The Ensemble Theatre Takes Explores Self and Soul with ‘Choir Boy’
Houston, TX-The Ensemble Theatre continues its Rooted in Destiny Season with a production poetic in its performance and presentation. ‘Choir Boy,’ Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney (who also penned the play on which Barry Jenkins’ film Moonlight was based) and Directed by Rachel Hemphill Dickson, with Musical Direction by Melanie Bivens, ‘Choir Boy’ follows a group of young, Black students at Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys as they navigate issues of identity and sexuality. ‘Choir Boy’ landed among the bright lights of Broadway’s 2019 season, eventually becoming a 2019 Tony Award nominee for Best Play. ‘Choir Boy’ is a coming of age story that highlights the responses to human differences by multifaceted characters whose lives are held together through their shared experiences and the beautiful songs that they sing.
“Choir Boy feels like a poem inside a play: the plot bends to make way for imagery, music, glimpses at young hearts. Its questions and concerns are bigger than a story and its music touches the sublime. This production invites us to lean in and feel. It guides us to really listen. May that be a skill we take out of the theatre with us and into the streets..”
-Cassie Tongue, The Guardian
‘Choir Boy’ is an excellent representation of the internal and external conflicts that everyone faces in life, regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, or any other identity markers.
‘Choir Boy’ features performances by Elia Adams, Brian Broome, Shaq Hester, Jakori Jackson, Samuel Jones, Corey Shields, Jordyn Wardsworth, and Kaleb Womack.
‘Choir Boy’ Opens on Friday, March 20, 2026 and runs through Sunday, April 12, 2026.
The Ensemble Theatre invites members of the press/media to attend ‘Choir Boy’ during our media night on Friday, March 20, 2026.
About The Ensemble Theatre
The Ensemble Theatre was founded in 1976 by the late George Hawkins to preserve African American artistic expression and enlighten, entertain, and enrich a diverse community. It is the oldest and largest professional African American theatre in the Southwest, and it also holds the distinction of being one of the nation’s largest African American theatres that owns and operates its facility with an in-house production team. Forty-nine years later, the theatre remains one of Houston’s finest historical cultural institutions.
The Ensemble Theatre produces a main stage season of six contemporary and classic works devoted to the portrayal of the African American experience by local and national playwrights and artists. The theatre’s Education Department provides educational workshops, Artist-in-Residence experiences, and a season of live performances for students both off-site and at the theatre. The Young Performers Program offers STEM-centered training for children ages 6 to 17, encompassing instruction in all disciplines of the theatre arts.
