Main Street Theater is a

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

in the city of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It consistently produces a repertoire of classic and contemporary plays, and its seasons generally run throughout the entire year.

History

Main Street was the first of several theatre groups established in

, during the 1970s. It was founded to meet two needs: offer Houston theatergoers a more varied and challenging selection of plays and musicals and provide a venue for training, employment and exposure for the city's professional theater artists. Founding

Artistic Director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

Rebecca Greene Udden enlisted a collection of theater professionals in a temporary home at Autry House, the

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

community center A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

on Main Street—hence, the new group's name. The first production under the name Main Street Theater was

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

's ''

Hay Fever Allergic rhinitis, of which the seasonal type is called hay fever, is a type of rhinitis, inflammation in the nose that occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. It is classified as a Allergy, type I hypersensitivity re ...

'' in June 1975. In 1981, Main Street moved to its present home in an abandoned dry-cleaning plant at 2540 Times Boulevard in University Village. In the 92-seat space, with little to separate

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...

, Main Street Theater developed an intimate style, which is as suited to the grand scale of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

as it is to a one-person show. The company opened a second space with a 190-seat theater in February 1996. "Main Street Theater at Chelsea Market" houses a stage dedicated to the youth theater program, as well as to large-scale classics and

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

Today

In 2001, after several years of presenting Equity actors under a special agreement, Main Street Theater became an Equity Professional Company. It operates under contract as an

AEA The AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association) was a nationwide non-profit trade association that represented all segments of the technology industry. It lobbied governments at the state, federal, and international levels; provided acces ...

Small Professional Theater. In summer 2006, Main Street Theater was chosen as one of 36 theaters nationwide to receive a grant from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

(NEA) as part of "Shakespeare for a New Generation", a national theater initiative sponsored by the NEA and Arts Midwest. The grant allowed the Main Street Youth Theater to tour a production of

’s ''

Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a Frame story, framing device, often referred to as the Induction (play), inducti ...

'' throughout

-area

middle schools Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

and

high schools A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

during the fall 2006 season. In the 2011–2012 season, Main Street Theater produced ''

The Coast of Utopia ''The Coast of Utopia'' is a 2002 trilogy of plays: ''Voyage'', ''Shipwreck'', and ''Salvage'', written by Tom Stoppard with focus on the philosophical debates in pre-revolution Russia between 1833 and 1866. It was the recipient of the 2007 T ...

'' trilogy by Tom Stoppard. This was the fifth production of the full trilogy in the world and the second production in the United States. Also in 2012, Main Street Theater was profiled in ''American Theatre Magazine''.

References

External links

* {{coord, 29.7168, -95.4179, type:landmark_region:US-TX, display=title Theatres in Houston Theatre companies in Houston