Main Street Theater Announces 46th Season

Main Street Theater's 46th Season will include six productions on its MainStage and seven at its Theater for Youth for 2021-2022. "There are not words to describe how happy we are be to returning to the stage this fall," shares Founding Artistic Director Rebecca Greene Udden. "We are grateful to have been able to produce some plays virtually throughout the pandemic, but there is nothing quite like sharing a play together live and in the same space." Among its virtual offerings was Main Street's premiere production of The Book of Magdalene by Caridad Svich.

MST's MainStage season will open with the wildly whimsical and equally intelligent Darwin in Malibu by Crispin Whittell, directed by Udden. It's a meeting of the minds when Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, and the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, meet on the beach in Malibu a century after their deaths! For the holidays, Main Street will bring back Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, a Jane Austen fan favorite for several seasons now. 2022 will start with a wry exploration of what it might have been like to be Joan of Arc's mother in Jane Anderson's riveting new play, Mother of the Maid. Then MST will revive the uniquely bizarre and wonderful post-apocalyptic vaudeville comedy, Dog Act by Liz Duffy Adams, produced last by MST in 2012. Dog Act will run near the world premiere of Adams' Born with Teeth at The Alley Theatre. Up next is the English Language World Premiere of the high-spirited, romantic comedy, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, a play by Caridad Svich, based on the novel by Mario Vargas-Llosa. The 46th Season will close in the summer of 2022 with Tom Stoppard's absurdly hilarious The Real Inspector Hound. All MainStage performances are performed at MST - Rice Village, 2540 Times Blvd., Houston, TX 77005.

Main Street Theater reaches over 150,000 children, educators, and family members yearly through its professional Theater for Youth whose productions are often based on literature children are reading at home or at school. Vivienne M. St. John is the Theater for Youth Artistic Director. The 2021-2022 season will include Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical!, A Little House Christmas, The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, Pete the Cat, and Charlotte's Web. The Summer 2022 production is TBA. MST will tour Dragons Love Tacos throughout Texas in the spring of 2022 and will offer performances at the MATCH during Spring Break 2022. All Theater for Youth performances (except for tours) are held at the theater's MATCH location, 3400 Main St., Houston, TX 77002.

Subscriptions are available for both stages at MainStreetTheater.com or 713-524-6706. Captioned performances are also available on the MainStage. Sensory Friendly/Relaxed performances along with ASL interpreted and audio-described shows are available at the Theater for Youth.

2021-2022 MainStage 46th Season

Darwin in Malibu

Regional Premiere

By Crispin Whittell

Directed by Rebecca Greene Udden

Oct 2 - 24, 2021

Previews: Sept 26 & 30 and Oct 1

Malibu, California. The present. One hundred and twenty years after his death, Charles Darwin ('the Devil's Chaplain') is hanging out at a beach house overlooking the Pacific with a girl young enough to be his daughter. His peace is rudely disrupted when his old friend Thomas Huxley ('the Devil's Disciple') washes up on the beach, closely followed by the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce. These three find themselves entangled in an enthralling and thought-provoking comedy about God and science.

Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley

By Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon

Directed by Robin Robinson

Nov 20 - Dec 19, 2021

Previews: Nov 18 & 19

A sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Miss Bennet is set two years after the novel ends and continues the story, this time with nerdy middle-sister Mary as the unlikely heroine. Mary is growing tired of her role as the dutiful middle sister in the midst of everyone else's romantic escapades. When the family gathers for Christmas at Pemberley, an unexpected guest sparks Mary's hopes for independence, an intellectual match, and possibly even love!

Mother of the Maid

Regional Premiere

By Jane Anderson

Feb 5 - 27, 2022

Previews: Jan 30 and Feb 3 & 4

In this riveting new play, Jane Anderson reimagines Joan of Arc's epic tale through the eyes of her mother. Isabelle Arc is a sensible, hard-working, God-fearing woman. Her headstrong daughter, on the other hand, communes with Saint Catherine, wears men's clothing, and prepares to lead the French army into battle. Motherhood in the fifteenth century isn't easy! Isabelle closely follows the baffling yet awe-inspiring journey of her curious, extraordinary daughter. Isabelle remains steadfast in her love and presence for daughter to the end, facing her own fears and doubts about her own faith along the way.

Dog Act

By Liz Duffy Adams

Directed by Andrew Ruthven

Mar 26 - Apr 16, 2022

Previews: Mar 20, 24. 25

The post-apocalyptic wilderness was never funnier! Follow the adventures of Zetta Stone, a traveling performer, and her companion Dog (a young man undergoing a voluntary species demotion) as they wander through the former northeastern United States. Zetta, Dog and their little vaudeville-esque troupe are on their way to a gig in China, assuming they can find it. A theatrical, darkly comic variation on the classic doomsday genre that hysterically and poignantly celebrates the need for language and stories when civilization has fallen into chaos. Recommended for mature audiences due to profanity, violence, and adult situations.

Houston audiences will have a wonderful opportunity to sample Liz Duffy Adams' work when The Alley Theatre offers the world premiere of her newest play, Born with Teeth, around the same time as Main Street's production of Dog Act.

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter

English Language World Premiere

A play by Caridad Svich

Based on the novel by Mario Vargas-Llosa

Directed by Amelia Rico

May 14 - Jun 5, 2022

Previews: May 8, 12, 13

Based on the autobiographical novel by Nobel Prize-winning Latin-American writer Mario Vargas-Llosa, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter follows the passionate love story between a young Vargas-Llosa and an older divorcee in 1950s Lima, Peru. A boisterous, high-spirited comedy with a big-hearted romantic story at its center, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter is what playwright Svich calls "a coming-of-age story about the performance of everyday life, the wonderfully disordered nature of love, and an homage to the golden age of radio and the spirit of classic screwball comedies."

The Real Inspector Hound

By Tom Stoppard

Directed by Claire Hart-Palumbo

Jul 16 - Aug 7, 2022

Previews: Jul 10, 14, 15

Attending the premiere of a new murder mystery, two feuding theater critics soon find themselves drawn into the play-within-a-play! In the hilarious spoof of Agatha Christie-style mysteries that follows, the mists roll in around isolated Muldoon Manor, and the critics become implicated in the lethal activities of an escaped madman. It's brilliant comedy as only Tom Stoppard can do!

2021-2022 Theater for Youth Season

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical!

Based on the book by Mo Willems

Directed by Robin Robinson

Sept 21 - Oct 23, 2021

When a bus driver takes a break from his route, a very unlikely volunteer springs up to take his place - a pigeon! But you've never met one like this before! From the Caldecott Honor award-winning book, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical! is sure to get everyone's wings flapping with its innovative mix of songs, silliness, and feathers.

A Little House Christmas

Adapted by James DeVita

Based on the LITTLE HOUSE books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Directed by Vivienne M. St. John

Nov 3 - Dec 18, 2021

The beloved Ingalls family that has captured the hearts of children for generations share their struggles and joys of pioneer life. Join Mary and Laura in this holiday classic about family, friendship and the Christmas spirit.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

Adapted by Reginald André Jackson

Based on the book by Christopher Paul Curtis

Directed by Rachel Dickson

Jan 19 - Feb 13, 2022

It's 1963 and the Watsons, an African-American family, journey from Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama to take their troublesome son, Byron, to live with his grandmother, a trip that lands them in one of the darkest moments in America's racial history. A fictionalization of the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Curtis' novel won the Newbery Honor and the Coretta Scott King Awards.

Pete the Cat

Book and Lyrics by Sarah Hammond

Music by Will Aronson

Based on the Pete the Cat series of books by Kimberly and James Dean

Directed by Daria Allen

Feb 22 - Apr 2, 2022

Everybody loves Pete, the groovy, guitar playing cool cat. Everyone but Jimmy, the world's most organized second grader. But all that changes when Pete the Cat and Jimmy take a once-in-a-lifetime road trip. The whole family will love Pete's hilarious, jazzy antics in this toe-tapping musical!

Charlotte's Web

Based on the book by E. B. White

Adapted by Joseph Robinette

Directed by Robin Robinson

Apr 12 - May 13, 2022

The tender story of a wise and kind spider named Charlotte who devises a plan to save her friend, Wilbur the pig. Charlotte's Web is the "just about perfect" tale of friendship, love and life.

Season Add-ons:

Dragons Love Tacos

By Ernie Nolan

Based on the book by Adam Rubin with illustrations by Daniel Salmieri

Directed by Jimmy Phillips

On Tour to Schools: Feb 8 - May 20, 2022

At the MATCH: Mar 15 - 19, 2022

Dragons love tacos. They love chicken tacos, beef tacos, great big tacos, and teeny tiny tacos. Unfortunately, where there are tacos, there is also salsa. And if a dragon accidentally eats spicy salsa... well, watch out!! The silly, dragon-dancing journey about first impressions and trying new things is a recipe for laughs and fun!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Based on the MGM Motion Picture

Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman

Adapted for the Stage by Jeremy Sams

Licensed Script Adapted by Ray Roderick

Directed by Jimmy Phillips

Jun 7 - Jul 30, 2022

Caractacus Potts and his children, Jeremy and Jemima embark on the ride of a lifetime with their out-of-this-world car, the one - the only - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Based on the beloved film, this "Truly Scrumptious" musical is a high-flying, fun-filled adventure for the entire family.

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