Theatre Under The Stars (Houston)
Encyclopedia
Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) is a year-round, professional, non-profit musical theatre
production company. It is located in Houston, Texas
, performing mostly at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Theatre Under The Stars’ season generally includes both self-produced shows as well as national touring productions. While best known for their main stage shows at the Hobby Center in Downtown Houston, and their annual free summer shows at the Miller Outdoor Theatre, TUTS also offers educational programming through their training branch (The Humphreys School of Musical Theatre / HSMT), education programs for children with special needs through The River, and a wide array of community outreach projects. Founded by Frank M. Young in 1968, TUTS is currently under the direction of President and CEO, John C. Breckenridge.
TUTS has offered free public performances in the Miller Outdoor Theatre
in Hermann Park each year since 1968 (deriving its name from these outdoor performances), giving 48 free large-scale musicals there through July 2010. To date, TUTS has produced more than 300 musicals including many local, national and world premieres such as Kopit and Yeston’s Phantom, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Jekyll & Hyde, and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. TUTS has also produced international tours including Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Juliet Prowse in Mame, Robert Goulet in Man of La Mancha, as well as critically acclaimed local re-inventions of classics Cabaret and Les Miserables.
TUTS’ Humphrey’s School of Musical Theatre (HSMT) provides instruction and stage experience for more than 1,700 students annually. HSMT offers year round musical theatre education programs through both open-enrollment and audition-based classes. TUTS operates an apprentice conservatory training program for high school students who may not be exposed to musical theatre at their schools. Housed in the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, TUTS also annually presents the Tommy Tune Awards, honoring the best and brightest in Houston's high school musical theatre programs.
In addition to on-site educational programming at the Hobby Center, TUTS also brings musical theatre education into the community through initiatives in local hospitals, schools and community centers throughout the greater Houston area.
With a common goal - to expand arts access to children of all abilities - The River Performing and Visual Arts Center (The River) merged with Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) in 2010, creating a unique, barrier free, arts education model for non-profit musical theatre performing arts organizations. With the merger, TUTS Education now provides extended on-site programming as well as off-site programming for children in schools, hospitals and other community-based sites.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
production company. It is located in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, performing mostly at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Theatre Under The Stars’ season generally includes both self-produced shows as well as national touring productions. While best known for their main stage shows at the Hobby Center in Downtown Houston, and their annual free summer shows at the Miller Outdoor Theatre, TUTS also offers educational programming through their training branch (The Humphreys School of Musical Theatre / HSMT), education programs for children with special needs through The River, and a wide array of community outreach projects. Founded by Frank M. Young in 1968, TUTS is currently under the direction of President and CEO, John C. Breckenridge.
TUTS has offered free public performances in the Miller Outdoor Theatre
Miller Outdoor Theatre
The Miller Outdoor Theatre is the premier outdoor theater for the performing arts in Houston, Texas. It is located on approximately of land in Hermann Park, at 6000 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, Texas 77030...
in Hermann Park each year since 1968 (deriving its name from these outdoor performances), giving 48 free large-scale musicals there through July 2010. To date, TUTS has produced more than 300 musicals including many local, national and world premieres such as Kopit and Yeston’s Phantom, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Jekyll & Hyde, and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. TUTS has also produced international tours including Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Juliet Prowse in Mame, Robert Goulet in Man of La Mancha, as well as critically acclaimed local re-inventions of classics Cabaret and Les Miserables.
TUTS’ Humphrey’s School of Musical Theatre (HSMT) provides instruction and stage experience for more than 1,700 students annually. HSMT offers year round musical theatre education programs through both open-enrollment and audition-based classes. TUTS operates an apprentice conservatory training program for high school students who may not be exposed to musical theatre at their schools. Housed in the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, TUTS also annually presents the Tommy Tune Awards, honoring the best and brightest in Houston's high school musical theatre programs.
In addition to on-site educational programming at the Hobby Center, TUTS also brings musical theatre education into the community through initiatives in local hospitals, schools and community centers throughout the greater Houston area.
With a common goal - to expand arts access to children of all abilities - The River Performing and Visual Arts Center (The River) merged with Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) in 2010, creating a unique, barrier free, arts education model for non-profit musical theatre performing arts organizations. With the merger, TUTS Education now provides extended on-site programming as well as off-site programming for children in schools, hospitals and other community-based sites.