44th Season to Take Place In-Person at Stages’ New Home, The Gordy
Stages’ 2021-2022 Season will resume in-person performances at their new campus, The Gordy, this October! The 2021-2022 Season celebrates comedies, musicals, and various joyful projects providing an opportunity to explore and experience humanity from many different perspectives. Season highlights include six world premieres, four of which have been written by Houston-based playwrights, and the 5th annual Sin Muros Latinx Theater Festival.
“There are shows we have longed to produce but have been unable to due to COVID, and there are new pieces that were developed during the pandemic,” said Artistic Director Kenn McLaughlin. “Taken as a whole, the season captures our modern moment of coming back to live performance with a bit of what was before combined with pieces from the current moment. It functions like a link between where we were and where we are going.”
FALL / HOLIDAY 2020
The 2021-2022 Season launches in October with a family-friendly adventure with the celebrated playwright John Leonard Pielmeier’s Hook’s Tale, a re-imagining of Peter Pan that questions the real price of refusing to grow up. Also in October is the The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the Tony Award-winning hilarious and touching musical about six adolescents competing for the spelling bee championship of a lifetime. The holiday season kicks off with an appearance by Houston’s favorite hilarious nun, Denise Fennell, back by popular demand! In Sister’s Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold, Sister takes on the mystery that has intrigued historians throughout the ages – whatever happened to Magi’s gold? Stages continues the holiday programming when Panto favorites join a fresh cast of characters in the world premiere Panto Little Mermaid, a tidal wave of magic, romance and hilarity for all ages, created by Houston-based playwrights Elizabeth A.M. Keel and ShaWanna Renee Rivon.
WINTER / SPRING 2021
Stages begins 2022 with MacGyver: The Musical! Based on the original TV series created by Lee David Zlotoff, this rock-n-roll musical comedy pits MacGyver against the Soviet Empire and best of all, the leading actor who plays MacGyver is selected from the audience each night!
In February, Stages will offer the 5th annual Sin Muros (Without Walls): A Latinx Theater Festival, featuring free play and poetry readings by Texas-born and Texas-based Latinx artists, as well as workshops and other public events.
Sunrise Coven opens in March, a brilliant new dark comedy about American healthcare by the Houston-based author of Stages’ hit The Book of Maggie, Brendan Borque-Sheil.
Spring continues with ShaWanna Renee Rivon’s You Are Cordially Invited to Sit-In. Set to the love songs, dance hits and revolutionary tunes of the 1960s-1970s, this rockin’ new musical takes place in Houston, Texas during the peak of youth in the lives of four Black college freshman who join the revolution against inequality and racism. Shortly after, Stages will welcome Inda Craig-Galvan’s Black Super Hero Magic Mama. Surprising comedy and grace mark this stunning new play which covers the pain of grief when a mother loses her son and retreats inward to a technicolor universe to avoid the agony of the real world.
The 2021-2022 season closes with the world premiere of Song of Me, a story about family, tradition, Vietnamese cooking, and growing up in Houston from two of the city’s most exciting young artists, Mai Lé and Đạt Peter Ton.
EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
A key focus for Stages is the continued development and implementation of an institutional plan and systems for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), with the goal of dismantling oppressive and exclusive structures, creating equitable access to our work, building connections between diverse communities, and broadening our reach to fully reflect the populations we serve. Over the past four years, Stages’ board, management and staff have undertaken critical conversations about our role in shaping equity, diversity and inclusion for all Houstonians through our work as theater producers and educators, and we have made a purposeful, consistent institutional commitment to inclusion.
In January 2021, with support from the Elkins Foundation and the Vivian L. Smith Foundation, Stages announced the hiring of Eboni Bell as our first Inclusion, Engagement and Training Director charged with strengthening Stages’ operational and creative capacities including advancement of the company’s work with equity, diversity and inclusion, and expansion of progressive community engagement and education training programs. Eboni will guide Stages through expansion of our anti-racist work, community engagement programming, and professional training initiatives as we start a new era in our history at The Gordy.
In November 2020, Stages launched a three-month anti-racism facilitation skills training course, welcoming a cohort of Houston-based arts advocates working to create social change in our city. This course was facilitated by nationally celebrated ArtEquity and hosted by Stages with underwriting support from Houston Endowment and additional support from Macy’s. Our shared goal was to create a cohort of advocates who are working across the Houston arts community serving as change agents to create racial equity. The cohort comprises a diverse group of more than 50 participants across the Houston arts community including both individual artists/administrators and leaders and representatives from a wide range of Houston arts organizations.
Work during the 2021-2022 Season will continue to focus on deep engagement of Stages’ Board of Directors to help support lasting cultural change and act as advocates for equity, diversity and inclusion throughout Houston and beyond.
EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Stages is committed to investing in students and nurturing talent through a variety of educational initiatives, with a focus on emerging artists, including middle, high school and university students as well as early-career professionals. One of these programs is the fully merit-based summer Young Artists Conservatory (YAC) for high school students, offered free of charge to all participants. Applications are open to all interested students, regardless of economic status or experience level, and selection is based on application, recommendations and audition. This four-week full-time intensive program immerses participants in all aspects of theatre production, preparing young theatre practitioners to excel in university-level theatre programs.
In summer 2021, Stages will partner with Houston’s HITS Theatre to provide full production support for their performance of Showstoppers at Miller Outdoor Theatre July 9 and 10, 2021.
Now entering its 15th year, Stages’ performance and production internship program with the Sam Houston State University Department of Theatre and Dance provides professional training and experience for college students planning a career in the arts. Many of Houston’s recognized theatre artists made their professional debuts as part of this program.
Stages will continue its student matinee program for the 2021-2022 Season, including a sensory-friendly student matinee for children with autism-spectrum disorders and other sensory challenges.
The 2021-2022 Season is presented with generous support from Lead Presenting Sponsor The Humphreys Foundation, along with The Brown Foundation, Inc., The Hamill Foundation, Houston Endowment, The Meadows Foundation, Mid-America Arts Alliance, The Wortham Foundation, Inc., and The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts.
Press tickets are available for regular performances of all productions. To request seats, email press@stageshouston.com.
General performance times are Wednesdays & Thursdays 7:30 p.m., Fridays 8 p.m., Saturdays 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sundays 2:30 p.m. Panto performance times are Wednesdays – Fridays 7 p.m., Saturdays 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday 2 p.m.
Season subscriptions are now on sale and range from $144 to $513. Subscribers receive priority seating at The Gordy and enjoy a host of other benefits. Subscriptions are available through the Stages Box Office (713.527.0123, boxoffice@stageshouston.com) or online at www.stageshouston.com.
Regular tickets will go on sale on sale later this summer. Individual tickets start at $25 with savings for groups of 6 or more. To purchase, call the Stages Box Office at 713.527.0123 or reserve online at www.stageshouston.com.
ABOUT STAGES
In January 2020, Stages opened our new $35.4 million home, The Gordy, ushering in a new era for this iconic Houston institution. Founded in 1978, Stages is a professional Equity theater that makes plays and tells stories that invite everyone to live more deeply and love more boldly. We hold up a mirror to our community in order to crack open the question: “What does it mean to be human?” Stages presents a broad scope of plays and musicals in an intimate setting, generating critical acclaim and creating a devoted community of patrons and artists who share a true sense of engagement, inclusion and connection.
Stages is one of only a handful of Texas theaters that offers year-round employment for creative professionals. On average, Stages produces 12 productions per year totaling hundreds of performances and reaching 75,000+ patrons. Almost all of Stages’ shows are rehearsed and constructed on-site in Houston, brought to life by an exceptional community of locally-based artists and craftspeople along with occasional guest directors, actors and designers from around the world.
For more than a decade Stages has made a strong investment in nurturing emerging artists and craftspeople who have now become field leaders and working professionals. Stages’ learning opportunities include student matinees, performance and production internship programs for college students, and conservatory-style training for middle and high school students.
For more information visit www.stageshouston.com
REMAINING SHOWS IN STAGES’ 2020-2021 SEASON
REGIONAL PREMIERE
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill
June 18 – July 18, 2021
Press Opening: June 25, 2021
Stages’ 2021-2022 Season
HOOK’S TALE
Sterling Stage
By John Leonard Pielmeier
WORLD PREMIERE
October 1, 2021 – 17, 2021
Press Opening: Thursday, October 7, 2021
A long-lost journal from the notorious, and much maligned, Captain Hook offers the true tale of Peter Pan and nothing is as you have been told! Award-winning playwright John Leonard Pielmeier (Agnes of God) joins Stages’ favorite Donald Corren (Bobby Riggs in Balls) to create a one-man tour-de-force that tells the Pan story from Hook’s point of view. Finally, discover the friendly alligator, the helpful tick of the clock, the true love of the island’s indigenous population, and the real price of never growing old in this magical, theatrical romp for the whole family.
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
Lester and Sue Smith Stage
Music and lyrics by William Finn
Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Conceived by Rebecca Feldman
October 15 – November 14, 2021
Press Opening: Thursday, October 21, 2021
Six spellers enter and only one speller leaves! At least the losers get a juice box. An eclectic group of adolescents compete for the spelling championship of a lifetime, while candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives. Winner of the Tony and the Drama Desk Awards for Best Book, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has charmed audiences across the country with its effortless wit and humor. This is one bee to remember!
The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee was workshopped and developed at Barrington Stage and produced Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre in 2004 and was subsequently produced on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre in 2015. The show was nominated for six Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score.
SISTER’S CHRISTMAS CATECHISM: THE MYSTERY OF THE MAGI’S GOLD
Lester and Sue Smith Stage
By Maripat Donovan with Marc Silvia and Jane Morris
November 26 – December 31, 2021
Press Opening: Thursday, December 2, 2021
It’s “CSI: Bethlehem” in this holiday mystery extravaganza, from the author of Late Nite Catechism, as Sister takes on the mystery that has intrigued historians throughout the ages – whatever happened to the Magi’s gold? (“We know that Mary used the frankincense and myrrh as a sort of potpourri – they were in a barn after all.”) Retelling the story of the nativity as only Sister can, this hilarious holiday production is bound to become a yearly classic. Employing her own scientific tools, assisted by a local choir as well as a gaggle of audience members, Sister creates a living nativity unlike any you have ever seen. With gifts galore and bundles of laughs, Sister’s Christmas Catechism is sure to become the newest addition to your holiday traditions.
PANTO LITTLE MERMAID
Sterling Stage
by ShaWanna Renee Rivon and Elizabeth A.M. Keel
WORLD PREMIERE
December 3 – 31, 2021
Press Opening: Thursday, December 9, 2021
A tidal wave of magic, romance, and hilarity! Hans Christian Anderson’s tale is reimagined in Galveston Bay, as marine biologists and loveable sea creatures work together to save their shores from the wicked, accessory loving Pursula. Come ready to laugh, cheer, boo, and tap your toes…or fins!
Elizabeth A.M. Keel, a member of the Stages Patron Services Team, is a local Houston playwright whose works have been produced around town and across the country. She previously collaborated with Ryan Schabach on Panto Star Force at Stages. Additionally, this is ShaWanna Renee Rivon’s debut at Stages. She is a University of Houston playwriting student who is also represented this season with You Are Cordially Invited to Sit-In.
MACGYVER: THE MUSICAL
Lester and Sue Smith Stage
Book by Kate Chavez, Robin Ward Holloway, Lindsey Hope Pearlman & Lee David Zlotoff
Music by Peter Lurye
Based on the original TV series created by Lee David Zlotoff
WORLD PREMIERE
February 4 – March 6, 2022
Press Opening: Thursday, February 10, 2022
Do you have an extraordinary talent for solving impossible conundrums and global catastrophes with a paperclip? Then we want you! The creator of the classic TV drama brings the world’s favorite hero to the stage in MacGyver The Musical – a rock-n-roll musical comedy that pits MacGyver against the Soviet Empire in 1989 East Berlin. Best of all, the leading actor who plays MacGyver is selected from the audience each night. Can you MacGyver your way to the stage and save America? Only one way to find out.
MacGyver: The Musical was developed in partnership with Telluride Theatre. In addition to this production, Robin Ward Holloway has served as the music director for The Fantasticks and Panto Star Force at Stages. Peter Luyre has written music and lyrics for productions including The Magic School Bus, Bear in the Big Blue House, Thomas and Friends, among other film and TV credits.
Sin Muros (Without Walls): A Latinx Theater Festival
February 17 – 20, 2022
Stages will celebrate Latinx voices and stories reflecting the diversity of local Texas communities during the third annual Sin Muros (Without Walls): A Latinx Theatre Festival. The weekend will be filled with free public events for audiences and local theater-makers, including workshops, play and poetry readings!
For priority ticket reservations are $25.
SUNRISE COVEN
Lester and Sue Smith Stage
By Brendan Borque-Sheil
WORLD PREMIERE
March 25 – April 11, 2022
Press Opening: Thursday, March 31, 2022
Hallie has been a caring nurse to her community for much of her life. When her eyesight fails, she finds a new calling among a local coven as she thwarts the business of Western medicine to access drugs and healing for her patients. A brilliant new dark comedy about American health care by the author of the Stages’ hit The Book of Maggie.
Sunrise Coven received an initial reading at RecRoom in Houston. Additionally, Brendan Borque-Sheil was in the first Stages Young Artists Conservatory Class and Stages previously produced the world premiere of his wildly successful play The Book of Maggie.
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO SIT-IN
Rochelle and Max Levit Stage
By ShaWanna Renee Rivon
WORLD PREMIERE
April 1 – May 22, 2022
Press Opening: Thursday, April 7, 2022
Houston, Texas. Spring of 1960. It’s the peak of youth in the lives of four Black college freshman. Some are ready for fun, some for success, some for love, and some just want to pledge and party, and in Third Ward they have all of the potential in the world…a segregated world. No longer content with being separate, the four join the revolution against inequality and racism and find the path to adulthood along the way. Set to the love songs, dance hits, and revolutionary tunes of the 1960s-1970s, this rockin’ new musical is inspired by the real story of Houston’s first sit-in that led to the city’s desegregation, and full of up-to-the-minute spontaneous humor.
BLACK SUPER HERO MAGIC MAMA
Sterling Stage
By Inda Craig-Galvàn
REGIONAL PREMIERE
April 22 – May 8, 2022
Press Opening: Thursday, April 28, 2022
SPONSOR: Myrtle Jones
When Sabrina Jackson’s son is the victim of a police shooting, she retreats inward to a powerful technicolor universe, living as a comic book superhero named Maasai Angel. Compared to the pain of the real world, this battle is one Sabrina can handle. But will Sabrina stay in this dream world or return to reality and mourn her son? Surprising comedy and grace mark this stunning new play by one of America’s most acclaimed new writers.
Black Super Hero Magic Mama premiered in 2019 at Geffen Playhouse and the same year was awarded the Kesserling prize bestowed by the National Arts Club. In 2017 the show won The Rosa Parks Playwriting Award at The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival and appeared on Kilroy’s List.
SONG OF ME
Lester and Sue Smith Stage
Written by Mai Lé
Created by Mai Lé and Đạt Peter Ton
WORLD PREMIERE
May 27 – June 12, 2022
Press Opening: Thursday, June 2, 2022
Philip and Luci are Vietnamese Houstonians – a brother and sister duo navigating their futures together. As they cook, plan, and reminisce on the eve of Philip’s wedding, cultures clash as the two siblings seek their own path and long to sing in their own voices. A jubilant world premiere about family, tradition, Vietnamese cooking, and growing up in Houston from two of the city’s most exciting young artists.
Mai Lé and Đạt Peter Ton are Houston-based actors and directors who collaborated on this brand-new play. Mai was previously seen in Sensitive Guys at Stages and Peter has served as Director of Photography/Editor on all of Stages’ digital offerings this year. He has also frequently served as Sound Designer and Assistant Director of previous Stages productions.
