Co-Artistic Director

Happy Hour Readings is a play reading series at Rec Room Arts that celebrates the joy of reading plays, elevates emerging Houston artists, and fosters community among them. Come join us every first Monday of the month!

IG: happyhourreadings

WORLD PREMIERE from Stages Sin Muros Festival 2024

Written by matthew paul olmos

Directed by Brenda Palestina

The story of a Mexican-American woman in 1971 Los Angeles as she experiences a first, nerdy love. Throughout the courtship, she experiences mysterious premonitions of what lies ahead in her life and how the ever present machismo will ultimately bring her heartbreak as it gets passed down from fathers to sons, generation to generation.

Happy Hour Readings

by Terrence McNally

Directed by Emma Bacon

Happy Hour’s inaugural full production!

This intimate romantic comedy unfolds in a small New York apartment, where Frankie, a guarded waitress, and Johnny, a “grill master”, share an unexpected end to their first date. What begins as a one night stand slowly deepens. Johnny is convinced he found the one, while Frankie, shrouded by her past of hurt and disappointment, resists. Over the course of one intimate evening, they navigate longing and fear, discovering that the greatest risk is allowing oneself to be truly seen, and ultimately the tenderness that can emerge once you surrender to vulnerability.