Houston Theater Week: Buy 1, get 1 free tickets to more than 200 shows

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The quote goes, "All the world's a stage," and Houston is home to several of them.

The Bayou City is known for its variety of world-class performances in the arts from musicals to ballet and everything in between.

And thanks to the return of a popular deal, you can see some of these shows for free.

Houston Theater Week is back for a repeat performance, meaning that for the second year in a row, you can get tickets buy one, get one free to more than 200 live shows.

But the deal only lasts for one week: Aug. 14 - Aug. 20.

The tickets will be for performances in the upcoming shows.

The inaugural event was held in 2022. Twenty participating organizations sold a combined 17,500 tickets, resulting in nearly $600,000 in combined ticket sales, according to Houston First Corporation.

This year's groups include Alley Theatre, DACAMERA, Dirt Dogs Theatre Co., 4th Wall Theatre Company, Houston Ballet, Houston Chamber Choir, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Symphony, Main Street Theater, Mercury Chamber Orchestra, Performing Arts Houston, ROCO, Stages, Tee Zee Productions, The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts and Theatre Under the Stars.

That means audiences will be treated to performances ranging from "Alice in Wonderland," "Duke Ellington's Nutcracker," and "Jagged Little Pill" to Performing Arts Houston: An Evening with Isaac Mizrahi, "The Cher Show," and more.

Also on that list, "The Pavilion," the latest production from 4th Wall Theatre.

"It's about these two people who were high school sweethearts, but something happened bad, I can't say what, it's a spoiler, and they haven't seen each other until their 20 year high school reunion. They show up there and we get to understand their story, but all of the other characters in the play, they're classmates, are played by one person," said artistic director Philip Lehl.

Lehl co-founded the company with his wife about 13 years ago. Though smaller, 4th Wall Theatre, one of only eight equity theatres in Houston, has big talent.

"Houston Theater Week gives us an opportunity to say, 'Hey, here we are!" Lehl said. "We do four great shows a year. We do Houston premieres mostly. And so, come check us out."

The theatre, located inside Spring Street Studios, is also focused on ensuring that creatives on stage and behind the scenes have room to flourish.

"If you're a director or a scenic designer or a lighting designer or an actor, even a musician, to make a living in this business, you have to work all year round," Lehl began. "But if you get one show at the Alley, that's not going to pay your bills, so here we are. We can give you employment, and that's lucky for us and that's lucky for our audiences because we get the same people who work in all the best theaters in town, and they get a chance to shine on our small, intimate stage."

If you want to check out shows at 4th Wall Theatre or any of the participating organizations here in the Houston area, you can get BOGO tickets using the special promo code: HTXARTS.