The Ensemble Theatre Announces its 46th Season

HOUSTON, TEXAS-The Ensemble Theatre announces its 2022-2023 season which includes four regional premieres and one world premiere collaboration.

The Ensemble Theatre is thrilled to announce our 46th season!

“Like theaters across the world, we look forward to being at full capacity and navigating what a new-normal means to us post the COVID-19 shutdowns,” says Artistic Director Eileen J. Morris.

“Our plays this season will continue to embrace the spirit of our African American community. We look forward to producing six fervent plays this season, which harmonize the beliefs and aspirations of Humanity.”

The season will kick off September 2022 with Love and Southern D!scomfort, by Monica L. Patton and Robert Daye and is being directed by Eileen J. Morris  (Play with Music, Regional premier). Unfolding like a soap opera, this play is a rich and timeless story about how love and southern discomfort fuel dissension when the family matriarch’s death creates crises for her heirs.  Using the steamy and sultry backdrop of rural Louisiana, with the unbridled passion that only family can elicit, the story is infused with original contemporary music, steam, jealousy, joy, pain, and love.  Fast paced and emotional, Love and Southern D!scomfort serves up good old-fashioned drama that will leave you with thoughts of your own family ties! This production will run September 22-October 16, 2022.

Next is Nate Jacobs’ A Motown Christmas, a musical revue which blends traditional Christmas tunes with the flavor and soul of the Motown era. Adapted, directed and choreographed by Aisha Ussery, with musical direction by Phillip Hall, A Motown Christmas celebrates the most wonderful time of year with this festive holiday revue.  It’s the perfect blend of traditional Christmas carols paired with the soulful sounds from such Motown celebrities as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight and the Pips.  This soulful play promises to bring back good memories and deliver a delightful Christmas treat for the entire family beginning November 17-December 24, 2022.

 Following up is Paradise Blue by Tony Award-nominated playwright Dominique Morisseau.  Paradise Blue is a Drama/Comedy regional premier, directed by Eileen J. Morris.   Blue, a gifted trumpeter, contemplates selling his once-vibrant jazz club in Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood to shake free the demons of his past and better his life.  But where does that leave his devoted Pumpkin, who has dreams of her own?  And what does it mean for the club’s resident bebop band?  When a mysterious woman with a walk that drives men mad comes to town with her own plans, everyone’s world is turned upside down.  This dynamic and musically infused drama shines light on the challenges of building a better future on the foundation of what our predecessors have left us.  This production will run January 26-February 26, 2023.

Fourth in the lineup is Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s, Directed by Shirley Jo Finney.  This comedy, which is also a regional premier, is a Tony Award nominee for Best Play and recently had a very successful run on Broadway.  In Clyde’s, a truck stop sandwich shop offers its formerly incarcerated kitchen staff a shot at redemption.  Even as the shop’s callous owner, Clyde, tried to keep them under her thumb, the staff members are given purpose and permission to dream by their shared quest to create the perfect sandwich. This highly entertaining comedy of kitchen nightmares at a Pennsylvania truck stop will run from March 23-April 16, 2023.

Regional premiere drama Brother Toad by Nathan Louis Jackson will be the 5^th play in the season lineup.  Nathan Louis Jackson is known for his television writing and producing work, including his work on the hit Netflix series Luke Cage.  Brother Toad addresses the issues of fear and gun violence.  When an 18-year-old Black high school student, Marques, has “narrowly survived” being shot by a white man while sitting in a car with a friend, there are various reactions to the incident and an undercurrent of fear.  Brother Toad tackles societal questions such as, “do we need guns to keep ourselves safe?” and other issues that surround gun violence.  Jackson aims to pose questions, not answer them. The play will premiere May 11-June 4, 2023 and will be co-directed by BOLD Artistic Associate Rachel Hemphill-Dickson and Artistic Director Eileen J. Morris.

Closing the season out will be the World Premier of Angelica Cheri’s Phenomenal Woman. In this profound musical about the life and works of Maya Angelou, we will delve into recurring themes present in her quest, both professionally and personally.  Her constant pursuit of a home, true love, and the right words are evident in her labored desire, endless searching in the most remote places, heartbreaking failures, and awe-inspiring victories.  Her journey culminates in profound epiphanies woven throughout this endearing story.  The production will run June 29-July 30, 2023 and will be a rolling world premiere with North Carolina Black Repertory Theatre in Winston Salem, North Carolina and the Hattiloo Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

In addition to the main stage repertoire, The Ensemble Theatre will be hosting a plethora of special events this fall! 

The 45^th Anniversary Gala-October 15, 2022

The Ensemble Theatre’s prestigious Anniversary Gala returns on October 15, 2022 with “A Reflection of Art and STEMulating Entertainment!”  This year’s gala will be hosted at the Hilton Post Oak Hotel and will begin at 7:00PM sharp.  Join us for an elegant evening of fine dining, dancing and revelry.  Table reservations have opened and are available for purchase on our website.

The Giorgee Awards-October 16, 2022

The Ensemble Theatre will also be hosting its annual Giorgee Awards in conjunction with our Subscriber Party as a part of our grande gala weekend!  The Ensemble Theatre celebrates and awards members of the community and our artists for their excellent work on stage and off. 

The 18^th Annual Golf Tournament-October 17, 2022

Rounding out our gala weekend, The Ensemble Theatre is bringing back its annual golf tournament to support theatre youth initiatives. 

The New Voices Festival-October 28-30, 2022

This year, The Ensemble Theatre is bringing to the community the New Voices Festival for en entire weekend, sponsored by The Black Seed!  This exciting and enriching weekend will include mounted plays, readings, workshops, panel discussions and more!  Save the date as this is sure to be an event that you don’t want to miss! 

YOUTH INITIATIVES

The Ensemble Theatre’s season youth initiatives will include a variety of programs that will discover and develop our community youth in the various areas of theatre, theatre education and therapeutic theatre.

Tour ED

In the true essence of The Ensemble Theatre, we are expanding our Tour Ed program.  Tour Ed is a program in which our Teaching Artists and Performing Arts Instructors partner with local schools to provide educational, enriching and entertaining theatre presentations to students.  With a wide range of material and topics, our Tour Ed program is sure to enlighten community youth!

 Young Performers Program Winter Session

The Ensemble Theatre’s prestigious Young Performers Program is returning!  Young Performers will be educated in the disciplines of acting, dance, singing and technical theatre.  Session dates for the Young Performers Program are as follows:

Winter Session: December 22, 2022-January 4, 2023

Spring Session: March 13, 2023-March 17, 2023

Summer Session I: June 5, 2023-June 30, 2023

Summer Session II: July 5, 2023-July 29, 2023

 This season’s sponsors include Houston Endowment, Helen Gurley Brown Foundation, The Billie Holiday Foundation, Texas Commission on the Arts, BIPOC Arts Network and Fund, H-E-B, The Brown Foundation, Houston Arts Alliance, United, Shell, The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, Alfred Street Baptist Church, Houston Methodist and Chevron.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE 2022-2023 SEASON SCHEDULE

Love & Southern D!scomfort

September 22-October 16, 2022

A Motown Christmas 

November 11-December 24, 2022

Paradise Blue

January 26-February 26, 2023

Clyde’s

March 23-April 16, 2023

Brother Toad

May 11-June 4, 2023

Phenomenal Maya 

June 29-July 30, 2023 

 For information regarding subscriptions, tickets, group sales, and other theatre programming call The Ensemble Theatre Box Office: 713-520-0055 or visit www.EnsembleHouston.com.

The Ensemble Theatre was founded in 1976 by the late George Hawkins to preserve African American artistic expression and to enlighten, entertain, and enrich a diverse community. Forty-six years later, the theatre remains one of Houston’s finest historical cultural institutions and one of the nation’s largest African American theatres owning and operating its facility.

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