As summer activities wind down, the arts season in the Brazos Valley begins to gear up. From music to stage shows, get out your calendar and make your plans to attend these live events this September.
September 2
Aggie Park Kickoff Concert featuring Robert Earl Keen
with opening acts Max Stalling, The Barn Dogs
7 p.m. (Gates open at 6 p.m.)
aggiepark.tamu.edu
Don’t miss this free concert featuring Americana roots trailblazer Robert Earl Keen (Class of ‘78) near the end of his touring career. Also performing is Texas country artist Max Stalling (Class of ‘89) and Aggie band The Barn Dogs (Classes of ‘25–’25). This concert will be held at the much-anticipated grand opening of the 20-acre Aggie Park on the Texas A&M University campus. (Read our Q&A with Robert Earl Keen, “Comin’ Home,” in our August issue on page 32 and more about Aggie Park in “Bringing the Aggie Network Together” on page 28.)
September 2-11 (Fridays-Sundays)
Head over Heels
The Theater Company of Bryan College Station
3125 S. Texas Ave., Suite 500, Bryan
theatrecompany.com
This laugh-out-loud jukebox musical comedy is a love story whose plot is adapted from “The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia,” written by Sir Philip Sidney in the 16th century. The story is set to the music of the popular 1980s all-female rock band The Go-Go’s, featuring hit songs that include “We Got the Beat,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” as well as Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth” and “Mad About You.”
September 3
The Everly Brothers Experience by Zmed Brothers
The Barnhill Center at Historic Simon Theatre
111 W. Main St., Brenham
7–9 p.m.
thebarnhillcenter.com
Zach and Dylan Zmed pay homage to the Everly Brothers by continuing to bring the iconic duo’s music to live audiences. The legendary duo laid the groundwork for early rock ‘n’ roll, and today’s Zmed brothers come close to matching their sibling harmonies and style, delivering those same rock, blues, pop, and rockabilly tunes from the ‘50s and ‘60s that made the Everly Brothers so popular.
September 3 - 4
The Hullabaloo Blues Fest
4107 Lake Atlas Drive, Bryan
6–10 p.m.
destinationbryan.com/events/hullabaloo- blues-fest
This free Labor Day celebration, now in its second year, is billed as a full weekend of live blues throughout Bryan. The two-day fest will end with an evening of family fun, food trucks, and music as local favorite Oliver Penn takes the Lake Walk outdoor stage at 6 p.m. followed by the internationally renowned Keeshea Pratt Band from Houston, closing out the weekend from 8 to 10 p.m.
September 15
Friends of the Bluebonnet Opry feat. Leona and Ron Williams
Silver Wings Ballroom
4100 Hwy 105, Brenham
7:30 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
Tickets: $8; door prizes
friendsofbluebonnetopry.com
Singer-songwriter Leona Williams teams up with baritone Ron Williams, her son and the son of Merle Haggard, for an evening of traditional country music that includes some of her hits. Leona Williams charted eight times on Hot Country Songs, including a duet with Merle Haggard that was a Top 40 hit, “The Bull and the Beaver.” In 2017, she was honored with the “Honky Tonk Female Singer of the Year” award at the Ameripolitan Awards in Austin. Country music is in Ron Williams’ blood, having grown up listening to the greats of country music, and he credits Marty Robbins, Glen Campbell, Larry Gatlin, and many others (including his dad) as influences. He has toured throughout the U.S. and in Scotland, Sweden, and Ireland, where he was awarded “2015 Male Vocalist of the Year” from the Leinster Entertainment Awards. The mother and son duo will be backed up by the Bluebonnet Opry Band. Proceeds are donated to Hospice of Brazos Valley.
September 16 - October 2
The Supper Club
Presented by Navasota Theatre Alliance
Sunny E. Furman Theatre
104 W. Washington Ave., Navasota
navasotatheatre.org
Written by Brenham playwright Clare Broun Johnson and directed by Jim Lawrence, “The Supper Club” makes its debut as the Navasota Theatre Alliance’s season opener. The original play encapsulates the sisterhood between six lifelong best friends who comprise The Supper Club. “After 30 years, unexpected plot twists unearth secrets that rock the group and challenge social expectations,” according to NTA’s website. The show is “inspired by the humor of Steel Magnolias and the connectedness of The Big Chill,” and “pulls the curtain on the intricacies, strength, and value of female friendship.” (Read our interview with Clare Broun Johnson on page 50.)
September 22 - October 9
Crimes of the Heart
Unity Theatre
300 Church St., Brenham
unitybrenham.org
Gotta laugh or you’ll cry during this tragicomedy by Southern playwright Beth Henley, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1981 and nominated for a 1982 Tony Award. Set in a small Mississippi town during the mid-1900s, the story centers around three zany sisters who gather in their granddaddy’s kitchen, awaiting his imminent death. The three-act play explores the siblings’ relationships, with each other as well as others, touching on on adult themes including suicide and infidelity with humor and compassion.
September 24
Suzy Bogguss
Barnhill Center at Historic Simon Theatre,
Brenham
7–9 p.m.
thebarnhillcenter.com
American country music singer-songwriter Suzy Bogguss began her career in the ‘80s and hit her stride in the ‘90s, with three gold and one platinum albums and six songs that were Top 10 hits on US “Billboard” Hot Country Songs. She won Top New Female Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music and the Horizon Award from the Country Music Association. Her 2015 album “Lucky” is a heartfelt tribute to Merle Haggard, who was her earliest musical inspiration, and she continues to perform much of his music in concert.
September 25
Ode to Joy Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Marcelo Bussiki, music director
Soloists: Emily Pulley, soprano; Galina Ivannikova, mezzo-soprano; Alexei Kuznietsov, tenor; Carl DuPont, bass-baritone
Houston Masterworks Chorus, Dr. Paulo Gomes, music director
Brazos Valley Chorale, Don McAvoy, artistic director
Rudder Auditorium, College Station
5 p.m.
bvso.org
The Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra’s season premiere begins with Ludwig van Beethoven’s tour de force, his ninth and final symphony, whom many critics and musicologists regard as his greatest work. “This masterwork is recognized and often performed in momentous events around the world as a symbol of harmony and universal fraternity,” says BVSO music director and conductor Maestro Marcelo Bussiki. “This concert is our community’s way to express itself and spread the word of peace and fraternity.” Joining the BVSO onstage will be the Brazos Valley Chorale and the Houston Masterworks Chorus as well as four soloists, two Americans and two Ukrainians. The audience will also be treated to a few beloved Ukrainian songs sung by Ukrainian international opera singer, tenor Alexei Kuznietsov, the winner of the first season of X-Factor Ukraine.
September 27 & 28
Neil Berg’s 50 Years of Rock N’ Roll
Presented by MSC OPAS
Rudder Auditorium, College Station
7:30 p.m.
opastickets.org/neil-bergs-50-years-of-rockn-roll/
OPAS kicks off its 50th season with a tribute to rock ‘n’ roll, bringing back composer and lyricist Neil Berg with five singers and a five-piece band to the stage for two evening performances. The show recaps 50 years of iconic music, starting with the ‘30s through the early days of MTV and presents five decades of American history through story and songs from such iconic artists as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Buddy Holly, Frankie Valli, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Carole King, Elton John, Aerosmith, Eagles, Bruce Springstein, Linda Rondstadt, Fleetwood Mac, Journey, and more.
September 29
Jazz vocalist Samara Joy
With Ben Paterson, piano; Paul Sikivie, bass; Evan Sherman, drums
Presented by Friends of Chamber Music
Co-sponsored by the Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts and the Brazos Valley Jazz Society
7 p.m.
Rudder Theater, College Station
fcmtx.org
Local jazz aficionados have the rare opportunity to catch this rising star on her way up. At 22 years old, Samara Joy is already earning her place alongside jazz greats for her sultry voice, “as rich as custard,” according to “The New York Times.” The singer, who built a following as a Tik-Tok sensation, won the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition while still at college at SUNY Purchase. Her stop in College Station comes on the heels of her recent full-length release on Verve Records, “Linger Awhile,” a fitting title given that her delivery has been deemed as “disarming and unhurried,” according to “NPR Fresh Air.” Expect to hear some of her renditions of classics off the album, such as George Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me,” Fats Navarro’s “Nostaglia,” and Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight.”
September 29 - October 15 (Thursday-Saturdays)
Over the River and Through the Woods
StageCenter Theatre
218 N. Bryan Ave., Bryan
stagecenter.net
Joe DiPietro’s heartfelt comedy tells the tale of 20-year-old Nick, a single Italian-American guy from New Jersey, who's been offered his dream job as a marketing executive. Taking the job would require him to move to Seattle, however, much to the dismay of his grandparents, who according to Nick, believe in the three F’s of life: family, faith, and food. So they scheme to keep Nick from leaving, including inviting a young lady to join them for their weekly Sunday dinner. Does he take the job or stay? We won’t give away the ending of this charming comedy, directed by Robin Sutton.
