The Best of 2008!

Main Street Theater had three of the Chronicle's Top 10 Best Shows of 2008! (Really it was 12 since The Ensemble and Catastrophic got 2 for 1 punches)

Caroline, or Change, Present Laughter and ... L.A. Is Burning all got honored. The great thing about this list is that it really shows the gamut of what MST does.

First you have what I think most people know us for, the classic, period piece that can charm or move just about any soul with effortless style. Noël Coward's Present Laughter might just be the epitome of that genre.

Then you have Caroline, or Change. I like to call this is a "new classic". A contemporary piece with a period setting (1963), the musical transports you to another time while showing us sides of the human experience that are very now.

Finally, there is ... and L.A. Is Burning. This was a world premiere! New, modern and delving deep into what makes people tick and Houston audiences (not New York or Chicago) got to see it first!

It is truly wonderful that we are so honored this year, but even more so that our range is recognized. Main Street Theater's mission has always been "to create theater that challenges its audience to think and its [professional] artists to grow ... by presenting an articulate and compelling product in an intimate setting ... creating memorable theatrical experiences for [its] audiences."

We know you want to laugh and forget the woes of today's world and we take great fun and pleasure in providing that escape throughout the year. But we also want to make you think and move your heart. Theater takes you places you don't go in your everyday life in ways that only the words of a playwright spoken by a live actor can take you.

Another really exciting thing about the article is that 7 producing companies got mentioned. 4 of the companies produce outside of the Downtown Theatre District. Houston really does have a thriving and varied theater community.

Happy New Year and go see a play!

And that's the word on the street!