Stages’ 2022-2023 Season showcases local artists and draws from a range of communities and traditions to share stories with big impact and heart. With classic archetypes, sweeping narrative, lots of poetry, and a strong storytelling backbone, highlights include five world premieres, a dynamic musical array, and the 6th annual Sin Muros Borderless Teatro Festival.

“With this season we are really inviting audiences to explore and dive into shows that might be new for them as well as those that are connected to beloved Stages traditions,” said Artistic Director Kenn McLaughlin. “Each one offers an opportunity to lean deeper into a question, a moment, or a feeling—and also to experience even more fully what our new home, The Gordy, can do for storytelling.

SUMMER 2022

For summer, Stages offers the world premiere of Dream: The Story of the Everly Brothers, created by Ben Hope and Eric Anthony, known to Stages audiences for their previous appearances in productions including Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash (both), Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie (Hope) and Hank Williams: Lost Highway (Hope).

FALL / HOLIDAY 2022

The 2022-2023 Season launches fully in October with the eagerly anticipated world premiere of Plumshuga: The Rise of Lauren Anderson, created by Houston writer and Poet Laureate Emeritus Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton in collaboration with Anderson, with choreography by Harrison Guy and Houston Ballet’s Stanton Welch, original music by Jasmine Barnes, and featuring Houston Ballet dancers. This innovative new work blends spoken word, dance, music, and theater for a vivid and intimate look into Anderson’s rise to ballet royalty and her eventual triumphant rise to accept her authentic self.

The holiday season offers two more joyous world premieres, beginning with an appearance by hit Houston musical star DeQuina Moore (Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill) in an original cabaret-style showcase. Stages continues the holiday programming when Panto favorites join a fresh cast of characters in Panto Snow White and the Seven Dorks, a magical musical adventure for all ages.

WINTER / SPRING

Stages begins 2023 with Lisa Loomer’s incisive Roe, looking beyond the divisive rhetoric to illuminate the real human stories behind the landmark Supreme Court case. Next, Stages presents the regional premiere of cullud wattah, which follows three generations of Black women living through the current water crisis in Flint, Michigan. As lead seeps into their home and their bodies, corrosive memories and secrets rise among them.

Spring blooms with an all-new adventure for Stages favorite Denise Fennell, longtime star of the beloved Late Nite Catechism series. The laughs continue with The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez (The Whipping Man), the story of an Elvis impersonator whose act is replaced by a new drag show in town. With rent overdue and a baby on the way, he takes the plunge and transforms into a drag queen with the help of new friends who teach him what it’s like to walk in someone else’s heels

Georgia McBride runs in repertory in the Sterling Stage with Drag Wonderettes, a new twist on one of Stages’ most popular, longest-running and highest-earning productions, The Marvelous Wonderettes, complete with the same hit songs of the 1950s and ‘60s that brought toe-tapping audiences back to the theater again and again. The alternating schedule will include late-night performances on select dates.

In May, Stages will offer the 6th annual Sin Muros Borderless Teatro Festival, featuring free play and poetry readings by Texas-born and Texas-based Latinx artists, as well as workshops and other public events.

The 2022-2023 Season closes with Thunder Knocking on the Door, a musical fable featuring the music of three-time Grammy Award winner Keb’ Mo’. In a small Alabama town, a mysterious Blues guitar-playing stranger arrives at the door of the Dupree family, bringing a challenge for the offspring of his late rival and a whole lot of soul.

For more information visit www.stageshouston.com

REMAINING SHOWS IN STAGES’ CURRENT 2021-2022 SEASON

WORLD PREMIERE

Sunrise Coven

March 25 – April 10

WORLD PREMIERE

You are Cordially Invited to Sit In

April 1 – May 22

REGIONAL PREMIERE

Black Super Hero Magic Mama

April 22 – May 8

WORLD PREMIERE

Song of Me

May 27 – June 12

*Stages will continue its student matinee program for the 2022-2023 Season, along with select sensory-friendly performances, American Sign Language Interpreted performances, community conversations and other public engagement opportunities.

Stages currently is piloting a program that offers $2 tickets to Lone Star Card holders with a purchase process that seeks to lessen stigma and barriers to entry.