See the latest performing arts productions and theater happenings opening across Houston from Monday, September 14 to Sunday, September 20, 2026.
Performing arts lovers will be excited that there are so many choices this week!
You can experience the early career of a legendary composer, see a beloved musical at the Hobby Center, catch a dance performance that helps the community and see a song cycle showcasing the experiences of South Asians in Houston.
Catch an absurdist classic at Catastrophic Theatre. An LA ensemble offers an evening of Mozart and more. Mighty Acorn Productions has a story of faith, food and community. Rec Room opens its tenth anniversary season with a powerful drama. Stages offers a musical that celebrates humanity and kindness in the face of incredible loss.
This week’s shout-out goes to Mildred’s Umbrella. You only have until Saturday to see Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties. It’s side-splittingly funny, unapologetically queer, big-hearted, and performed by a terrific cast. I loved it!
Need more? Read on.
Go see performing arts, Houston!
Top Live Theater & Performing Arts in Houston This Week: September 14 to 20, 2026
Showtime! New Openings & This Week Only Shows
Paul Hope Cabaret: The Best is Yet to Come; The Jazzy Broadway of Cy Coleman Part I at Ovations | Monday | Ongoing – I love Cy Coleman for his 1989 musical City of Angels. Thirty years before that, though, he was a hitmaker with songs like “Witchcraft” and Broadway’s legendary musical, “Sweet Charity.” Paul Hope and his ensemble take audiences on a trip through Coleman’s early career, exploring the connection between his jazz stylings and Broadway success. $26.50+. 7:30pm. Get tickets.
Chamber Music Houston: VIano Quartet at Stude Concert Hall | Tuesday – The chamber music presenter opens the 2026-27 season with a performance by an ensemble formed in Los Angeles offering an evening of Mozart, Haydn, and more. $15+. 7:30pm. Get tickets.
TUTS: The Music Man at The Hobby Center | Opens Tuesday | Ongoing – What happens when a charming conman arrives in an Iowa town, selling the population on the idea of a boys’ band? Find out or simply return to River City in the beloved musical that features songs like “76 Trombones,” “Til There Was You,” “Trouble” and more hummable tunes. $47+ Times vary. Get tickets.
Social Movement Contemporary Dance Theater: Dance | Hunger | Action at MATCH | Thursday & Friday – Dancers from many Houston’s youth programs come together for performances benefitting the Houston Food Bank. $30+. 7:30pm. Get tickets.
Mighty Acorn Productions: Babette’s Feast at MATCH | Opens Thursday | Ongoing – Based on the 1987 Danish Oscar-winning film, the story about the extraordinary power of generosity, artistry and human connection follows Babette. A French immigrant—who finds herself living in a remote Nordic town populated by pious Lutherans—wins the lottery. When she decides to cook a sumptuous meal, it transforms the community. $30; Pay-What-You-Can on Thursday, September 17. Times vary. Get tickets.
Amadeus at The Rec Room | Opens Thursday | Ongoing – The Downtown theater—a neighbor to the Astros’ Daikin Park—opens its tenth anniversary season with the Tony-winning play by Peter Shaffer. A story of genius and jealousy, it follows composer Antonio Salieri and his obsession with rival Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. $20+; $5 on Wednesday, September 23. 7:30pm. Get tickets.
Stages: Come From Away at The Gordy | Opens Friday | Ongoing – When 38 planes of stranded passengers wind up in tiny Gander, Newfoundland, Canada on September 11, 2001, the townspeople find themselves overwhelmed. What happens next is an extraordinary story of grace and hope. Based on actual events, this musical was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and has a following that will undoubtedly make this one of Houston’s hottest tickets. $49+. Times vary. Get tickets.
Catastrophic Theatre: Rhinoceros at MATCH | Opens Friday | Ongoing – Houston’s premier theater company for the odd, offbeat, and often just plain weird opens its season with this classic of absurdist theater by Eugene Ionesco. Written in reaction to the fascism, conformity, and senseless violence that surrounded Ionesco during WWII, this subversive comedy has biting wit and sees George Parker and Kyle Sturdivant revisit their roles from 2017’s smash-hit production. Pay-What-You-Can. Times vary. Get tickets.
About Noah at Theatre Suburbia | Opens Friday | Ongoing – The fast-paced new comedy chronicles the life of Noah Bailey, spanning decades from the swinging ’60s straight through to the present day—all told through the eyes of those who knew him best. $20+. Times vary. Get tickets.
Jekyll & Hyde at Stageworks Theatre | Opens Friday | Ongoing – Determined to separate the good and evil within humankind, Dr. Henry Jekyll becomes trapped in a deadly struggle with his sinister alter ego, Edward Hyde, in a gothic musical with a pulsing, powerful score. $29+. Times vary. Get tickets.
The Players Theatre: Silent Sky at The Owen Theatre | Opens Friday | Ongoing – The Conroe theater company presents Lauren Gunderson’s play about female “computers” at the dawn of the 20th century—mapping the heavens from the Harvard Observatory—based on real people and events. $21+. Times vary. Get tickets.
Classical Arts Society: Songs of Many Lives at University of Houston Student Center South Theater | Saturday – Experience the multimedia musical experience inspired by the rich and radical history of South Asians in America through songs composed in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Bengali, and English. 4pm. Learn more.
Houston Symphony: Opening Night: Celebrating America at 250 at Jones Hall | Saturday – Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard and special guest Matthew McConaughey join the orchestra for the 2026 – 2027 season opener, featuring a concert of songs by George Gershwin, Broadway favorites, Aaron Copland’s stirring Lincoln Portrait, and more. $44+. 7pm. Get tickets.
Indo-American Association: The Draupadi Phenomenon at MATCH | Sunday – Conceived and choreographed by world-acclaimed Odissi maestro Guru Sanchita Bhattacharya, the groundbreaking dance theater production fuses classical traditions of Odissi and Mayurbhanj Chhau with avant-garde stagecraft. $29+. 2pm and 6pm. Get tickets.
They’ve Got Legs: Ongoing Shows
Purpose at The Ensemble Theatre | Wednesday to Sunday | Closes Sunday, October 11 – The arts organization opens its 50th anniversary season with the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. It follows the members of an influential Chicago family, who must reassess their values and long-held assumptions after a son returns home with an unexpected guest. $35+. Times vary. Get tickets.
Cold War Choir Practice at Main Street Theater | Thursday to Sunday | Closes Sunday, October 11 – The regional premiere of the 2026 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winner occurs against the backdrop of the 1980s, exploring what happens when the threat of nuclear war and long-simmering family tensions collide, while sweeping a young girl into the intrigue. $45+. Times vary. Get tickets.
An Old-Fashioned Family Murder at Theatre Southwest | Friday to Sunday | Closes Saturday, October 3 – Set on a dark and stormy night in a northeastern mansion in 1943, the hilarious whodunit features chills and laughs in equal measures. $24. Times vary. Get tickets.
Curtain Call! Closing This Week
On Saturday, Mildred’s Umbrella’s production of Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties makes its final invasion of the Antartic at Spring Street Studios. That’s the same day Stage Right’s Footloose dances out of the Crighton Theatre in Conroe.
And come Sunday, Houston Ballet’s Pecos Bill lassos its final moon at Wortham Center.
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