7th Annual La Vida Es Cortos/Life is Shorts Festival
Annual short film and short play festival celebrating the diverse Latinx culture, traditions, and stories! Read more
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Theatre
Who's Holiday!
SINGLE TICKETS on sale AUGUST 21
The Garden Theatre is excited to be celebrating our 5th season! In honor of our anniversary, the first half of this monumental season will consist of audience favorites from previous seasons. From our fourth season, we are thrilled to bring back an unlikely holiday classic, Who's Holiday!, starring the incomparable Chaney Moore as Cindy Lou Who.
Who's Holiday! is a wildly funny and heartfelt adults-only comedy that tells the story of Cindy Lou Who, now all grown up and residing in a beaten-down trailer in the snowy hills of Mount Crumpit, as she recalls (in between bong rips) that Christmas Eve she first met the Grinch and the twisted turn of events her life has now taken.Read more
Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical
SINGLE TICKETS on sale AUGUST 21!
The Garden Theatre is excited to be celebrating our 5th season! In honor of our anniversary, the first half of this monumental season will consist of audience favorites from previous seasons. From our second season, we are thrilled to bring back a show BroadwayWorld called "the most fun you'll have in any theatre this holiday season." Join us for the return of one of the most popular shows we've ever produced: Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical. With this return engagement in a larger venue, we are BACK and BIGGER than ever!
Based on the iconic film starring Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michelle Geller, Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical pulls you into the manipulative world of Manhattan’s most dangerous liaisons: Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteuil. Fueled by revenge and passion, the diabolically charming step-siblings place a bet on whether or not Sebastian can deflower their incoming headmaster’s daughter, Annette Hargrove. As the two set out to destroy the innocent girl— and anyone else who gets in their way — they find themselves playing a perilous game with only one rule: Never fall in love.Read more
Katy Perry Candy Darling Mary Magdalene
The Catastrophic Theatre
Katy Perry Candy Darling Mary Magdalene
By Joe Folladori with Songs by Joe Folladori; Directed by Tamarie Cooper; Music Direction by Alli Villines
WORLD PREMIERE
“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 weren’t into cars or sex. Pop music is a CIA plot, like MK Ultra or Abstract Expressionism. Gender is a pyramid scheme; religion is a performance. Texas is both a gender and a religion.
How about you? What’s your whole deal? You sure about that?
A punk elitist attempts to sell his band on a rock opera he wrote about meeting his favorite pop star. But first he has to explain why he has a favorite pop star, why it’s Katy Perry, why he wrote a rock opera about it, and how it all ties into his new look, most succinctly described as “she.” Directed by Tamarie Cooper. (World premiere.)Read more
Venus in Fur
Drawing inspiration from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s 1870 novella Venus in Furs, Ives’ provocative and dark play is a comedic exploration of power dynamics, control, and sexuality.
Thomas is a playwright searching for the perfect actress to portray Vanda in his stage adaptation of Venus in Furs. As the evening wears on, a mysterious and unconventional woman, ironically named Vanda, arrives for her audition. Not only is she late, she also appears far from the ideal candidate Thomas had in mind. As the audition unfolds, Vanda’s performance takes an unexpected turn, blurring the lines between the script and reality. Through their interactions, the boundaries between the characters and the actors collapse, forcing both Thomas and Vanda to confront the complexities of their desires and the darker sides of human nature.Read more
Romeos and Juliets
WORLD PREMIERE
“We don’t happen to love; it happens to us.”
Afsaneh Aayani’s latest experimental dance-theatre piece was loosely inspired by two of friends: one from Tel Aviv, the other from her native Tehran. Featuring an original soundscape by longtime collaborator Hessam Dianpour, Romeos and Juliets also contains echoes of the Persian love story Layla and Majnun sharing striking similarities with and surely influencing Shakespeare’s tragedy. Across human history, we have been told who and how to love, so there can’t be a single Romeo or Juliet, Layla or Majnun. They are legion.
Audiences will recognize Aayani's work from her striking scenic designs at Catastrophic, across Houston, and beyond. Catastrophic fans might know her best for the extraordinary original works she has premiered on our stage: The Turn of the Screw and Innominate. (World premiere.)
“Aayani is a major talent with something to say and a multitude of talents with which to say it.” – Houston Chronicle
AFSANEH AAYANI is a Houston-based scenic and costume designer, puppeteer, puppet maker, director, voice actress, and artist with over 17 years of industry experience. She began her artistic journey in Iran where she developed her skills as a puppeteer and puppet maker and performed as a voice actor on television. Shortly after completing her Bachelor's Degree in Puppetry from the Tehran University of Art, she performed in festivals internationally including in China, Poland, Germany, and Sri Lanka. After building extensive experience in Iran, Afsaneh moved to the USA to earn her MFA in Scenic Design from the University of Houston in 2020. She works all over Houston and across the country.Read more
Airline Highway
Dirt Dogs Theatre Co.
Airline Highway
Written by Lisa D'Amour, Direected by Malinda L. Beckham & Curtis Barber, Regional Premiere
A group of people living on the fringes of society face their personal struggles and chase elusive dreams in Lisa D’Amour’s vibrant, poignant, and darkly comedic dive into the gritty underbelly and vibrancy of New Orleans.
Set in a dilapidated motel off the bustling Airline Highway, a group of misfits has formed their own unconventional family. They come together to honor and celebrate the life of Miss Ruby, a beloved community figure and former exotic dancer, as she nears the end of her life. With a palette of raw honesty and unapologetic humor, the play paints a portrait of those who inhabit the edges of the city’s allure, offering a mix of humor and heart as they navigate life’s complexities, and create a family in the most unexpected and overlooked places.Read more
Tamarie's Greatest Hits, Volume 3
The Catastrophic Theatre
Tamarie's Greatest Hits, Volume 3
By Tamarie Cooper & Patrick Reynolds; Directed and Choreographed by Tamarie Cooper
WORLD PREMIERE
“TAMALALIA FOREVER!”
As every good Houstonian knows, Tamarie Cooper creates another in a series of wholly original, full-scale musicals every summer—a Houston institution with a cult following—featuring wildly irreverent scripts, riotously funny songs, wackadoodle dances, spectacular sets, large casts of quadruple-threat performers, a small but mighty band, and of course Houston’s own Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, and Bugs Bunny rolled into one, the undefeated champion of ass-clownery, Tamarie Cooper, co-star Kyle Sturdivant forever at her side, chewing up all her expensive scenery.
What you might not know is that every ten years, Tamarie creates a Greatest Hits show, featuring the best moments from a decade of really great moments with a ridiculous new script and a couple brand-spanking new songs to tie the whole thing together.
The very first Tamalalia, premiered in a two-night stand on the tiny Orange Show stage in the summer of 1996. This summer marks a major milestone: 30 dang years of all-new Tamarie Cooper Shows. (World premiere.)
“Seriously, how does Tamarie Cooper not have her own HBO series?” – Broadway World