Catch some of the city’s most exciting upcoming performances, happening all month long, with our roundup of live theater and performing arts productions in November 2023.
This month brings a Broadway sensation to town, along with the latest offering from Catastrophic Theatre and many more options for those looking for performing arts outside the holiday season.
From classical music and regional play premieres to musicals and dance, there’s something for every taste and budget.
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Top Performing Arts & Theater Shows in Houston: November 2023
Opening This Month
- Performing Arts Houston presents Vienna Boys Choir at Wortham Center | Wednesday, November 1 – The world-renowned choir returns to Houston for a concert showcasing why the ensemble has captivated audiences for more than five centuries. Expect a performance including everything from medieval songs to contemporary compositions. $29 and up. 7:30pm.
- Ars Lyrica presents Ecstatic Visions at Hobby Center | Friday, November 3 – The Grammy Award–nominated early music ensemble presents a concert with Handel’s Silete venti as its centerpiece. The spectacular solo motet for soprano and Baroque orchestra rivals the composer’s best operatic scenes. Music by Ciprano da Rore, Johann Schmeltzer, and Jean-Philippe Rameau is also part of the program. $15 and up. 7:30pm.
- Return Engagements at Theatre Southwest | Friday, November 3 to Saturday, November 18 – This Canadian farce traces the romantic entanglements of four couples across 30 years. Written by the author of Same Time Next Year, the play was called “amusing and witty” by the Cape Cod Times. $22. Showtimes vary.
- ROCO presents Unchambered: Rachel Jordan at the Historic Eldorado Ballroom | Saturday, November 4 – The acclaimed violinist offers a vibrant, intimate program honoring the memory and legacy of her father, New Orleans–based musician Kidd Jordan, an internationally acclaimed saxophonist who once played at the Ballroom in the 1970s. Pay-what-you-wish; suggested price of $45. 5pm.
- Musiqa presents Underground Sounds at Buffalo Bayou Cistern | Thursday, November 9 to Saturday, November 12 – Enjoy the world premiere of new music by artist board member Pierre Jalbert. This half-hour length composition was written to take advantage of the cistern’s unique acoustic reverberations. Please note: Performances are currently sold out, but in-person wait list reservations can be made beginning exactly 30 minutes before each concert. Showtimes vary.
- DaCamera presents Fire Shut Up in My Bones at Wortham Center | Friday, November 10 – Composer Terrance Blanchard brings a new suite of music from his groundbreaking opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, the first opera by a Black composer to be staged at the Met. This “opera in jazz” based on the memoir by Charles M. Blow is the coming of age story of a young man growing up in the face of adversity. $42.50 and up. 8pm.
- Virtuosi Opening Night Concert at Hobby Center | Saturday, November 11 – Celebrating its 28th season, the city’s premier youth orchestra offers this concert to kick off the 2023-2024 season and showcase the artistry of its young performers. $34.50 and up. 7:30pm.
- Broadway Across America presents MJ at Hobby Center | Tuesday, November 14 to Sunday, November 19 – This multi-Tony Award–winning musical follows the creation of Michael Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous World Tour. Featuring more than 25 of the iconic performer’s hits, including “Beat It,” “Bad,” “Man in the Mirror” and more, it traces Jackson’s career and explores what made him a legend. $40 and up. Showtimes vary.
- Dorian Band presents A Night of Persian Music at MATCH | Friday, November 17 – This Houston-based Iranian sextet presents a concert blending traditional Persian instruments like the taar and tonbak with piano, flute and violin. Fifteen evocative compositions are designed to showcase how boundaries fade and inclusivity is created. $30 and up. 7:30pm.
- Catastrophic Theatre presents Turn of the Screw at MATCH | Friday, November 17 | Ongoing – This classic ghost story by Henry James about a governess in Victorian England gets a new environmental and multimedia production. Look for a haunting soundscape, toy theatre, puppetry, and for performers and guests to collaborate in creating a new take on one of the world’s most celebrated ghost stories. This production runs through Saturday, December 9. Pay-what-you-can. Showtimes vary.
- Performing Arts Houston presents Dirty Dancing in Concert at Wortham Center | Sunday, November 26 – See the beloved 1980s movie like you’ve never seen it before. As a remastered film plays on screen, a full band plays the the score and singers perform the classic songs. Relive the magic of romance in this story about the idealistic Baby and the love and loyalty she finds in Catskills dance instructor Johnny Castle. $59 and up. 7pm.
- Stages presents Always…Patsy Cline at the Gordy | Wednesdays to Sundays | Extended – Celebrating its 35th anniversary, this musical biography features 27 of the iconic country singer’s hits, while showcasing her rise to stardom in the 1960s. It’s also the story of the friendship between Cline and Houston native Louise Seger, who met the singer in a Bayou City honky tonk. This production runs through Sunday, December 31. $48 and up. Showtimes vary.
Closing This Month
- Houston Grand Opera presents Intelligence at Wortham Center | Through Friday, November 3 – The Opera’s 75th world premiere opens the new season, based on a true story set during the Civil War. Prominent Confederate Elizabeth Van Lew runs a Union spy ring, working with her enslaved servant Mary Jane Bowser. With choreography from Urban Bush Women, a score by Jake Heggie, and libretto by Gene Scheer, this groundbreaking work shows how one of the city’s finest arts companies continues to push the envelope and embrace new works. $25 and up. Showtimes vary.
- Dirt Dogs Theatre presents The Birds at MATCH | Through Saturday, November 4 – Based on the Daphne DuMaurier short story, which also inspired the classic Hitchcock film, this thriller finds two strangers trying to survive as a deadly slew of birds attacks humanity. The show opens Dirt Dogs’ 8th season. $30. Showtimes vary.
- Switzerland at Stages | Through Sunday, November 12 – In this taut, psychological thriller, Texas murder mystery writer Patricia Highsmith gets a strange visitor to her remote Swiss Alps home. A stranger, a fan of her work, turns up urging her to write another installment of her Tom Ripley series. Will she? Or will something worse happen? Stages favorite Sally Edmunson stars as Patricia. $50 and up. Showtimes vary.
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