Catastrophic Theatre Brings Houston Another Ding Dang Tamarie Show

Depending on the season, tourists arriving in Houston are encouraged to take in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the Art Car Parade, the nearby Space Center Houston. Good recommendations all.

With the arrival of summer, one thing they might but shouldn’t miss, is another Houston institution: the latest musical from actress and playwright Tamarie Cooper at Catastrophic Theatre. Especially if they have a good sense of humor and are ready for a step away from the norm.

This year it’s Another Ding Dang Tamarie Show, written by Cooper and her frequent writing partner Patrick Reynolds. It’s directed and choreographed by Cooper who is also its star. This is the 28th year Cooper has put together the musical with touches of vaudeville and a healthy helping of irreverence, although she assures one and all that “I promise that this won’t be 90 minutes of Tamarie talking about Trump,”

“It really sort of examines the creative process that I go through and also kind of downs to why do I do this great big show. Why do we do it year after year.”

She’s backed by a small army of Catastrophic Theatre regulars who this year include Raymond Compton, Juan Sebastian Cruz, Dillon Dewitt, John Dunn, Sara Jo Dunstan, Jeanne Harris, Bryan Kaplún, Brandon McCormick, Jenna Morris Miller, Mara McGhee, Rebecca Randall, Miika Stewart, Kyle Sturdivant, Clarity Welch, Abraham Zeus Zapata and Walt Zipprian.

“My show is always in the summer and it’s always hot,” she says. “I have a lot of love for this juggernaut.”

Politically and economically, everyone is very stressed right now, she says. “It is very nice to come in and just laugh and get that release and even laugh at the absurdity of the situation we’re in.”

She says she stays away from spending too much time talking about her political viewpoints, many of which are shared by her usual audience members, “and then it’s just a bummer, right?”

Asked about Catastrophic’s move to the MATCH in 2016 from its previous home at 1119 Interstate 10 East,  Cooper says, one of the things they’d hoped for was some cross pollination with audiences for other shows going on at Midtown Arts and Theater Center, which has happened to a certain extent, she says. Catastrophic attracts a diverse group, including the holy grail of younger attendees.

Their audience followed them for the most part, she says. “Some people really welcomed it because now the AC works,” she says, laughing. “There are times back at the Axiom that it was raining on people’s heads.

“I will always love our time when we had our own gritty personal club house but I also was the person who had to clean the clubhouse. I’d have to throw away the beer cans. There are things that I enjoy about having a facility that I don’t have to be responsible for.  I still do the Catastrophic laundry.  I still wear many hats.”

While they still hope to have their own facility again sometime in the future, Cooper says, “In the meantime this is a much more realistic way for us to be able to create work, especially new work and risky work and not have to worry about that other overhead.”

As for this show, will there be dancing cockroaches as there have been in six other shows? “You’ll have to come see it to find out,” Cooper says.

Performances are scheduled for June 27 through August 2 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays with a special Monday night performance on July 14 at 7:30 p.m. At Midtown Arts and Theater Center, 3400 Main. For more information, call 713-521-4533 or visit the MATCH box office. Pay-what-you-can.