May 12, 2022 | ktru, Showstoppers
Theatre Under The Stars is wrapping up its 2021-2022 comeback season with the national tour of the Broadway smash hit Jersey Boys, on stage now at the Hobby Center. The Tony-winning musical tells the story of “The Four Seasons”, and ultimately Frankie Valli’s, rise from the streets of New Jersey to international stardom. Featuring Frankie Valli’s top hits as well as a variety of songs you may never have heard before, Jersey Boys has something in it for everyone (although note that the production contains “authentic, profane Jersey language”). Jersey Boys had the crowd singing and clapping along from the first song to the last and even treated the audience to an encore performance of “Happy Birthday” to celebrate the Hobby Center’s 20th year.
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May 6, 2022 | ktru
Music Department Head Nathan Bergrin and Station Manager Chloe Liebenthal snagged an interview with Dusty Brooks, Co-Runner with Dorion Domi of Austin’s own Oblivion Access, a four-day exaltation of underground metal and rock music.
Feb 28, 2022 | ktru
Returning to Houston for the first time since the sold-out 2018 run, Hamilton brought Houstonians racing back to the theater as part of Broadway At The Hobby Center’s 2021-2022 season. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony award-winning hip-hop retelling of Alexander Hamilton’s biography combines history, music, and dance into a show you won’t soon forget. Houston is home to the Angelica cast, one of three Hamilton national tours, through March 20th, with many performances nearly sold-out already. The producers are hosting a Ham-4-Ham lottery for 40 $10 tickets to each performance for those that might not be able to afford the show otherwise (more details below). Whether or not the audience is familiar with the production through the Disney+ filming of the original Broadway production, seeing Hamilton live brings a completely unique experience. From start to finish, Hamilton provides non-stop music and drama without a single dull moment. (more…)
Dec 21, 2021 | ktru, Showstoppers
**Update 12/20** Theatre Under The Stars has decided to cancel all remaining performances of The Little Mermaid due to breakthrough cases of Covid-19 in the cast and crew. Please check tuts.com for more information or for details about other upcoming performances.
Each year, Theatre Under The Stars produces a family-friendly musical for the holiday season, the most recent incarnation of which opened at the Hobby Center December 7th. TUTS brought to life the classic animated film Disney’s The Little Mermaid in a magical spectacle, full of the same vivid colors as the original. The score contains all of the recognizable hits from the original, along with songs specifically written for stage productions by original composer Alan Menken. The show featured a combination of live actors and larger than life sea creatures, mostly adorned with either glow-in-the-dark features or string lights, adding another layer of complexity to the design features in the show.
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Dec 17, 2021 | ktru
By Rachel Bui
I’m not sure if it’s because this was my first concert since the pandemic first hit, or if it’s because this was the last stop of the Pink Moon Tour, but there was a special energy that I hadn’t felt in a long time at this concert.
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Dec 13, 2021 | ktru, Showstoppers
Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A parody by Dan and Jeff opened this week in Zilkha Hall at The Hobby Center. This internationally touring production of potted potter brings magic, humor, and… well, mostly humor to the Hobby Center. Potted Potter is a great show for the entire family during this holiday season. From the moment you step foot into the Zilkha Hall lobby you are drawn into the vaguely magical world of Potted Potter. With the twinkling, ethereal music and programs rolled into scrolls, there is an air of mysticism felt upon entering the theater. However, as soon as the first line of the show, this mysticism is broken and the audience is brought into the reality that the show is simply two friends attempting to reenact the entirety of the Harry Potter series live, with minimal props and set.
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Nov 17, 2021 | ktru, Showstoppers
The cast of the National Tour of TOOTSIE. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.
Tootsie strutted into Houston Tuesday night as the second show in the Broadway at the Hobby Center 2021-2022 season. Tootsie, based on the 1982 movie of the same title starring Dustin Hoffman, presents the struggle of Michael Dorsey, an out-of-work actor recently fired and unable to land any roles due to his narcissistic and intolerable nature in rehearsals. In a desperate attempt to save his career, Michael attends an audition for “Juliet’s Curse”, a role he was helping his ex-girlfriend rehearse for, disguised as Dorothy Michaels, his newly-formed female alter ego. Chaos ensues as he falls in love with both his popular new persona and with one of his co-stars, who does not know his true identity.
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Nov 8, 2021 | ktru, Showstoppers
Theater Under the Stars is on a roll with back-to-back, rocking shows at the Hobby Center. Sister Act opened this week in front of a full house of masked theatergoers. The story follows a vivacious Philadelphia club singer Deloris entering witness protection in a convent after witnessing a murder committed by her gangster boyfriend, where she brings her soul background to the dreary church hymns and creates a gospel choir out of the nuns. The Tony Award nominated musical, based off of the 1992 Film starring Whoopi Goldberg, features a lively, soulful score by Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hercules) that combines 70s funk songs with Latin hymns to create joyous gospel music that gets even the most straight-laced nuns singing along.
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Oct 14, 2021 | ktru
By Jacob Pellegrino
Payday is a unique artist whose music is influenced by an incredibly wide range of genres and styles: she writes her own songs, raps, and sings. Payday’s most recent album RAP IN A CAN exemplifies this diversity, also seen in her live set at ACL and contains the single “Vampire,” which features Danny Brown. At ACL, Payday’s performance contained a mix of slower songs based on singing along with harder raps that created a really nice balance for the crowd.
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Oct 14, 2021 | ktru
By Jacob Pellegrino
The first weekend of 2021’s iteration of Austin City Limits was something to be remembered. From a diverse and busy lineup to the sunny weather in spite of forecasted rain, the festival was engaging and left me feeling uplifted throughout.
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Theatre Under The Stars is wrapping up its 2021-2022 comeback season with the national tour of the Broadway smash hit Jersey Boys, on stage now at the Hobby Center. The Tony-winning musical tells the story of “The Four Seasons”, and ultimately Frankie Valli’s, rise from the streets of New Jersey to international stardom. Featuring Frankie Valli’s top hits as well as a variety of songs you may never have heard before, Jersey Boys has something in it for everyone (although note that the production contains “authentic, profane Jersey language”). Jersey Boys had the crowd singing and clapping along from the first song to the last and even treated the audience to an encore performance of “Happy Birthday” to celebrate the Hobby Center’s 20th year.
