The Year of Magical Thinking

PRODUCTION GUARANTOR

Carolyn J. Keating

The Year of Magical Thinking

By Joan Didion
based on her memoir of the same name

“This happened on December 30, 2003. That may seem a while ago, but it won’t when it happens to you…” In this dramatic adaptation of her award-winning, bestselling memoir, Joan Didion transforms the story of the sudden and unexpected loss of her husband and the prolonged illness of her only daughter into a stunning and powerful one-woman play. Pamela Vogel will play Didion. Main Street Theater Founder and Executive Artistic Director will direct. 90 minutes. No intermission.

“Capturing the compassion, humor, and bewilderment of a fiercely intelligent woman whose world lurches suddenly from the ordinary to the unimaginable, The Year of Magical Thinking is a love letter to a child and a tribute to an extraordinary, unconventional marriage told with raw candor and a storyteller’s gift for the absurd.” — Playbill

LOCATION

Main Street Theater – Rice Village
2540 Times Blvd.
Houston, TX 77005
Directions

PERFORMANCES AND TICKETS

October 19 – November 17, 2024
Previews: October 17 & 18

Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm

Tickets: $45 – $64

Open Captioning

October 27 at 3:00pm
Open “in-sync” Captioned Performance

HELPFUL INFO

Seating Charts
Parking/Dining
Learn more about available discounts here.

Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission.

Please note: no outside food/snacks are allowed at the theater. You may purchase concessions at the show.

Children under the age of 9 are not allowed in the theater.

Sunday, November 3: Join us following the matinee for a discussion with  Marian Mankin, Program Director of Bo’s Place, a non-profit bereavement center offering free of charge grief support groups in English and Spanish for children, families, and adults in the greater Houston area and providing education and resources for those who assist people in grief, and MaryScott Hagle who works in Houston as a professional end-of-life doula and grief companion, providing support and guidance for someone nearing death and their family. 

Sunday, November 10: Join us following the matinee for a discussion with Pamela Vogel who plays Joan Didion.

Everyone is welcome, regardless of whether you are seeing the play on these dates. Just plan to arrive at the theater about 4:30pm. Free to all.

Pride Night: Nov. 7 at 6:00pm Join us for our pre-show Happy Hour & the SingOUT Cabaret starting at 6:30pm! Special thanks to media sponsor OutSmart Magazine and event sponsor “The Gowrie Conspiracy.”


Closing Weekend Party:
Nov. 16 in the lobby after the show

Free Beer Fridays, sponsored by Saint Arnold’s! Have a beer on us after the show!

Community Partner

Media Support Provided in Part by

 

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Seven Assassins Walk into a Bar

Playwright Dain Geist

Seven Assassins Walk into a Bar

World Premiere

By Dain Geist

Seven assassins walk into a bar… No, it’s not the start of a joke; it’s the title of the brand new play by Houston actor/playwright Dain Geist. The play takes place in a bar for the wake of a respected-if-not-always-beloved colleague, a legendary assassin named Bartleby. Six fellow assassins have gathered to pay their respects and raise a glass to Bartleby, who happens to be “laid out” right there in the bar. A hilarious, dark comedy about morality, camaraderie, and what it means just to get by in life, this world premiere is filled with swift-moving dialogue and an ending that’s sure to leave audiences gasping.

Recommended for mature audiences due to profanity.

LOCATION

Main Street Theater – Rice Village
2540 Times Blvd.
Houston, TX 77005
Directions

PERFORMANCES AND TICKETS

February 8 – March 2, 2025
Previews: February 2, 6 & 7

Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm

Tickets: $40 – $63

Open Captioning

February 9 at 3:00pm
Open “in-sync” Captioned Performance

HELPFUL INFO

Seating Charts
Parking/Dining
Learn more about available discounts here.

Running Time: TBD

Please note: no outside food/snacks are allowed at the theater. You may purchase concessions at the show.

Children under the age of 9 are not allowed in the theater.

Season Sponsor

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Memoriam

Playwright Noga Flaishon

Memoriam

World Premiere

By Noga Flaishon

In the near future, Memoriam Inc. buys and sells memories, digitizing them for mass-viewership. Customers can rent memories and experience them fully, even feeling the sensations the original memory-holder felt: childbirth, joyful reunions, romantic wedding proposals – almost like watching a short movie but much more intimate and personal. Now Rachel, a buyer for Memoriam, is going after the most important and most personal memory acquisition she has ever sought: the memories of the last holocaust survivor on earth – who happens to be her own grandmother. A powerful, painful, loving story of family and what memories mean, who owns them, and what we owe to future generations.

Recommended for mature audiences due to sensitive subject matter and loud sounds.

Noga Flaishon is a Neurodivergent Israeli writer/producer based in London. Noga’s work has been supported by the Arts Council of England, London Playwrights Blog, The Offie Awards, The Standing Ovation awards The King’s Head Theatre, Pleasence Theatre, The London Horror Society & The Living Record Festival, Camden Fringe, Evergreen Podcasts & Audio Marvel amongst others. Noga’s credits include but aren’t limited to: “100 YEARS OF WAITING” (workshopped at The Hope Theatre, 2018), ‘BROKEN LINK’ (OnComm nominated virtual theatre production. The Living Record Festival, The Space Theatre, Brighton Fringe 2021), “BUNKER” (a post-apocalyptic thriller. Lion and Unicorn Theatre. 2021. Edinburgh Fringe.2022) ‘LETHE’ (A cyberpunk Drama, Critically acclaimed & Standing Ovation Award Nominated production: King’s Head Theatre. 2023), “SMILE, IT’LL BE OVER SOON” (Audio-Drama, distributed globally by Evergreen Podcasts. 2021), “A MOTHER’S LOVE” (Doctor Who Audio-Drama. Big Finish Productions).

LOCATION

Main Street Theater – Rice Village
2540 Times Blvd.
Houston, TX 77005
Directions

PERFORMANCES AND TICKETS

March 29 – April 19, 2025
Previews: March 23, 27 & 28

Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm

Tickets: $40 – $63

Open Captioning

March 30 at 3:00pm
Open “in-sync” Captioned Performance

HELPFUL INFO

Seating Charts
Parking/Dining
Learn more about available discounts here.

Running Time: TBD

Please note: no outside food/snacks are allowed at the theater. You may purchase concessions at the show.

Children under the age of 9 are not allowed in the theater.

Tuesday, September 17 at 7:30pm: Join us for a free, first read-thru of Memoriam at our Rice Village location, 2540 Times Blvd. You get to be a fly on the wall for the very first rehearsal, hearing the cast read the play aloud for the first time together. Connect with the production from it’s very beginning and then see the arc of the process when you come back to see the full show. Registration will open in August.

Sunday, October 13: Join us following the matinee for a discussion with the playwright herself, Noga Flaishon (see bio above), who will be in from London for our production. Everyone is welcome, regardless of whether you are seeing the play that day. Just plan to arrive at the theater about 5:00pm. Free to all.

Pride Night: TBA

Free Beer Fridays, sponsored by Saint Arnold’s! Have a beer on us after the show!

Season Sponsor

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Kim’s Convenience

Kim’s Convenience

Regional Premiere

By Ins Choi

Mr. Kim, a Korean immigrant, dispenses fatherly wisdom, history lessons and potato chips from behind his Toronto convenience store counter in an up-and-coming neighborhood. With new luxury buildings going up around the convenience store and a Walmart preparing to move in, when he receives an unexpected offer for his property, Mr. Kim has a difficult decision to make. Should he take the money and give in to developers or convince his daughter to follow in his footsteps and run the family business? Mr. Kim navigates the needs of his customers and a strong-willed family. But no matter what, humor and heart find their way onto every aisle in this award-winning play that is now a hit series on Netflix.

“It has heart and likability by the bucketload.” – WhatsOnStage

“Achingly funny… Hilarious, heart-warming story of love, family and survival through change and challenge.” – Everything Theatre

LOCATION

Main Street Theater – Rice Village
2540 Times Blvd.
Houston, TX 77005
Directions

PERFORMANCES AND TICKETS

May 17 – June 15, 2025
Previews: May 11, 15 & 16

Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm

Tickets: $45 – $64

Open Captioning

May 18 at 3:00pm
Open “in-sync” Captioned Performance

HELPFUL INFO

Seating Charts
Parking/Dining
Learn more about available discounts here.

Running Time: TBD

Please note: no outside food/snacks are allowed at the theater. You may purchase concessions at the show.

Children under the age of 9 are not allowed in the theater.

Season Sponsor

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The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps

Adapted by Patrick Barlow
From the novel by John Buchan
From the movie by Alfred Hitchcock
Licensed by ITV Global Entertainment Limited
And an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced whodunit about a man with a boring life who meets a woman with a thick accent who says she’s a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organization called “The 39 Steps” is hot on the man’s trail in a nationwide manhunt. A riotous blend of virtuoso performances and wildly inventive stagecraft, this two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning treat is packed with nonstop laughs, over 150 zany characters (played by a ridiculously talented cast of four), an onstage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers, and some good old-fashioned romance!

“Ingenious! A dizzy delight!” –Daily News
“Theatre at its finest… Absurdly enjoyable! This gleefully theatrical riff on Hitchcock’s film is fast and frothy, performed by a cast of four that seems like a cast of thousands.” – The New York Times

LOCATION

Main Street Theater – Rice Village
2540 Times Blvd.
Houston, TX 77005
Directions

PERFORMANCES AND TICKETS

July 12 – August 10, 2025
Previews: July 6, 10 & 11

Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm

Tickets: $45 – $64

Open Captioning

July 13 at 3:00pm
Open “in-sync” Captioned Performance

HELPFUL INFO

Seating Charts
Parking/Dining
Learn more about available discounts here.

Running Time: TBD

Please note: no outside food/snacks are allowed at the theater. You may purchase concessions at the show.

Children under the age of 9 are not allowed in the theater.

Season Sponsor

Saint Arnold Logo