarkali Reimagined
Luxtrium (10/22-10/25)
I Only Have Fangs for You in Houston I Only Have Fangs for You
Cast Theatrical Company (6/05-6/28)
Hardy in Houston Hardy
WhiteWater Amphitheater (11/21-11/21)
2026 Night Nation Run - Dallas, TX in Houston 2026 Night Nation Run - Dallas, TX
Texas Live! (9/12-9/12)
Trillteenth Comedy Experience: THE VARIETY SHOW in Houston Trillteenth Comedy Experience: THE VARIETY SHOW
Station Theater - Improv & Sketch (6/20-6/20)
Newsies in Houston Newsies
National Youth Theater (7/31-8/09)
Buena Vista Social Club in Houston Buena Vista Social Club
Hobby Center for the Performing Arts (11/17-11/22)
Moulin Rouge – The Musical in Houston Moulin Rouge – The Musical
Sarofim Hall (7/14-7/12)