Purlie Victorious

Written by

Production Sponsor

Carolyn J. Keating

 

Production Angel
Janet Hansen

Artist Bios
Read the Houston Press review
Read the BroadwayWorld Houston interview with actor Krystal Uchem
Read the Houston Press interview with director Errol Anthony Wilks

Purlie Victorious:
A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch

By Ossie Davis

Directed by Errol Anthony Wilks

Dynamic traveling preacher Purlie Victorious Judson returns to his small Georgia town hoping to save Big Bethel, the community’s church, and emancipate the cotton pickers who work on oppressive Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee’s plantation. With the help of Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, Purlie plans to wrench from Ol’ Cotchipee the inheritance due his long-lost cousin and use the money to save his town! “We still need togetherness; we still need each otherness – with faith in the futureness of our cause. Let us, therefore, stifle the rifle of conflict, shatter the scatter of discord, smuggle the struggle, tickle the pickle, and grapple the apple of peace!” A truly hilarious and joyful comedy by the incomparable Ossie Davis.

Purlie Victorious premiered on Broadway at the Cort Theatre on September 28, 1961. Directed by Howard Da Silva, the production starred Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. A Broadway revival of Purlie Victorious opened at the Music Box Theatre on September 27, 2023. Directed by Kenny Leon, the show starred Leslie Odom, Jr.

“Blazing and hilarious… every bit as scathingly funny as the 1961 reviews said it was.” – The New York Times, 2023

“Raucous… uncompromising… A joyous affair, broad in comedy and in spirit.” – TimeOut New York

“Marvelously exhilarating… Keeps you chuckling and guffawing. It won’t let you wipe that grin off your face.” – The New York Times, 1961

PURCHASE SEASON TICKETS

PURCHASE SINGLE TICKETS

“‘PURLIE VICTORIOUS’ Ossie Davis’s wild ride of a revenge comedy from 1961, in which a Black preacher named Purlie and his intrepid recruit, Lutiebelle, snatch back an inheritance from a white plantation owner. (Sept. 7-Oct. 12, Main Street Theater, Houston)….The “Hamilton” star Leslie Odom Jr., center, returned to Broadway in a 2023 production of Ossie Davis’s “Purlie Victorious.” Now the play will be revived at Main Street Theater in Houston.” – Laura Collins-Hughes, The New York Times
Read The New York Times Article

LOCATION

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

PERFORMANCES AND TICKETS

September 13 – October 12, 2025
Previews: September 7, 11, 12

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

Tickets: $45 – $64

Open Captioning

September 14 at 3:00pm
Open “in-sync” Captioned Performance

HELPFUL INFO

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

Running Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes including one 15 minute 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.

Tuesday, August 19 at 6:45pm: Join us for a free, first read-thru of Purlie Victorious 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. RSVP here.

Sunday, September 28: Stay after the matinee for a conversation with Tracie Jae, facilitator of meaningful community dialogues on race, culture, empathy, and connection. Tracie is the Owner and Lead Rebel of The Quiet Rebel, LLC, where she helps people navigate hard conversations with heart.

Everyone is welcome, regardless of whether you are seeing the play on these dates. Just plan to arrive at the theater about 5:00pm. Free to all.

Pride Night: Sept. 25 at 6:15pm Join us for our pre-show Happy Hour & the SingOUT Cabaret starting at 6:45pm! Special thanks to media sponsor OutSmart Magazine and event sponsor Riven Productions HTX.


Closing Weekend Party: Oct. 11 in the lobby after the show

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

Season Sponsor

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The Grippe

Written by

BroadwayWorld Houston interview with James Mirrione

Since 1978, Dr. James P. Mirrione has been the playwright-in-residence for the Creative Arts Team (CAT), the resident educational theatre company at New York University. In addition, he has written for Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway as well as regional theater. His commissioned plays include The Ghost Café for Carnegie Hall (1992) and The Last Stop, Will and Testament of Saint Jack Kerouac for New York University (1995). He is the 1995 winner of the Spokane Playwrights Festival for his play Area Code 212. 

His latest projects were Assistant Director for the 2019 revival of Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, directed by the 2019 Tony Award winner Andre De Shields, which was presented at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and produced by Crossroads Theatre Company. He is also the solo actor in Angie Aquavitae Is Aggravated and She’s Gonna Tell You About It, Whether You Like it or Not which premiered in January 2020 at The Black Box Theatre in New York City and at the Triad Theatre in November of 2022.

The Grippe

A Staged Reading (2 performances only)

By James P. Mirrione

Directed by James P. Mirrione
Music Direction & Arrangements by Eugene Gwozdz

Main Street Theater’s staged reading is part of the development of this new work that will be fully produced later this season in New York.

The Great Influenza of 1918-20, which caused the deaths of fifty million people worldwide and over 600,000 Americans, has been forgotten as it was subsumed within the greater context of World War I. Thus, how to address this issue through the medium of theatre; one that resonates with our most recent experiences of the previous pandemic?

Based on actual events, The Grippe, written by James P. Mirrione, is a new play with music that chronicles the Great Influenza of 1918-1920 – the so-called “Spanish Flu.” The work, with a cast of 11 actors who play more than twenty-five characters, weaves several stories throughout the context of the play to capture the potency of those times and to reveal its relevancy for today. Through both words and music, The Grippe follows the valiant efforts of John Pascal, an astute reporter who uncovers the early warning signs of the Great Influenza of 1918 prior to it becoming a pandemic. With the help of a young nurse, Helen Adams, they work together to try to alert the Wilson administration to the oncoming pandemic before it is too late – and, of course, they fall in love along the way.

The play also presents a time when the role of African-Americans was erased from the historical record. The character of Mr. Sweets – the head butler in the White House – serves as a narrator and guide to the events unfolding in the words and music of the play.

Purchase Single Tickets

LOCATION

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

PERFORMANCES AND TICKETS

October 5 & 6, 2025 at 7:30pm

All Tickets: $50
A Benefit for Main Street Theater

General Admission

HELPFUL INFO

Parking/Dining

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.

#MST47

Written by

Did you know that Main Street Theater has been part of the Houston community since 1975? And that each season we provide 250+ jobs for local artists AND reach over 100,000 audience members from Houston
PLUS nearly 50,000 more across the state of Texas?

Help support local, professional theater.

Help us raise $47K in 47 days to end our 47th Season with a bang!

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Main Street Theater JEDI Events

Written by

The evening will also include a discussion with this season’s Fellows, facilitated by JEDI Council members Brandon Mack and Dr. Dabrina Sandifer.

RSVP by February 14, 2024

The Best of Everything

Written by

Read the Houston Press interview with playwright Julie Kramer

Explore the world of the play
Cast & creative team

The Best of Everything

Regional Premiere
Adapted by Julie Kramer
Based on the book by Rona Jaffe

Imagine “Madmen” meets “Sex and the City!” The Best of Everything is the new adaptation of Rona Jaffe’s 1958 bestseller about ambitious secretaries in the big city. These girls want thrilling careers and grand adventures—and husbands and children too, in due time. Today we call that “having it all.” These gals call it “the best of everything.” And wisely enough, they’re not sure it’s possible.

“The play is brilliantly funny, but it has quite a few things to say about 2023.  Main Street Theater is keeping Rona Jaffe’s conversation alive with this production…this show certainly lives up to the title in acting, technical aspects, and strong direction.  It’s a fun evening that will make you think.” — Read the full BroadwayWorld Houston review

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LOCATION

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

PERFORMANCES

May 20 – Jun 18, 2023
Previews: May 14, 18, 19, 2023

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

Tickets: $35 – $59

Open Captioning

Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 3pm
Open “in-sync” Captioned Performance

HELPFUL INFO

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

Running Time: 2 hours including one 15 minute 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.

Thursday, June 15 at 6:45pm:

Join us at 6:45pm for happy hour drink specials with special guest bartender, Dominic Leone, and light bites from the kitchen of Mark B. Robbins. Stay after the show for YouTube Karaoke and an After Party! Special thanks to our media sponsor, OutSmart Magazine!

Production Guarantor

Ken Bohan and Dean O’Kelley

Production Angel

Janet Hansen

Season Sponsor

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