Top Live Theater & Performing Arts This Week: October 7 to 13, 2024

See the latest performing arts productions and theater happenings opening across Houston from Monday, October 7 to Sunday, October 13, 2024.

If there’s an overarching theme for this week’s openings, it’s intimate experiences. Every single show opening this week takes place in a small venue, giving audiences an opportunity to see artists up close.

Whether it’s chamber music, a classic vampire story or a new interpretation of an old myth, this is a chance for arts lovers to explore some of the city’s best performers in intimate settings.

Top Performing Arts Openings This Week: October 7 to 13, 2024

• Classical Theatre Company presents Dracula at The DeLuxe Theater | Opens Thursday – Adapted by Chris Iannacone, the action follows Jonathan Harker as he travels to the Carpathian Mountains to visit Count Dracula in his castle to help him purchase a home near London. But strange things are happening at the castle, and the count begins stalking the land as a blood-sucking vampire. $20 and up. Thursday and Friday at 7:30pm; Saturday at 2:30pm and 7:30pm; Sunday at 2:30pm.
• Stages & Hershey Felder Productions presents Rachmaninoff & the Tsar at the Gordy | Opens Thursday – This musical play brings to life the haunting memory of Rachmaninoff’s encounter with Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II, and the Tsar’s daughter, Grand Duchess Anastasia. Blending the composer’s music with a compelling story, this play offers a mystical musical journey in the Hershey Felder style that fans have come to know and love. $54 and up. Tuesday through Thursday at 7pm; Saturday at 2pm and 7pm; Sunday at 2pm.
• The Beauty of Korean Dance: An Evening With Baik-kwang Dance Company | Friday – This elegant evening features traditional dances that celebrate Korea’s unique culture and historical characteristics. You’ll explore a world of ancient Korean tradition through elaborate costumes, complex footwork, and dynamic rhythms, with a modern interpretation. $30. 7:30pm.
• The Garden Theatre presents Assassins at the MATCH | Opens Friday – Stephen Sondheim’s multiple Tony Award-winning tour de force shines a spotlight on celebrity culture and violence, embodied by America’s four successful and five would-be presidential assassins. A show lauded by critics and audiences alike, this 1990 one-act has been called “bone chilling” and “thrilling.” $25 and up. Thursday at 7:30pm; Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm and 8pm; Sunday at 2pm.
• Janeiad at Alley Theatre | Opens Friday – This world premiere finds Jane, a woman whose husband was lost in 9/11, finding comfort in the story of Penelope, wife of Odysseus, and her faith in his return. If Penelope believes against all odds her warrior husband will return, can’t Jane believe in miracles, too? $58 and up. Times vary.
• Bayou City Youth Ballet Company presents The Giving Tree at MATCH | Saturday – This premiere by choreographer Melody Mennite and based on the popular children’s book, is part of a mixed rep that also includes an excerpt from Marius Petipa’s La Bayadere and other works. $20 and up. 2:30pm and 6:30pm.
• Japan’s National Bunraku Theater at The George Theater – Japan-America Society of Houston (JASH) presents the Texas debut of stunning production of Japan’s traditional Japanese puppetry, with live music and scenography by Kazuo Oga of Studio Ghibli. Officially designated as UNESCO artform, Bunraku is known for its three-person puppet manipulation, a technique invented in the mid-18th century. 7:30pm.
• Losers Cirque: The Audition at the Hobby Center | Saturday – Fusing acrobatics, dance, theatrical narrative and even a bit of sport, this engaging, family-friendly show explores the nature of competition and how it affects us. $45 and up. 7:30pm.
• Mercury Chamber Orchestra presents Boccherini’s Night in Madrid at the Wortham Center | Saturday – Enjoy fun, enjoyable music from an Italian master whose music will take you from the concert hall to the streets of the 18th century. drew out the deep, soulful beauty of the cello in his famous Cello Concerto, performed here by Elinor Frey, who is specialist in performing works like these. $25 and up. 8pm.
  

Final Performances This Week

Incredible language and a whole lot of energy highlight Catastrophic Theatre’s Spirits to Enforce, which closes at MATCH on Saturday, October 12. That’s also your last day to catch the incredible cast of Rec Room’s Spring Awakening, extended due to popular demand. Stew bows out at the Ensemble on Friday, October 13. That’s the same day Always a Bridesmaid takes its final curtain call at Unity Theatre in Brenham. 

Don’t Miss Out on Tomorrow’s Fun!