Bayou Theater begins 2022-2023 season

The Bayou Theater’s 2022-2023 season began Sept. 9. The season showcases 28 performances by various artists, the most the theater has produced in one season.

Over the past year, the Bayou Theater has improved their facility and expanded their technical capabilities, making the theater fully equipped and ready for its busy season ahead.

The theater is showcasing artists and performers from different genres, cultures and backgrounds. Eric Despard, Director of Theater and Cultural Arts shared some of the performances he is looking forward to this season.

“Something I’m really excited about is DakhaBrakha,” Despard said. “They are Ukraine’s biggest rock-pop band.”

Riders in the Sky is another performance Despard is excited about.

“They are a country-western band that happened to be featured in several of Pixar’s ‘Toy Story’ movies,” Despard said.

The rest of the performances include a variety of classical styles ranging from well-known orchestras like Mercury Chamber Orchestra to jazz performances from thirteen-time winners of “Best Jazz” in Houston Press Music Awards, the Free Radicals.

There will even be interactive shows that families can enjoy such as ‘Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience: Creole for kidz & The History of Zydeco’ and ‘Pirate School: Sea Dreams!’

The Bayou Theater also partners with local performing arts institutions like Bay Area Houston Ballet & Theater and Clear Creek Community Theatre. These performing arts institutions began their partnership with the Bayou Theater in Fall 2020.

For Despard, the Bayou Theater’s shows are an opportunity to build community.

“It’s important to build community through the cultural arts because they explore the eternal human condition that transcends time and artificial divisions; creating a new and profound community based solely on a specific and fleeting performance or artistic engagement,” Despard said. “For a small, finite period of time, our external lives, worries, and fears are suspended as we are immersed in a shared experience that creates a deep connection to each other through art.”

As Despard said, the Bayou Theater’s shows are a testament to the role the arts play in community.

“Community to me is a fluid and ever-evolving abstract idea,” Despard said. “We all belong to multiple communities, from larger institutionalized communities like towns, universities, places of worship, etc., to small specific communities like clubs, classrooms, and even friend and support groups. An affinity community focused on the arts provides a safe and welcoming space where we can open our hearts and minds, challenge our perceptions, and explore the abstract and ephemeral nature of human existence while often being entertained and amused.”

Tickets for all the 2022-2023 performances are now available for purchase on the UHCL website under “Tickets and Events.”