REOPENING ACT
It’s no secret that live theater returns to Houston’s major stages this month.
Most theaters around Houston have been closed for more than 18 months — now that’s about to change.
Broadway has already opened New York again and Houstonians too can look forward to a full slate of fall theater.
COVID protocols differ among theaters. The MATCH complex in Midtown will only allow 50 percent capacity, while the Alley Theatre’s Hubbard stage will reserve isolated seats for those not comfortable sitting next to someone they don’t know. While the restrictions may change with the spread of the delta variant, one thing is not likely to: audiences will be required to wear masks nearly everywhere.
Still, even with the reopenings, there may be theater fans who still might not be comfortable attending live shows. For those fans, streaming shows may be an option.
“This year we are recording all of our plays, so if someone doesn’t feel comfortable coming to the theater, they can watch from home,” says Rachel Applegate, director of marketing and communications for the Alley.
What follows is a preview of some of the top plays coming to the major stages this fall.
A.D. Players
Having dubbed its new slate of shows “A Season of Triumph,” A.D. Players is starting with Ken Ludwig’s “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” (Oct. 6-24), the dramatization of the World War II-era epistolary romance between the playwright’s father, U.S. Army Capt. Jack Ludwig, a military doctor in Oregon, who begins sending letters to Louise Rabiner, an aspiring actress and dancer in New York City. The play, which won the 2020 Helen Hays Award for best new play, is a Houston premiere.
The second show of the season will be a stage adaptation of Donna VanLiere’s novel “The Christmas Shoes” (Nov. 24-Dec. 23), about a workaholic bankruptcy attorney who, after being told he was getting a divorce, pays for a pair of shoes for a poor boy who wanted them as a gift for his dying mother, and the consquences of that simple act of kindness. The story was itself inspired by a Christian song of the same name by NewSong. adplayers.org
Alley Theatre
The Alley Theatre was founded in 1947 when Nina Vance sent out 214 penny postcards and stated, “It’s beginning!” This year, the theater is celebrating its 75th anniversary season. Shows begin
Oct. 1 with Lynn Nottage’s “Sweat,” which runs through Oct. 24 and depicts the after-work bar conversations between a trio of female friends who work a factory line in Reading, Penn., as they confront the dissolution of the town and face their own limited prospects. The play won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was cited by critics for its realistic depiction of the travails of Trump’s America. This production is being done in collaboration with Houston’s Ensemble Theatre.
Mexico too features in the Alley’s second production of fall, “72 Miles to Go…” (Oct.15-Nov. 14), the title of which refers to the exact distance that separates a recently deported mother, who lives in Nogales, Mexico, and her husband and children living in Tucson, Ariz. The play, which was initially developed as part of the Alley’s All New Festival in 2019, covers a decade of milestones in the family’s life, all the while questioning what it means to be American and whether the sacrifices one might be asked to make to be considered American are, indeed, worth it.
The Alley then kicks off the holiday theater season with a new production of Charles Dickens’ familiar “A Christmas Carol” (Nov. 19-Dec. 29), albeit one the theater promises is “pared down to its essential elements.” alleytheatre.org
Broadway at the Hobby Center
The first big show to hit the Hobby Center is a production of the Lerner and Lowe musical “My Fair Lady” (Sept. 14-19), the story of Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolitte’s transformation into a properly mannered Englishwoman. The show, while likely seen as sexist today, does deliver numerous well-known showstoppers, such as “I Could Have Danced All Night,”
“The Rain in Spain” and “On the Street Where You Live.”
This will be followed by the musical adaptation of “Tootsie,” (Nov. 16-21) with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Robert Horn. It is based on the 1982 movie that starred Dustin Hoffman. And yes, it’s a second musical about a personal transformation, this time for actor Michael Dorsey, who, finding he’s rejected for all the roles for which he auditions, decides to try his luck as … well, you know. houston.broadway.com
Ensemble Theatre
The recent wave of interest in all things Aretha extends to the Ensemble Theatre with “Respect: A Musical Journey for Women” (Sept. 23-Oct. 17), a story of women’s struggles told through classic Top 40 and R&B music. That’s followed by “Motown Christmas” (Nov. 18-Dec. 26), a celebration of the holidays and the music of Marvin Gaye, Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and more. ensemblehouston.com
Main Street Theater
Kids will be treated to a musical adaptation of Mo Willems’ Caldecott Honor award-winning book, “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” (Sept. 21-Oct. 23). It is exactly as it sounds: A pigeon (with attitude) takes over driving the bus when the bus driver needs a break. Song, silliness and hilarity ensue.
Then comes the comedy “Darwin in Malibu” (Oct. 2-24) by U.K. playwright Cripin Whittel. The play stars the namesake naturalist in conversation with his fellow scientist Thomas Henry Huxley and adversarial theologian Samuel Wilberforce. The trio debate science, religion and the theory of evolution more than 100 years after their deaths while ensconced in a Malibu beach house overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
For the holidays, Main Street Theater offers “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly” (Nov.20Dec. 19) by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon. Miss Bennet, you say, yes, that Miss Bennet, from Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” Sort of. This story stars Mary Bennet, the third and the middle child of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, known as the nerdy wallflower, rather than as the target of a desirable suitor. Well, this Christmas at Pemberly promises to change her life forever. mainstreettheater.com
MATCH
The theater complex in Midtown will host several notable theater productions in the fall. The first is The Dirt Dogs Theater Co. production of the “The Revolutionists” (Oct. 22-Nov. 6) by Lauren Gunderson, a historical feminist comedy featuring a quartet of women — including Marie Antoinette, playwright Olympe de Gouges and Charlotte Corday and Haitian rebel Marianne Angell — coping with the mayhem in 1793 during the French Revolution, better known as the Reign of Terror.
The second play is the Garden Theater’s production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical “Into the Woods” (Oct. 22-31), which interweaves several children’s fairy tales, like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel (among others), with story of a baker and his wife who long to have a child. This nontraditional production sets the action in a library during children’s
storytime.
The final notable play is Blue Squirrel Productions’ one woman show “The Woman in the Mirror: A Caregiver’s Story of Love, Laughter and Wine” (Nov. 4-14). It is performed by Danya Steel, who wrote the play based on her memoir, which chronicled her mother’s life with Alzheimer’s disease and how the pair navigated this challenging time together. matchouston.org
Stages
Stages starts this year’s season with the familyfriendly one-man show “Hook’s Tale” (Oct. 1-17) by John Leonard Pielmeier, a reimagining of J.M. Barrie’s beloved Peter Pan story from the perspective of Pan’s nemesis, Captain Hook. The show, starring Donald Corren, is based on Pielmeier’s novel and offers a morality tale wrapped up in the “true stories” behind Pan’s antics and life in Neverland.
Stages then hosts the musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (Oct. 15-Nov. 14), with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin. The show is about a middle school spelling bee where a halfdozen sixth graders compete for victory against each other, and, yes, you the audience. Be forewarned, you might just be pulled up on stage to test your acumen in the name of fun.
Finally, Stages offers a Christmas comedy mystery play, “Sister’s Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold” (Nov. 26-Dec. 31). The play, by Maripat Donovan, with Marc Silvia and Jane Morris, investigates what happened to that gold that was delivered to the baby Jesus on the night of his birth. Expect to participate here, too, as the Sister will re-create the nativity scene with members of the audience. stageshouston.com
Theatre Under The Stars
TUTS opens with a bang, bringing a production of the rock ’n’ roll musical “Rock of Ages” (Oct. 5-17) — an homage to ’80s hair bands — to the Hobby Center. The show, with a book by Chris D’Arienzo, and musical arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp, is the ultimate LA rock fairy tale, albeit one that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s set in the neon lights of the Sunset Strip and delivers some serious headbanging tunes from Twisted Sister, Bon Jovi and Journey, among others.
The Hobby Center will also host the TUTS production of “Sister Act” (Nov. 2-14). Simone Gundy, who appeared on “The Voice,” stars as disco diva Deloris Van Cartier, who finds herself under witness protection disguised as a nun in a convent, a role made famous by Whoopi Goldberg, who appeared in the 1992 movie. The adaptation features music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater and book by Cheri Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner.
“The Little Mermaid” (Dec. 7-24), another show with music by Menken and lyrics by Slater and based on a movie, will wrap up the year for TUTS. It features all the characters that made the original so memorable: Ariel the mermaid, Sebastian the crab, Flounder the fish and Scuttle the seagull, as well as the hit songs “Under the Sea,” “Kiss the Girl” and “Part of Your World,” among others. tuts.com